A great city needs a great park, and Madrid is no exception. Just to give you a sense of scale, at…read more300 acres, it's a shade smaller than London's Hyde Park and a little over 1/3 of the size of Central Park. However, El Retiro (as locals call it) is over 200 years older than Central Park, starting as the private royal grounds. Its centerpiece is Estanque Grande (Grand Lake), a huge 17th-century artificial lake covered in rowboats on the weekend (Photo 3). Dominating the lake is the majestic Monument to Alfonso XII built in bronze and marble with an expansive colonnade (Photo 6). Because Madrid's most famous museums stand close to the park's western edge, we walked along the Statue Walk where Spanish monarchs are memorialized (Photo 7). Jamie W and I also visited another smaller lake that features the Art Nouveau-style Palacio de Cristal (Crystal Palace), but unfortunately it was closed. However, we took advantage of the Kiosco Nacional Palacio de Cristal, an open-air terrace cafe that served light lunch fare and coffee drinks (Photo). We couldn't help but indulge in a couple of desserts (Photo 2). Moreover, even though the park was plenty crowded, there was still a sense of bucolic serenity here. It wasn't a challenge to find a peaceful respite amid the overall greenery, especially with the sometimes overwhelming urbania outside the park. RELATED - Exploring Madrid? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/AwA0OI30NX

Retiro Park is an oasis in the center of Madrid. Is a gorgeous, immaculately maintained green space…read morein the heart of the city. There are numerous entrances into the park and walking paths throughout. On a pretty day, it's hard to find a better place to spend the afternoon. The people watching is fantastic, and there are multiple things to see and do inside the park, including the crystal Palace. I love to go sit by the lake and watch the people on the boats. They are often musicians playing, kids riding their bikes, and families enjoying all that Madrid has to offer.

Retiro Park is like the Central Park of Madrid. This gigantic park has it all. Large grassy areas…read morefor a picnic or long pathways to run or walk. A big lake in the center to rent a row boat and ride around or a crystal palace to swoon over. Retiro is big and it can be hard to see everything on foot. There are lots of available rental bikes to make your trip throughout the park even easier.

Beautiful park ! Lots of space for kids to run and play ! Plenty of cafes to grab coffee before and…read moreevening stroll! Came in winter and still is stunning

Beautiful park with the view of Royal palace. Conveniently located by bus stop for multiple bus…read morelines. When I visited in May it closed at 8.

Lovely palace gardens .... if it's a nice day- it is worth it to take a walk around to the only…read moreentrance on Paseo de la virgin del puerto - closer to the Pio principal train station . It's downhill from the palace . So if you plan to see the palace then remember after the gardens - it's a walk uphill . This place is free and so beautiful and quiet . Two peacocks walking around not very afraid of people near them . I saw horse and carriage with guards constantly circling around the top and the bottom of the palace.

I stumbled across this largely by accident as I had arrived from my day trip to Toledo earlier than…read moreoriginally planned and still had the urge to explore something new. Unlike Retiro Park and other spots, this is one more partaken by the locals of Madrid rather than the tourists like me. Because of the heat, I didn't really explore the area in full. However, it's serene and blissful in the midst of a bustling metro. It's quite the way to escape from the madness. Fortunately there is easy metro access here so it isn't hard to reach.

The decision to place one of Madrid's highways underground provided an unprecedented opportunity to…read morelocate the city of Madrid within its surroundings, achieving a greater environmental biodiversity and a city that is greener, more habitable and sustainable.