Monday 9 November is a holiday in the city of Madrid: it's the feast of the Virgen de la Almudena, the city's patron saint. Add the weekend and you have three days in a row to get out as a family, at your own pace.
Here's a different walk for each day, made for children aged 6 to 9: a legend of walls and candles, a park in full autumn colour and a river with playgrounds. None of them needs tickets or a phone.
The legend behind the holiday
The story goes that, a very long time ago, the people of Madrid hid an image of the Virgin inside the city wall to keep it safe. Centuries passed and nobody knew where it was. In 1085, according to the legend, a piece of the wall on the Cuesta de la Vega crumbled and the image appeared, with two candles still burning.
Its name comes from the Arabic al-mudayna, the citadel: the walled enclosure that stood roughly where the Royal Palace and the cathedral are today. That's why the feast falls on 9 November, the day of the discovery.
It's a perfect story to tell while you walk: a hiding place, a secret kept for a very long time and a surprise at the end.
Saturday: Retiro Park in autumn
Start the long weekend in Madrid's best-known park, which in early November is full of yellow and red leaves.
- Come in from the south and find the Fallen Angel fountain; its challenges are in our autumn plan for Retiro.
- The Crystal Palace: an iron-and-glass building in the middle of the park. Challenge the children to find its reflection in the pond in front.
- An autumn bag: everyone looks for one leaf of each colour. At home, stick them on paper and write underneath where you found them.
For more ideas, there's a full route in Retiro Park with kids.
Sunday: the wall from the legend
This is the Almudena walk. It's short and fits into a morning.
- Almudena Cathedral. Start on Calle de Bailén, in front of the cathedral. Tell the children it's named after the legend you've just told them.
- Cuesta de la Vega. Walk down Calle Mayor to the Cuesta de la Vega. By the slope, according to tradition, a small niche with an image of the Virgin marks where it was found. Look carefully: it's easy to walk past.
- The Moorish wall. A little further down, in the Emir Mohamed I park, are the remains of the wall that protected Madrid more than a thousand years ago. Touch the stones: are they all the same? Which one looks oldest?
A game for the way: if you had to hide a treasure in a wall for a hundred years, what would you keep? Everyone picks one thing and says why. The others try to guess it with three questions.
Monday 9: the feast, a crown and Madrid Río
On Almudena day there's a mass and a procession in the centre. If you'd like to see it with children, check the times and route beforehand on the Archdiocese of Madrid's website or in the esmadrid.com listings, and find a spot on a wide corner, away from the crowds.
For a festive snack, Madrid's bakeries sell the corona de la Almudena around these days: a crown-shaped bun, usually filled with cream or custard.
And to run off some energy, head down to Madrid Río, by the Puente de Segovia, one of the city's oldest bridges. There are flat paths, playgrounds and plenty of room for bikes and scooters. A challenge: count the bridge's arches from the riverbank.
Practical tips
- Go in the morning: on long weekends the centre fills up in the afternoon, and it gets dark early in November.
- Comfortable shoes: the Cuesta de la Vega is steep; with a pushchair, go down it rather than up.
- A meeting point: agree on an easy spot beforehand in case anyone wanders off in the crowd.
- If it rains: tell the legend at home and ask the children to draw the wall, the hidden image and the two candles.
A present for the next adventures
If you enjoy discovering Madrid this way, Paseo y Pista's Madrid pack brings together four adventures on paper, through Retiro Park, Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace and the Temple of Debod, and the Literary Quarter, plus a Christmas story. Each booklet has clues and missions for children aged 6 to 9 with a grown-up.
It's on pre-order until 15 November, delivered before Christmas: a lovely present to open in the holidays. See the Madrid pack.