I don’t like traveling with kids. I don’t even like hanging out with kids all that much. But, I do love them beyond measure; they’re my sweet angels. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let my nieces grow up to be weird, disrespectful or ignorant tourists. Gotta train em young – so, here we are! We’re having a family trip in Madrid!
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- Pre-Arrival: Giving Every Child a Job
- Day 1: Recover, Explore, Adjust
- Day 2: History, Food, and Burning Energy
- Palace Tour
- The Balloon Museum: Sleeper Hit
- Mercado de San Miguel: A Budget Exercise
- A Late-Night Tapas Tour
- Day 3: Retiro Park, Art Museum, Hotel Pool, Fancy(ish) Dinner
- Art Appreciation (and Learning That You Won’t Love Everything)
- Birthday Dinner: Expanding Their Food Comfort Zone
- Day 4: Water Park Day
- Parque Waner Beach
- Letting Kids Choose Dinner
- Day 5: Shopping, Budgeting, and Real-Life Lessons
- Last Night Dinner at Botin – oldest restaurant in world
- Final Thoughts: Very Tiring, Very Awesome
Planning a Trip to Madrid With Kids: Everyone Has a Job
Traveling internationally with kids is one of the best gifts you can give them — I think it’s even better if they participate in the experience.
Kids are capable of much more than we often expect from them. Planning a group trip is objectively difficult; to weigh everyone’s opinions, preferences, budgets, etc. Kids should know that, and be a part of it too. So before they boarded the plane, there was homework.
Parents are the Chief Executive Officers, finally decision makers and making sure everyone survives.
With multiple kids, I think assigning each child an age-appropriate “travel title” is a great way to get them involved.
Maybe one child is the:
- Chief Entertainment Officer: responsible for finding fun activities, games, and things everyone will enjoy.
- Chief Education Officer: responsible for researching history, culture, and interesting facts about the destination.
- Chief Food Officer: responsible for finding foods to try and learning about local dishes.
- Chief Navigation Officer: responsible for helping read maps, understand directions, and get comfortable using public transportation.
I often say – “let’s do this as a team” and they’ve always responded well. Kids crave teamwork.
Some prompts to give them:
- What is Madrid famous for?
- What are some important landmarks in Madrid?
- What foods to try in Madrid?
- What activities are available for kids?
- What is different about Spain compared to the United States?
- What are some things they personally want to see?
Day 1: Recover, Explore, Adjust
This is our first day in Madrid. No itinerary, just adjust and explore the neighborhood.
After a red-eye flight, (8 hours overnight) everyone needed time to recover from jet lag and get familiar with our surroundings.
We went to a local grocery store, I think supermarkets are one of the most underrated cultural experiences.
Kids get to see:
- Different fruits and vegetables
- Different packaging
- Different brands
- Different snacks
- Different prices
- Different everyday foods that locals actually buy
I encouraged them to look around and notice what was different. Everyone got to choose one nighttime snack later.
The only rule was No Takis, or anything like that. We must try a Spanish snack, a different chocolate, a local pastry, or something you’ve never seen before is part of the adventure, at least on our first day here.
We had dinner at a nearby restaurant, and adjusted to jet lag which meant the children staying up until 1 AM.
Day 2: Royal Palace, Balloon Museum & Tapas in Madrid
Day two was our first full day in Madrid. After adjusting to the time difference, we jumped into a full schedule.
Our morning started with a 10 AM tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid.
The palace was impressive, and full of history, but it was a lot. A lot of walking. A lot of information.
A lot of standing quietly and listening. Was it a little too much for younger kids? Also yes.
The palace is interesting and an important landmark, and probably children will not connect with it. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be exposed to it. So, we need to balance the serious cultural experiences with things that allow them to be kids.
Which is why our next stop was mainly for them.
The Balloon Museum: The Sleeper Hit
At 2 PM, we went to the Balloon Museum. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip, several exhibits were interactive; several balloon filled rooms, a ball pit, a room of bubbles to pump, a room of lights where we could all hear our individual heartbeat.
It was fun for both kids and adults. We played, ran, everyone was into it actually – and plenty of opportunities to burn energy.
Visiting Mercado de San Miguel: A Budget Exercise
Next stop: the market.
Markets are one of my favorite places to take children because they combine culture, food, and real-life lessons. I recommend giving the kids a budget before entering. I’d suggest:
- €10 per child for a snack/exploration budget
- Around €20 if you’re expecting them to choose lunch
We saw a huge variety of options. The empanadas we bought were around €6, while calamari was around €17.
