Walking | Slow Travel | Spain

An Urban Walk with a View

Another day of taking on Madrid by foot

On an overcast day in March, I ventured out for another long day of exploring Madrid by foot, discovering the many green areas the city boasts.

For a big city, Madrid certainly has plenty of parks for those who, like me, seek to escape in nature as often as they can but can’t always make it beyond the city boundaries.

I’ve enjoyed exploring the green areas of Madrid, pleasantly surprised at their significant numbers and their size. If I can get my act together, I’m thinking of highlighting a few of my favorites in a separate article :)

For this particular walk, however, desperate for a long overdue nature fix, and needing to take a break from online work and family responsibilities, I decided to check out Casa de Campo, Madrid’s largest public park.

The park is accessible by metro — in fact, that’s how I initially noticed the expansive green space and knew I’d have to visit and explore.

As soon as you walk off the metro station, you are surrounded by trees and green fields, and on an overcast day in the middle of the work week, no people. None.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought that I made a mistake and accidentally left the city to find myself in an enchanted forest. That last part could have been because of the leftover fog and mist in the air when I started my walk.

Within a few minutes, I felt exactly as I always feel when I find myself in nature — at home. The walk was off to an excellent start.

For outdoor enthusiasts, this is the perfect location for running, cycling, and even hiking along the many trails crisscrossing the park.

As an urban park, however, it also features several attractions, including the Madrid Zoo and Aquarium and Venta del Batan. The latter is where bulls are held ahead of the bullfights that take place in the Las Ventas bullring. At least that’s what I found out in my follow-up research.

Yet another attraction located in Case de Campo is the Parque de Atracciones amusement park. A huge fan of rollercoasters, I’d love to come back when my nephews are a bit older, so I can introduce them to the joys of rollercoaster rides.

As I walked by, I noticed (and heard!) what looked like park employees testing the rollercoaster and having the time of their lives. Brought back memories of working at an amusement park one summer in college and definitely made me smile.

I’d yet to see a hill and not want to hike up it, so when I came across this part of the park, I just had to make it up, knowing that I’d not be disappointed by the views that would open before me.

As expected, the views were worth it, and I could only imagine how marvelous they look on a less cloudy day. The park stretches all the way to the Royal Palace, and you can definitely see the sea of green reaching more city parts of the city.

After I sat and admired the views for a bit, I continued on my walk, ultimately making it to Lago de la Casa de Campo, a lake for those who enjoy boating or bird-watching or simply enjoying a picnic by the water.

There were plenty of restaurants on one side of the lake, the one closest to the Lago metro station. I have no doubt it’s lively and bursting with energy on sunny, warm weekends.

From Lago, I continued on in the direction of the palace, easily a 15-minute walk along a road used by cars and cyclists and walkers. The road took me to the Manzanares river, which runs through Madrid and doesn’t usually have a lot of water but after the many rains this winter, actually looked like a river. It seemed like another perfect location for a stroll, and since I’d already walked to and around the palace, I ventured left.

At this point, I was starting to feel a bit tired and because I knew about the Cable Car that goes from Oeste Park, close to the river, to Casa de Campo, and back, I thought that’d be a wonderful way to finish another day of exploration before heading back to the apartment.

I’m not a sure if I took the fastest way to the cable station, but I enjoyed crossing the train tracks and coming across a park with interesting art (?) pieces — I may need to come back to this one for a closer look.

I made it to the cable car station only to find out that it was temporarily closed. Wah-wah-wah …

So while I didn’t get to finish my day of exploration with views of the area I’d just walked, I did discover that right next to the Oeste Park cable station are the Jardines de la Rosaleda, an impressive rose garden that boasts 600+ varieties of rose bushes.

Of course, in March, there were no roses in sight, but I’ll most definitely be coming back to enjoy them in late spring or summer. The garden is free to enter, and I didn’t mind sitting down for a short break, reading my book.

As I wrapped up my reading break and started walking around, trying to find the nearest metro station to make it back to my apartment, what do I see but the Temple of Debod. Which is exactly where my last long walk around Madrid ended. I knew exactly how I’m getting back, without even having to use my phone.

And this is why I love exploring by walking. I develop a much better sense of where everything is, even in a city the size of Madrid.

Happy walking! :)

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