Madrid with kids: 8 kid and teen-friendly activities

Madrid is a great city prepared for tourism of all ages. It offers many possibilities to enjoy its cultural wealth and also to have fun. In addition, moving around the Spanish capital is very simple, even if you travel with a baby cart, although not all subway stops have an elevator.

Traveling with children can be complicated sometimes. Kids and teens can get tired or bored of activities quickly. Then, how to entertain them in a big city like Madrid? If you are visiting Madrid with kids and/or teenagers, or you are going to do it soon, here there’s a list of the best plans to enjoy with them. From amusement parks to the zoo aquarium or the theatre, you will surely find activities that the little ones will love. And because having fun is also for adults, these activities for kids will wake up the child you are carrying inside!

7 unique activities to enjoy Madrid with kids and teens

Have fun in the Amusement Parks

The Parque de Atracciones de Madrid (Madrid’s Amusement Park) opened in May 1969 is a park full of rides for adults and children. In this amusement park of Madrid you can spend the day with the little ones and have a great time. The park is opened from May to September, although it also opens on weekends if the weather permits and in festivities such as Halloween. On their website you can find hotel packages + tickets, in addition to information on how to get there.

Another perfect option to do in Madrid with kids would be visiting the Warner Park, Parque Warner Madrid in Spanish, named after the legendary children’s and fiction film producer Warner Brothers. This great amusement park is located in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, a town about 50 minutes from the center of Madrid, in the southeast. The Warner Park is a gigantic complex where you can spend all the day with your family and kids and get to meet all your favorite characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy the Duck and more.

Meet the animals at the Zoo Aquarium of Madrid

The Madrid Zoo Aquarium is also located in the Casa de Campo, very close to the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, so you can combine both plans if you have time during your visit to the city. The ticket prices go from 9 to 23 euros, depending on the type of ticket you get. In addition to animals in the zoo with a natural environment, you will see an aquarium full of exotic fishes, exhibitions about the conservation of natural habitats, sea-mammal and more. The zoo is famous for the panda bear it hosts, a gift from the Chinese government to the city of Madrid. Chu-lin the Panda bear is one of the most popular animals of the zoo of Madrid, so if you decide to go we recommend you do not forget to visit her. She will love it.

Explore Madrid on a Segway

Segway is the best way to move around the city, without succumbing to the fatigue of long walks. Guided by professionals who know perfectly the history and peculiarities of the city, in Madrid Segway Tour you can choose between 5 different Segway tours. You can visit the most important monuments and museums in the city, go off-road and enjoy Madrid’s largest urban park (Casa de Campo), visit the historical districts, the Royal Palace, Debod’s Temple, the Retiro Park and much more. You can also enjoy an itinerary that combines the route on a Segway with the visit to different restaurants to taste some tapas and the Spanish cuisine with your guide. The culture and history, while having fun on the Segway, are a perfect plan to get the most of your trip to Madrid with teens. You will see how children dominate their Segway much faster than you do. Segway Tour participants need to be at least 16 years old. If you are traveling with minors, we offer other solutions, so you can enjoy a tour experience with the little ones.

Go shopping: toys for the children

Madrid is full of stores where you can spend a shopping evening. If you are visiting the city with children, maybe you want to take them to the happiest place in the world for them: a toy store. If you are looking for a big impressive heaven-like toy store, you should visit one of the shopping malls in the city of Madrid, like El Corte Inglés, or near towns such as Alcorcón or Majadahonda, where we find shopping malls with some of the biggest toy stores in the country. If you are lucky, you can also visit second-hand toy markets such as the Mercado del Juguete Antiguo. They have different locations, but you can enjoy this unique paradise for children, teens and the whole family every Saturday! Take your kids on a fascinating tour across the toys of your childhood, when rag dolls, wooden swords and a little bit of imagination were enough to have fun playing.

Enjoy a day in El Retiro Park

In addition to La Casa de Campo, Madrid has a green area in the center of the city. It is called El Retiro Park and is just 15 minutes’ walk from the central Plaza del Sol. As a curiosity they say that there is the first tree that was planted in the city more than 400 years ago. There, you can also enjoy the gardens of Cecilio, an artwork from the famous architect Herrero Palacios. In El Retiro Park there is also an enormous rose collection called La Rosaleda, the Garden of Vivaces and the French Parterre. You can have a great day in the Retiro Park with children riding a bike, playing football, navigating in the Retiro Pond or watching the puppets show almost every Saturday and Sunday.

Boring museums? Not in Madrid!

Museums are not boring dusty places anymore. The town hall promotes their museum offer with lots of things to do with kids, specific exhibitions for children and all kind of interactive activities. For example, in the Museum of Natural Sciences they can learn a lot about nature while having fun with different activities designed for the little ones. In the Wax Museum you and your little ones can meet your favorite athletes and historic characters, or at least their incredibly realistic wax dolls. And the Madrid Railway Museum will approach you and your family to the history and evolution of trains and all kind of information about this mode of transportation. You have so many options for children in Madrid. In all of these museums you can have fun with the kids while giving lifelong lessons about all kinds of interesting topics.

Keep your kids entertained with theater for children

The network of theaters in Madrid is very extensive and full of activities for children. In addition to its usual programming, consisting in classical, modern and musical plays, we find plays focused on entertaining the little ones. The Matadero Theater, Teatros del Canal or the Sanpol Theater have children’s works, Chinese shadow shows, puppets, storytelling and clowning. Sometimes the theater can be complicated for children, but the plays you will find in the theaters of Madrid will keep them stuck in their seats for a while. And you will have a great time too!