My husband became an avid runner about a year ago and after we had our baby, we decided to pick a marathon for him somewhere in Europe where we could go together as a family. Spain was high on our list.
When we first decided to spend a week in Madrid with our 3-month-old, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What will the baby be like on the plane? Would it be too hot? Too busy? Too noisy? But this trip turned out to be one of the most wonderful and exciting city getaways we’ve ever had.
Madrid surprised us in all the best ways: friendly locals who smiled at the stroller, cozy parks for afternoon naps, and that golden Spanish light that makes everything feel cinematic. Traveling with a newborn taught us to slow down – something we weren’t used to, but actually loved.
We did have an unexpected turn of events – we experienced the nation-wide blackout; read on to see how it all worked out!
🏨 Where We Stayed
We stayed near the city centre in one of the AirBnBs. I can recommend this to anyone with a baby. You can easily walk around the city with the stroller, without using any kind of public transport.
I also felt more comfortable staying in an apartment than a hotel. While a hotel might seem like a good option if you need some extra help with organisation, the apartment gives you more space, a kitchen to prepare baby formulas and even baby cots. The apartment that we had was cozy and peaceful.
We did change the apartment at the end of the week so we could be near the start of the marathon race, and that apartment was great too, just less cozy and without a baby cot.
If you’re travelling with a baby check for the cots beforehand. Also check if there are elevators in the building!
☕ Day 1: Arrival and Settling In
We had a late flight to Madrid and thankfully our baby slept like a baby 😀 most of the flight. I was very anxious about how it’s going to go. And I couldn’t be happier. She was so good! We used baby ear protection for the flight (which we trained to use at home) and I though she was going to wake up when we arrived, but she kept on sleeping in the taxi and continued in the apartments baby cot!
*Some taxis in Madrid provide baby seats, however they are not required to have them.
🖼️ Day 2: Plaza Mayor, San Miguel Market & Baby Naps
It was time to explore the city! After the baby had her breakfast and had a short morning nap, we packed everything for her in the stroller and walked to the main square – Plaza Mayor. The sun was shinning and it was actually much warmer than we expected (at least for April).
As a big foodie, of course the next stop was the famous San Miguel Market. So many things to choose from! I must say it was quite expensive (especially if you want to try everything!).
The only thing that bothered me, mostly because we were there with our baby, was the crowds and not enough places to sit. People also didn’t care if we had a baby… but finally a very polite American family let us sit next to their spot. The Spanish are generally veeeery baby friendly but these were tourists 😉
After lunch we strolled back to our apartment for an afternoon nap (we all had a little nap – Siesta time).
In the afternoon we went for a longer walk to the Retiro park; the green grass and big trees really take you away from the city vibe. I wanted to see the rose garden, but the timing for the flowerings was not right, there were only a few beautiful roses in bloom. It was really hot, though! Our daughter depleted the milk reserves we had with, so we decided to return ‘home’. On our way back we stopped by a grocery store and decided to buy gazpacho, Spanish tortilla, some Iberico ham and olives for dinner. Yum!
🌸 Day 3: Retiro, Gran Vía & Reina Sofia Museum
The next morning, we returned to El Retiro Park for a longer walk so we took a different route. We wanted to see the Crystal Palace sparkle in the morning light, but they were renovating it (sadly). But there was so much peace and quiet, and very few people. Finally we made it to the main pond where you can actually rent a boat and paddle away! We skipped this because of our baby, but it seemed like a fun thing to do.
After a quick bottle-feed, we continued our way on to the Gran Vía — Madrid’s version of Broadway meets Fifth Avenue. Busy, yes, but stroller-friendly and full of life. We would usually do some shopping here, but this time it was just to soak up all the atmosphere.
Again, after baby naps, we decided to go to a museum in the afternoon. I did quite some research and couldn’t really decide which museum to pick. But the fact that I haven’t seen Guernica up close, sealed the deal – it was the Reina Sofia. I was also a bit worried about the baby crying but we are so glad we went! We put her in the baby carrier and she was looking at all the shapes and paintings! Even let out a few little shouts of excitement!
🌆 Day 4: Botanical Gardens, Steak & another Museum
After three full days of walking everywhere, we decided to start Day 4 slow… or at least as slow as a baby allows 😄
Once she finished her morning bottle and a nicely-timed nap, we headed out toward the Royal Botanical Garden. It’s one of those places that instantly relaxes your shoulders — quiet paths, blooming beds, and the kind of calm you don’t usually associate with a big capital city. We walked around with the stroller and let our daughter look at all the different colors and shapes. Honestly, she was mesmerized by the leaves blowing in the wind more than anything else!
