8 Best Sights in Moncloa, Madrid

Over five times the size of New York's Central Park, Casa de Campo is Madrid’s largest park and a nature-lover’s paradise, complete with bike trails, picnic tables, pine forests, lakeside restaurants (seek out Villa Verbena, run by the folks behind Triciclo in Barrio de las Letras), and a public outdoor pool (€5 entry). See if you can spot wildlife like hawks, foxes, hares, and red squirrels—and, from November to May, a flock of sheep cared for by a real-deal shepherd. The park's name ("country house") is a holdover from when the grounds were the royal family's hunting estate. It became public property in May 1931 with the arrival of the Spanish Second Republic, which dissolved royal landholdings.

This is many Madrileños' favorite park for its pristine yet unmobbed paths and well-pruned lawns and flower beds. From dawn to dusk, expect to see dogs cavorting off-leash, couples sprawled out beneath the trees, and groups of friends playing frisbee and fútbol. From Paseo del Pintor Rosales, meander downhill toward Avenida de Valladolid, crossing the train tracks, and you'll hit Madrid Río; walk southwest and you'll find Temple of Debod and, beyond, the newly pedestrianized Plaza de España. This park also contains the city's only cable car (see "Teleférico") and, 100 yards beneath it, a rose garden (Rosaleda  free entry) containing some 20,000 specimens of more than 650 rose varieties that reach their peak in May. In the quieter northern section of the park (along Avenida de Séneca), you'll happen upon Civil War–era bunkers interspersed among plane-tree-lined promenades, a sobering reminder that Parque del Oeste was the western front of Madrid's resistance against Franco's armies.

Unlike El Retiro and Western Park, this secluded 158-acre park is mostly forested and unlandscaped, making it ideal for disconnecting in nature. Its location in the Ciudad Universitaria neighborhood makes it a popular meeting place for university students in warm-weather months. You won't run into any tourists here.

Built between 1792 and 1798 by Italian architect Francisco Fontana, this neoclassical chapel was financed by King Carlos IV, who also commissioned Goya to paint the vaults and the main dome. Goya depicted events of the 13th century (such as St. Anthony of Padua resurrecting a dead man) as if they had happened in his own time five centuries later, with naturalistic images never used before to paint religious scenes. Opposite the image of the frightening dead man on the main dome, Goya painted himself as a man covered with a black cloak. Goya, who died in Bordeaux in 1828, is buried here (without his head, which was stolen in France) under an unadorned gravestone.

This UFO-like tower is 360 feet tall and an excellent viewpoint from which to gaze at some of the city’s most outstanding buildings including the Palacio Real, Palacio de Cibeles (City Hall), the four skyscrapers to the north, and up to 50 landmarks for which you’ll find descriptions in English and Spanish.

One of Madrid's most captivatingly opulent museums is also one of its least known. This former palace, built in 1893 by the marquis of the same name, preserves the nobleman's art collection including works by El Greco, Tintoretto, Van Dyck, and Zurbarán. These hang in gilded and frescoed halls appointed with ornate period furniture.

Trace the evolution of dress in Spain here, from rare old royal burial garments to French fashion pieces of Felipe V's reign and the haute couture creations of Balenciaga and Pertegaz. Explanatory notes are in English, and the museum has a superb modern Spanish restaurant, Café de Oriente, overlooking the gardens.

Kids and adults alike appreciate the sweeping views from this retro cable car, which swoops you 2.5 km (1.6 miles) from the Rosaleda gardens (in Parque del Oeste) to the center of Casa de Campo in about 10 minutes. If you're feeling active, take a (very) long hike to the top and ride back into the city, or pause in Casa de Campo for primo picnicking.

This is not the best way to get to the zoo and theme park, located approximately 2 km (1 mile) from the drop-off point in Casa de Campo. You're better off riding the Teléferico out and back, then taking the bus to the zoo.