Botanical Gardens - Jardín Botánico

Madrid's luscious botanical gardens were created for Charles III by Juan de Villanueva and the botanist Gómez Ortega in 1781. The botanical gardens are right alongside the Paseo del Prado, just south of the Prado museum, but inside this deep-green glade, with over 30,000 plants from around the world, it's easy to feel that city life has been put on hold.

A sign at the entrance of the botanical gardens asks that you treat the gardens as if they were a museum, but don't feel bad about getting comfortable with a book for a while; it is one of the best spots in Madrid to do so.

Address Plaza de Murillo 2
Transport Metro Atocha .
Telephone 91 420 30 17
Open Oct-Feb 10am-6pm daily. Mar 10am-7pm. Apr, Sept 10am-8pm daily. May-Aug 10am-9pm daily.

Admission €2. Free under-10s.

Read more...

Faunia (zoo/theme park)

Part zoo, part theme park, Faunia recreates the world's different ecosystems in a series of domes. Best of the bunch is the Amazon jungle house of Faunia, which echoes with the screech of exotic birds; an intense tropical storm is simulated every half hour. And in summer Penguin World of Faunia, an impressive reconstruction of a polar zone, where you can see the little fellas zipping about, is wildly popular. Faunia is not a cheap day out and queues can be long, but it is worth every cent.

Address

Avda de las Comunidades 28,
Eastern suburbs
Transport Metro Valdebernardo.
Telephone 91 301 62 10
Open Feb, Mar 10am-6pm Wed-Sun. Apr, May, last 2wks Sept 10am-8pm daily. June-mid Sept 10am-9pm daily. Oct, Nov 10am-7pm Wed-Sun. Dec 10am-5.30pm Wed-Sun. Closed Jan.

Admission €22; €16 3-12s, over-60s; free under-3s.

Read more...

Madrid Travel Guide: Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology - Museo de Antropología y Etnología

This three-storey building between the Retiro and Atocha station houses several levels, each devoted to a specific region or country. The first level has an extensive collection from the Philippines (a former Spanish colony), dominated by a 6m (20ft) dugout canoe. Among the bizarre highlights are a 19th-century Philippine helmet made from a spiky blowfish, shrunken human heads from Peru and the skeleton of Don Agustín Luengo y Capilla, an Extremaduran who was 2.25m (7ft 4in) tall. Even more enticing is a shrivelled tobacco leaf-skinned mummy, said to have once been in Charles III's royal library. Both are in the annexe to the first level.
Address C/Alfonso XII 68
Transport Metro Atocha.
Telephone 91 539 59 95
Open 10am-8pm Tue-Sat; 10am-3pm Sun.

Admission €2.40; €1.20 students; free under-18s, over-65s. Free to all 2.30-7.30pm Sat & all Sun.

Read more...