Madrid Retiro Park Self-Guided Audio Walk: Puerta de Alcalá, Lake and Fallen Angel
1 hour and 10 minutes
About this experience
Madrid's Retiro was a royal pleasure garden for more than two centuries. In 1868 a revolutionary government handed the whole estate to the city, and Madrid has been filling it ever since. Start outside the Puerta de Alcalá, Carlos III's granite gate, and walk in past a drinking fountain moved from the city streets and an avenue of stone kings carved for the Royal Palace roof. Meet the Ahuehuete, a Mexican cypress whose age nobody agrees on, and Philip IV's great lake facing the Alfonso XII colonnade. Then the 1880s: the brick and tile Palacio de Velázquez and the Palacio de Cristal, built for an 1887 colonial exhibition, with swamp cypresses in its pond. Finish by the rose garden, the Fallen Angel and the memorial grove for 11 March 2004. Eleven stops, about 2.8 km and 70 minutes, on gentle paths, at your own pace, in English, on your phone. The park is free; the Palacio de Cristal is closed for restoration until 2027.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 10 minutes
- Guide
- English
- Audio guide
- English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English: 11 stops, 2.8 km, 70 minutes Stops at avenue of stone kings, Ahuehuete, great lake and Alfonso XII colonnade GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: Any day: the park is free and open from 6am every day. A weekday morning is quietest; the lake is busiest on weekend afternoons, and the colonnade across the water is lit from behind you in the afternoon. The Rosaleda is at its best in May and June; the horse chestnuts flower in April and May and drop their conkers in September and October; the bald cypresses at the Palacio de Cristal turn rust-brown in late autumn and stand bare through winter. Avoid days with a red weather alert for wind or heat, when the park closes. Checked 14 October 2026. Getting to the start: stop 1 is on the pavement just outside the park's Puerta de la Independencia, on the park side of the Plaza de la Independencia. From Metro Retiro (line 2), walk about 160 m along Calle de Alcalá on the park side: no road to cross. From Metro Banco de España (line 2) and Cibeles, walk about 600 m up Calle de Alcalá and cross at the traffic lights at the plaza's south-west corner, by Calle de Alfonso XII. Never cross to the arch itself: it stands on a traffic island with no crossing. Checked 14 October 2026. Park hours: open every day, free; October to March 6am to 10pm, April to September 6am to midnight (esMadrid, updated 19 August 2026). Checked 14 October 2026. Weather closures: the Retiro may have taped-off areas or close completely when the city issues a red weather alert for wind or heat (protocol updated 18 June 2026). Alerts are posted on the city's X account, @MADRID, and on the screens at the gates in Spanish and English two hours before they take effect. Checked 14 October 2026. Step-free: the whole walk is step-free except leaving the Parterre after stop 4, where the route climbs a short flight and then 7 steps at the garden's curved east end. For a step-free way, leave the Parterre by the gate you came in by and follow the path along its north side to the octagonal pond (about 560 m instead of 320, part of it walked twice). The Rosaleda (stop 9) is free with its own hours: April to September 10am to 8pm, October to March 10am to 6pm. The stop is told through the gate, so it works when the garden is shut. Checked 14 October 2026. The Palacio de Velázquez (stop 7) is a free Museo Reina Sofía exhibition hall: November to February 10am to 6pm, October and March 10am to 7pm, April to September 10am to 10pm; closed 1 and 6 January, 1 May and 25 December. The Palacio de Cristal (stop 8) is closed for restoration until 2027. Checked 14 October 2026. The viewing room inside the Alfonso XII monument (stop 6) opens only on booked visits through the city's programme: 97 steps, no lift. Rowing boats are hired at the landing on the lake's west bank; check times and prices