When the middle of the day is too hot to be outside, these are the indoor places we head for with kids: a shark-tunnel aquarium, a kid-sized city, play parks, trampolines and a real-snow slope, all with the air conditioning running. Here's what we checked, from Micropolix to Snozone.
A 6,000-square-meter aquarium on the first floor of the Madrid Xanadú mall, with 10,000 animals across 20 marine habitats. The open-ocean hall is a domed walkway where blacktip and gray reef sharks, rays, and a loggerhead turtle swim around you. The polar zone has a column of snow kids can touch, and the Passport game handed out at the desk ends with a medal.
Sweet Space Museum is a walk-through art space inside the ABC Serrano mall, with 10 themed rooms designed by artists including Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. Kids jump into two ball pits (one sized for little ones), set off mechanical ball-and-light circuits, try candy tastings and pose for photos as staff guides lead the way. It suits kids who like bright colors and hands-on rooms more than quiet galleries.
A city built to kid scale, 12,000 m² under one roof, where children work more than 30 real jobs: firefighter, vet, pilot, journalist, police officer. Some jobs pay a wage in Eurix, the city's own currency, and others cost Eurix, so kids decide how to earn and spend it. Parents stroll the streets, sit in the café or join adult activities while kids work.
Monkey Town is an indoor play park inside the Oasiz shopping center. The Funhouse is a climbing frame with tunnels, slides and a ball pit, next to a row of trampolines. Toddlers get their own Baby Zone with mini slides and a smaller ball pit.
Older kids can race Jungle Tag, an obstacle course where a wristband scores the light sensors they hit. A café sits beside the play area.
A trampoline park inside the Heron City leisure complex with nine zones, including a foam pit, airbag jump, basketball slam lanes, a gladiator duel and a freestyle jump area. Sessions are timed. Children under five need an adult with them. A cafeteria is on site, and the park also runs a jumping academy for regular classes.
A real-snow slope covering 18,000 m² inside the Madrid Xanadú mall, kept between -6°C and -2°C all year. Kids ride giant rubber donuts down three ice tubing lanes, try snowbikes, or learn to ski and snowboard on the beginner slope before moving up to the expert run, the chairlift and the snowpark jumps. Boots, skis or board, and a helmet come with every ticket.
When the middle of the day is too hot to be outside, these are the indoor places we head for with kids: a shark-tunnel aquarium, a kid-sized city, play parks, trampolines and a real-snow slope, all with the air conditioning running. Here's what we checked, from Micropolix to Snozone.
A 6,000-square-meter aquarium on the first floor of the Madrid Xanadú mall, with 10,000 animals across 20 marine habitats. The open-ocean hall is a domed walkway where blacktip and gray reef sharks, rays, and a loggerhead turtle swim around you. The polar zone has a column of snow kids can touch, and the Passport game handed out at the desk ends with a medal.
Sweet Space Museum is a walk-through art space inside the ABC Serrano mall, with 10 themed rooms designed by artists including Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. Kids jump into two ball pits (one sized for little ones), set off mechanical ball-and-light circuits, try candy tastings and pose for photos as staff guides lead the way. It suits kids who like bright colors and hands-on rooms more than quiet galleries.
A city built to kid scale, 12,000 m² under one roof, where children work more than 30 real jobs: firefighter, vet, pilot, journalist, police officer. Some jobs pay a wage in Eurix, the city's own currency, and others cost Eurix, so kids decide how to earn and spend it. Parents stroll the streets, sit in the café or join adult activities while kids work.
Monkey Town is an indoor play park inside the Oasiz shopping center. The Funhouse is a climbing frame with tunnels, slides and a ball pit, next to a row of trampolines. Toddlers get their own Baby Zone with mini slides and a smaller ball pit.
Older kids can race Jungle Tag, an obstacle course where a wristband scores the light sensors they hit. A café sits beside the play area.
A trampoline park inside the Heron City leisure complex with nine zones, including a foam pit, airbag jump, basketball slam lanes, a gladiator duel and a freestyle jump area. Sessions are timed. Children under five need an adult with them. A cafeteria is on site, and the park also runs a jumping academy for regular classes.
A real-snow slope covering 18,000 m² inside the Madrid Xanadú mall, kept between -6°C and -2°C all year. Kids ride giant rubber donuts down three ice tubing lanes, try snowbikes, or learn to ski and snowboard on the beginner slope before moving up to the expert run, the chairlift and the snowpark jumps. Boots, skis or board, and a helmet come with every ticket.
