The Retiro Park is the green heart of Madrid. In 1632 King Philip IV built a palace on the site. In the middle of the 1,4 square kilometers of park space you will find an artificial lake with a monument to Alfonso XII.

When the station was rebuilt by Rafael Moneo in 1992, the railway tracks where moved and a new station was built just in front of the historic station. Inside the old station hall palm trees and other tropical trees were planted. 

The "Sabatini Garden" is a beautiful Neo-Baroque garden north of "Palacio Real". Formerly this was the place of Francesco Sabatini's stables. But they where demolished in 1978 for this baroque style garden.

King Carlos III built the "Botanical Garden" of Madrid in 1774. The goal was to explore the plants of the new world. The garden was designed by Francesco Sabatini on three terraces.   

With the Teleférico you can float from Argüelles in the center of the huge park. In the east is the lake Lago Casa de Campo, to the west the zoo of Madrid. The Casa de Campo is like a forrest on a slope, in the west of the historic city center.

The Parque de la Montana is located on a hill above the Rio Manzanares. From the slope you have a very nice view on the Palacio Real, the forest Casa del Campo and the mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama in the north. 

The over 2,400 m high peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama are located between Madrid and Segovia. In winter there is even snow on the mountains that you can see from Madrid. Famous attractions like the World Heritage Site of El Escorial and the monument of the dictator Franco in Valle de los Caídos, are also found in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Sierra de Guadarrama

The summer palace of "El Escorial" is surrounded by beautiful baroque gardens. From the terraces you can see the four high-rise buildings in the north of Madrid and the mountains of the "Sierra de Guadarrama". 

San Lorenzo de El Escorial