there. Leaving: from stop 11, the Puerta de Murillo is about 200 m north-west, for the Prado and the Botanic Garden; the Puerta del Ángel Caído is about 250 m south-west, for Atocha. Atocha has Metro line 1 at Atocha and Estación del Arte (renamed in 2023 from Atocha Renfe and Atocha) and the Cercanías local trains. Checked 14 October 2026. Do not walk the tour on a red weather alert: the park is evacuated and closed, and it reopens only after the trees have been checked. On an orange alert the park has stayed open in past years, with the city advising people to leave and not to stand under trees. The Parterre (stop 4) is a railed garden inside the park, and its own gate hours are not confirmed. If it is locked, tell stop 4 from the avenue outside its west railings by the Puerta de Felipe IV, where the Ahuehuete can be seen over the railings, then follow the path round the Parterre's north side to the octagonal pond. The Palacio de Cristal (stop 8) is closed and wrapped for restoration until about 2027 (esMadrid, checked 14 October 2026). The pond and its paths stay open. Bicycles share the wide paseos (the Paseo de México, the Salón del Estanque, the Paseo de Venezuela, the Paseo de Fernán Núñez): keep to the side. Keep bags closed and in front of you by the lake and the boat landing on busy weekends. Please never release pets into the ponds: most of the turtles at the Palacio de Cristal are released American species, listed as invasive in Spain. The Galápagos fountain's spouts may be switched off. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Puerta de Alcalá
Plaza de la Independencia, by the Puerta de Alcalá (Metro Retiro), Madrid
Carlos III's granite gate of 1778 has five openings, and its showy face still greets arriving travelers.
- 2Day 0
Galápagos Fountain
Retiro Park, Paseo de México at the Galápagos fountain, Madrid
A city drinking fountain of 1832 spouts through frogs and turtles, moved into the new park in 1879.
- 3Day 0
Paseo de la Argentina: Kings Off the Palace Roof
Retiro Park, Paseo de la Argentina (the kings' avenue), Madrid
Stone kings carved for the Royal Palace's roof now line this avenue, with one queen added in 2021.
- 4Day 0
Parterre and the Ahuehuete
Retiro Park, the Parterre by the Ahuehuete tree, Madrid
A Mexican cypress with candelabra limbs grows in the French garden, and nobody agrees on its age.
- 5Day 0
Estanque Ochavado
Retiro Park, at the Estanque Ochavado, Madrid
An eight-lobed pond survives from Philip IV's garden, once crowned by a tower, then a kiosk of little bells.
- 6Day 0
Estanque Grande and Alfonso XII
Retiro Park, Estanque Grande facing the Alfonso XII monument, Madrid
Philip IV's 1630s lake faces the Alfonso XII colonnade, paid for by public subscription and finished in 1922.
- 7Day 0
Palacio de Velázquez
Retiro Park, Paseo de Venezuela at the Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid
A mining fair's hall of 1883 shows off its iron, glass, two-tone brick and Zuloaga tiles.
- 8Day 0
Palacio de Cristal and the Swamp Cypresses
Retiro Park, at the Palacio de Cristal pond, Madrid
A glasshouse went up in five months for an 1887 colonial exhibition, with swamp cypresses standing in its pond.
- 9Day 0
Rosaleda
Retiro Park, at the Rosaleda (rose garden) gate, Madrid
The city's head gardener laid out this rose garden in 1915, on the model of the Bagatelle in Paris.
- 10Day 0
Fallen Angel
Retiro Park, Glorieta del Ángel Caído (Fallen Angel fountain), Madrid
Ricardo Bellver's bronze Lucifer falls from heaven, on a fountain inaugurated here in 1885.
- 11Day 0
Bosque del Recuerdo
Retiro Park, Bosque del Recuerdo by Paseo de la Reina Cristina, Madrid
A grove of olives and cypresses remembers the 2004 train bombings, on a mound ringed by water.
Meeting point
Puerta de Alcalá, Madrid Plaza de la Independencia, by the Puerta de Alcalá (Metro Retiro), Madrid, Community of Madrid, ES
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Madrid Retiro Park Self-Guided Audio Walk: Puerta de Alcalá, Lake and Fallen Angel
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.