By lunchtime, we were starving — and craving something other than tapas (as delicious as they are). We found a steakhouse not too far away, and wow… Spain really knows its meat. Tender, juicy, perfectly seasoned. Baby napped right on time, which felt like a small parental victory!
For the afternoon we debated: go rest or squeeze in another museum?
And of course… we picked the museum 😄
This time it was the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which is such a good in-between choice — not as intense as the Prado, but rich and varied (and now that I’ve seen them all – my favorite!). We put the baby in the carrier again, walked through the galleries at our own pace, and it was totally manageable. She was so calm, looking around as if she’s done this her whole life. Maybe we have an art critic in the making?
We ended the day with a simple dinner at home again — more tortilla, more jamón, and lots of water because Madrid heat in April? Surprisingly real.
🐿️ Day 5: Daddy’s Marathon
This was the big day! We woke up extra early because Daddy was running the Madrid Marathon. The city felt electric — runners everywhere, warming up, stretching, shaking legs, adjusting bibs. Even though we were mostly spectators, the excitement is contagious.
We packed the stroller with everything possible (snacks, milk, water, sunhat… the whole checklist), and headed toward one of the cheering spots on the 9th kilometer. The weather couldn’t have been better: sunny but not too hot yet, and the streets were lined with people clapping, ringing cowbells, and shouting “¡Vamos, vamos!” at the runners.
Baby was surprisingly into it — she kept looking around at all the noise and movement. Every time a crowd clapped loudly, she blinked twice and then just kept watching, like she was cheering in her own quiet way.
We (or me at least, our baby fell asleep just as he ran past us!) managed to spot Daddy at two points along the route — and honestly, the pride we felt seeing him run through Madrid’s streets was just priceless. The last few kilometers were tough (Madrid is not flat!), but he pushed through and finished strong. Marathon complete! 🎉 We cheered him on at the finish and even bough him a small bouquet to celebrate!
After the race, we met him at the designated family area, sweaty-happy-tired, and full of that post-marathon glow only runners understand. We grabbed some snacks and water, took a few commemorative “we survived marathon day with a baby!” photos, and slowly strolled back toward our apartment.
The rest of the day was intentionally slow: long showers, lounging around, early dinner, early bedtime. A well-earned quiet evening after an unbelievably full and special day.
🧺 Day 6: Zoo and Nation-wide Blackout
For our last day we decided to go to a Zoo. It was a first time for our daughter and we were really excited for her to see the aquarium! We took the Metro – it’s a bit out of the city. It’s a leisurely stroll among the nicest nature landscape to the Zoo, which I highly recommend you take!
I already purchased our ticket in advance and honestly didn’t even pay attention that the tickets stalls at the entrance weren’t working. There weren’t a lot of people there, so we just wandered about – past the panda, up to the tiger and lion, stopped at the elephant enclosure to see the baby elephant and stopped for a photo with the giraffes. Our baby was so excited! Then I wanted to get a ‘memory coin’ from a machine near the lion enclosure, but the machine just ate up my 2 euros and seemed out of order. No one seemed to know how to explain that something was going on.
We finally made it to the Aquarium building which was, to our surprise – closed. We were bummed out! But something felt a bit weird. As I told the employee at the entrance/exit about their machine not working, he said something about no electricity. ‘Oh, a blackout, well, it happens.’ We had a quick bottle-feed and some snacks and headed back to the Metro station.
When we got there, we wanted to use the elevator, but it wasn’t working. We exchanged looks. So it’s not only the Zoo? As we turned to the stairs, about six Metro employees came up the stairs and started to unroll a tape to seal the Metro entrance. Now I was getting a bit panicky. Only one of the employees spoke English. Thant’s when we learned – It’s a nation-wide blackout. Some say also parts of Portugal and France. We checked our phones – no signal. It really seemed like a cyber attack. It got really scary, really quickly.
Luckily this woman also told us which bus to take to the city centre and it just stopped in front of us. We hurried to get on, baby just falling asleep in the stroller. We were lucky!!! The bus was packed and it didn’t even stop at any of the other stops! Realisation struck me fast – I didn’t even know where we were going to get dropped off. I told my husband that it might be very far from our hotel and we might need to walk. We were prepared to.
It took us about an hour and a half to get to the city, mostly due to the buses ‘no stop’ policy (can’t imagine what we would do otherwise!) and finally got off in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid. This was about 45 minutes away from our hotel.
