Madrid Río Self-Guided Audio Walk: Puente de Segovia, Puente de Toledo and Perrault's Steel Bridge
1 hour and 15 minutes
About this experience
For decades Madrid had its back to its river. The Manzanares was walled in granite and held in ponds, and then a ring road ran along both banks. In 2003 the city decided to put the motorway into tunnels and build a park on top. Start at Pedro de Ribera's Baroque riverside chapel and cross the Puente de Segovia, begun in 1574, with the palace and the Almudena's dome above it. Follow the river past a concrete laboratory where engineers modeled rivers, to the weirs whose opening in 2016 let the river build its own islands. Walk a promenade of pines on the roof of the motorway, look across to the stadium site that became a park in 2024, see the saints on Ribera's Puente de Toledo, and climb through Perrault's steel bridge to a summer beach and a fountain that has moved across Madrid. Ten stops, about 3.4 km and 75 minutes, flat and almost step-free, at your own pace, in English.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Guide
- English
- Audio guide
- English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English: 10 stops, 3.4 km, 75 minutes Stops at Ermita de la Virgen del Puerto, Parque Atlético de Madrid, Fuente Castellana 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 of the year, in daylight. Weekday mornings are quiet; weekends fill the promenade with families, runners and cyclists. Late afternoon sun lights the palace ridge above the Puente de Segovia (stop 2). In summer, walk early or late: shade is patchy and the Arganzuela end is open lawn. The Playa urbana's jets run only in summer, from 11am to 9pm in season; the opening date changes every year, so check esmadrid.com before a summer visit. Checked 14 October 2026. Getting to the start: Príncipe Pío (Metro lines 6, 10 and the Ramal, plus Cercanías trains) is about 650 metres north of the Ermita along the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto or the riverside path; Puerta del Ángel (line 6) is about 450 metres west across the Puente de Segovia. Buses 25, 31, 33, 36, 39, 41, 50, 62, 65, 138, 158, C1 and C2 stop nearby. Checked 14 October 2026 at esmadrid.com. Getting away from the end: Pirámides (Metro line 5, and Cercanías Pirámides) is about 650 to 700 metres north of the fountain on foot; the nearest step-free entrance, with a lift, is a little further. To leave halfway, Marqués de Vadillo (line 5) is at the south end of the Puente de Toledo (stop 7). Ermita de la Virgen del Puerto (stop 1): usually closed except for services. Its own site lists Thursday 7pm exposition and 8pm Mass, Friday and Saturday 8pm, and Sunday 11am and 12 noon. Guided visits in Spanish on the last Sunday of each month at 1pm (a donation is asked) and on request by email. Checked 14 October 2026 at ermitavirgendelpuerto.es. The only stairs are a flight of 21 steps down from the Puente de Segovia to the riverside on the way to stop 2. For a step-free route, stay on the promenade ramp beside the steps: it reaches the riverside a few metres from the stop. Perrault's bridge (after stop 8) is a ramp. To stand on the Parque Atlético de Madrid lawn (stop 6), cross the river by a footbridge near the stop and come back over the next one: it adds roughly half a kilometre. To keep going: the Matadero is about 1.3 kilometres, some 20 minutes, further downstream along the river, with Legazpi Metro beside it. Playa urbana (stop 9): the pools, jets and mist run only in summer, from 11am to 9pm in season. Opening dates change every year: check esmadrid.com before a summer visit. Checked 14 October 2026 at esmadrid.com. The Madrid Río promenade is shared with cyclists, scooters and runners, mostly on one unmarked path. Keep to the river side, look before you step sideways, and step off the path at every stop, above all at stop 3, where you stand on the promenade itself: step to the river rail. Between stops 1 and 2 you cross the Puente de Segovia's roadway at its west end, a wide, busy road. Use the traffic lights; there is an island in the middle. The wooden decks of the weir footbridge (stop 4) and of Perrault's bridge (after stop 8) are slippery when wet. Summer heat: shade is patchy along the promenade and the Arganzuela park end is open lawn. Carry water and avoid the middle of the day in July and August. The park is lit and open at all hours, but the river paths are quiet after dark. The promenade has many children's playgrounds, and the summer beach is full of children in swimwear: keep cameras away from them. The Ermita (stop 1) is a place of worship; if a service is on, keep your voice down. The Paseo beside it carries heavy traffic. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Ermita de la Virgen del Puerto: The Riverside Chapel
Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, at the Ermita de la Virgen del Puerto (Metro Príncipe Pío), Madrid
Pedro de Ribera's brick and slate riverside chapel, built 1716 to 1718 where the city met its river and restored in 1945.
- 2Day 0
Puente de Segovia: Herrera's Level Bridge
Madrid Río, west bank at the Puente de Segovia, Madrid
Madrid's oldest bridge on the road to Segovia, begun in 1574 and opened in 1584, with the palace ridge rising above it.
- 3Day 0
Fisac's Water Laboratory
Madrid Río promenade, opposite the CEDEX water laboratory, Madrid
Across the river stands Miguel Fisac's concrete hydraulics laboratory of 1963, where engineers built scale models of rivers and dams.
- 4Day 0
The Weirs: A River Let Loose
Madrid Río promenade, at weir no. 6, Madrid
The weir where Madrid let its river loose in 2016, and the islands the Manzanares has built by itself since.
- 5Day 0
Salón de Pinos: Pines on a Motorway
Madrid Río, Salón de Pinos near the Puente de San Isidro, Madrid
A promenade of pines planted on the roof of the M-30 tunnels, with the motorway running underneath.
- 6Day 0
Parque Atlético de Madrid: The Stadium Over the Motorway
Madrid Río promenade, opposite the Parque Atlético de Madrid, Madrid
Across the bend stood Atlético de Madrid's stadium, built over the M-30; since December 2024 its pitch is a park.
- 7Day 0
Puente de Toledo: Ribera's Bridge of Saints
Madrid Río, gardens by the Puente de Toledo, Madrid
Pedro de Ribera's Baroque granite bridge of the 1720s, with two shrines of Madrid's patron saints facing each other.
- 8Day 0
Arganzuela Footbridge: Perrault's Steel Cones
Madrid Río, at the Arganzuela footbridge (Perrault's bridge), Madrid
Dominique Perrault's steel footbridge of 2011, two offset cones wrapped in metal mesh, which the walk climbs through.
- 9Day 0
Playa urbana: A Beach Without a Sea
Madrid Río, Parque de la Arganzuela by the urban beach, Madrid
Madrid's summer-only fountain beach of three oval pools, jets and mist, in a park whose theme is water.
- 10Day 0
Fuente Castellana: The Fountain That Moved
Madrid Río, Parque de la Arganzuela at the Fuente Castellana obelisk, Madrid
A royal fountain begun in 1833 for the three-year-old Isabel II, moved across Madrid and here since 1969.
Meeting point
Ermita de la Virgen del Puerto, Madrid Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, at the Ermita de la Virgen del Puerto (Metro Príncipe Pío), Madrid, Community of Madrid, ES
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Madrid Río Self-Guided Audio Walk: Puente de Segovia, Puente de Toledo and Perrault's Steel Bridge
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.