Giving children their own budget teaches them decision-making: Do you want one bigger item? Several smaller things? Do you want to spend everything now or save it?
A Late Night Tapas Tour
Our evening was a tapas tour at 7 PM.
By my American standards, this felt late for kids. But, when in Spain! Here, families are out later. Children are part of the evening culture. Rules need to be set though – you WILL try these foods!!
One of my nieces wants to be a chef, and both girls are pretty adventurous eaters, so they were excited to experience different foods.
They tried new flavors, learned about Spanish cuisine, and got to see how people socialize around food.
Another unexpected bonus of these types of activities is the group you’re with – you meet other travelers. We met travelers from Australia, Paraguay, and Romania on our group tour.
Day 3: Retiro Park, Art & Learning About Group Travel
After such a packed second day, everyone was tired. We spent time at Retiro Park, Madrid’s most beautiful green spaces. We brought snacks, played cards, relaxed, and let the girls just enjoy being outside.
Just to have some space to chill out.
Art Appreciation (and Learning That You Won’t Love Everything)
We also visited the art museum inside Velázquez Palace. The adults really enjoyed it. The children – not so much.
The exhibit included deeper themes, political messages, and some artwork that was a little intense and scary for children (think dead dogs and police brutality)
One of my nieces eventually reached the point of no return and started moping around because she wanted to leave.
Time for a valuable lesson! Absolutely, she is allowed to dislike an experience. You are allowed to say: “I don’t like this, this is not for me.” But there is a difference between expressing an opinion and ruining the experience for everyone else.
For an older child, like a fifth grader, I think it is reasonable to teach: “You can tell us you’re done. You can say you’re not enjoying this. You can sit on a bench and wait patiently while everyone else finishes.”
That is part of learning how to travel with other people and just coexist with others. Family trips are practice for life!
You will not always like the group activity and learning how to handle that gracefully is a life skill.
Birthday Dinner: Peruvian Food – & Expanding Their Food Comfort Zone
After some downtime at the hotel rooftop and pool, we went out for my birthday dinner.
We chose a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant, which was definitely outside their comfort zone. Raw fish and ceviche, and that’s okay. This was a surprise birthday dinner for me, and I think it was a good opportunity for them to experience something different.
Day 4: Water Park Near Madrid – Parque Warner Beach
After several days of culture, walking, history, and food exploration, day 4 was all about fun.
We spent the entire day at the water park and the girls had an amazing time.
Food is not allowed in the park – so people bringing in coolers were being turned away, but we had plenty of small snacks in our bags that they didnt care about. The food options inside the park are very limited (like nuts and chicken fingers) so bringing your own is perfect. There is also a water fountain. Even on a weekday, it was crowded. Some rides had lines around 30 minutes, so I can only imagine how busy weekends get.
Transportation was another consideration: We took a taxi van there from Madrid, which cost around $98, and an Uber van back, which was around $85.
Letting Kids Choose Dinner
After a full day in the sun, everyone was exhausted. The adults suggested Mexican, Venezuelan, or Spanish food.
The kids wanted pancakes and bagels. I vetoed pancakes, but approved bagels.I don’t have a huge objection to choosing something familiar. I also wasn’t interested in paying for a meal they would complain about the entire time. So bagel sandwiches it was – Mazal Bagels was a really cute spot and we all had a good time.
Day 5: Shopping, Budgeting, and Final Dinner at Botin.
Our final day in Madrid was shopping day. The girls received an allowance of €25 each.
They could use it for:
- Gifts for Dad, Grandparents, etc.
- Something for themselves
- Any Snacks, ice cream, or smoothies during our outing
We talked about currency conversion between euros and dollars, and why prices can feel different in another country.
We also discussed taxes and why certain products make more sense to buy where they are produced. For example: Zara. The girls already knew Zara from the United States. But in Spain, during a sale, we were finding things for €6 and €10.
We also visited Miniso, which was exciting for them because it’s not as common in the US.
Dinner at Botin
Recorded as the oldest restaurant in the world, and definitely a tourist hit – the restaurant is very large, and we all enjoyed our meals. It’s a bit pricey.
Final Thoughts: Very Tiring, Very Awesome
It was a learning experience for all. I was very tired by the end, we all were. like, very tired. Madrid is my favorite city in Europe actually, I just like it. I was really fun to watch my girls learn. Until next time!
They learned:
- Some new Spanish phrases: Puedo pedir… donde esta el bano
- How to navigate another country
- How to try new foods
- How to manage money
- How to interact with people from different cultures
- How to handle experiences they didn’t love
- How to be part of a group