I don’t really know how to describe the feeling… There was a feel of panic in the air, the traffic stood still, people hurrying up and down the streets. There was eery silence, taking into account how many people were actually there, just sirens from police cars and ambulances every 10 minutes. The policemen and army soldiers were already everywhere, trying to restore some order in this mess. We walked steadily to our apartment, walking past shops, banks, everything just – closed! When we walked past a small privately-owned store, I persuaded my husband to go in and get something for us to eat – we didn’t know how long this was going to go on – and they really overcharged us massively! We paid 20 euros for a bit of bread and milk!
Finally we arrived to our apartment building – elevator obviously not working. After walking 5 stories with a stroller in hand, our daughter finally woke up exactly when we entered the apartment. Now – I was thrilled that my husband thinks of all the electronics and also brought a power bank with us, as our phones were nearly out of juice. But we couldn’t call anyone, call home to let them know we were okay. Luckily I made a reservation for our airport taxi beforehand, but I wasn’t sure if anyone was coming. I couldn’t check if our plane was still scheduled. I had all sorts of ideas.
I went to the reception of the apartment building but no one seemed to know anything… as we had an early flight, I thought of waking up at 4 am to try and (hopefully) catch a cab driving around. I even checked how much it would take us to walk to the Airport (oh my!). Back at the apartment it was really hot, the AC didn’t work, also the lights, stove and microwave… even though we knew there was no electricity it’s instances like this that remind you how dependent we actually are. Thankfully our daughter wasn’t fussy about drinking cold formula!
We were prepared for everything when we went to bed and at midnight celebratory shouts from the streets and other apartments woke us up. We felt really relieved. It took another 2 hours for our building to get electricity back, but at least we were out of the ‘dark’.
✨ Day 7: Farewell Madrid
Our last day seemed like everything was back to normal – our taxi showed up and our flight was still on. There was a 2 hour delay, but since we could have been stuck on the Metro, it was a small price to pay.
Needless to say it was a real adventure, and our little one’s first bigger trip. So many memories were formed and even in a crisis, our family stuck together and made it out stronger and even more connected!
🍼 Baby Travel Tips for Madrid
- Parks are your best friend. Retiro and Casa de Campo are perfect for walks and feedings.
- Most restaurants are baby-friendly — but bring a portable changing mat just in case.
- Metro note: Not all stations have elevators, so plan your routes or use buses.
- Siesta hours mean peace and quiet — use them for naps or a slow lunch.
- Locals adore babies — expect smiles, gentle touches, and even a few helpful hands from strangers.
💡 Final Thought
Madrid with a baby might sound ambitious, but it’s actually wonderful. The city’s energy balances beautifully with its relaxed outdoor life. It’s a place where you can sip coffee on a terrace, rock your baby in the stroller, and feel utterly at ease.
If parenthood teaches anything, it’s to find joy in the slow moments — and Madrid, with its sunshine, plazas, and endless charm, is full of them.
🛎️ Tips & Bookings
🎟️ Tickets & Attractions
- Prado Museum: Madrid’s most famous museum. If you only book one cultural stop, make it this one. Pre-book skip-the-line tickets — the queues get long, even on weekdays.
- Reina Sofía Museum (Home of Guernica): A must if you appreciate modern art. The museum is large and stroller-friendly, and pre-booking makes the experience much smoother.
- Royal Palace of Madrid: Europe’s largest functioning royal palace. Book tickets or a guided tour to avoid long waits. (Closed during official events, so check the schedule.)
- Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Tour (Real Madrid): A fun, interactive experience even if you’re not a hardcore football fan. Great if you want something indoors and stroller-friendly.
- El Retiro Park Rowboats: If you’re not traveling with a tiny baby, renting a boat on the lake is iconic. If you are — enjoy the stroller-friendly walking paths instead.
- Botanical Gardens: Beautiful, peaceful, and very manageable with a stroller. You can book tickets in advance, though it’s usually not necessary.
- Toledo or Segovia Day Trip: If you have an extra day, book a high-speed train or guided tour. Both cities are close, beautiful, and rich in history. Note: Toledo is very hilly with cobblestones — not ideal for strollers.
- Madrid Aquarium Zoo: iIf your little one loves animals, this is a perfect thing to do!
🚕 Transport & Practical Tips
- Taxi from the Airport (with Optional Baby Seat): Madrid taxis offer a fixed-rate airport price. Some have baby seats, but they are not required by law — so don’t rely on availability.
- Metro & Buses: Stroller friendly in most stations, though some older platforms lack elevators. Plan ahead if using public transport.
- Stroller vs. Baby Carrier: Bring both. The stroller is perfect for long city walks and naps, while the carrier is ideal for museums, narrow paths, and busy areas.
✈️ Flights
For more travel inspirations, go through my blog or visit my Pinterest!