There is no doubt that Madrid has a long-standing relationship with beer, but the city’s newly thriving craft beer scene is revitalizing the bars of its diverse neighborhoods. Cervezas Madriz Hop Republic attracts those in search of a damn good craft beer and does not disappoint. Each week, their eight taps rotate to include their own artisanal beers as well as a selection of other local and craft beers.

Cervezas Madriz exemplifies the balance-and-blend authenticity of Madrid from the heart of Chamberí on Calle Cardenal Cisneros. The chic bar draws inspiration from the city itself by naming its craft beers after barrios (including their very own Chamberí) while adding a unique spin to the menu by featuring Vietnamese-inspired tapas. The cat, symbol of Madrid residents, can be seen throughout the bar on every label and menu.

It was Thursday night; my friend Annette and I were seated on the last pair of bar stools except for those in the back corner. The lively atmosphere was amplified by the sounds of chatter and laughter while the bartender, Javi, gave us an overview of the beer list and suggested we try a tasting flight of some of the most popular.

And so we did.

Bar-goers are invited to educate themselves while they enjoy themselves at Cervezas Madriz. The menus feature profiles on selected brews and enumerate the proper way to taste beer.

Following the steps, Annette and I tried the four beers on our flights. While my favorite was the Chamberí and hers was the blonde Arapíles, they all were perfectly paired with our tapas of dumplings and spring rolls.

Find your new favorite artisanal brew? Not to worry, Cervezas Madriz can bottle it for you take bring home.

Madriz offers a fresh, new atmosphere where craft beer connoisseurs can taste the spirit of Madrid.

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Address: Calle Cardinal Cisneros 21

Situated on C/ Tribulete, 6 is the new establishment Pum Pum Cafe. It was brought to my attention by the charismatic Jordan, well known by the coffee-lover community for his tenure as a barista at the popular Toma Cafe in Malasaña. The tastefully exposed brick pattern of the wall is a remnant of the conversion process from the butcher shop that previously occupied the space. I’m always keen on discovering new cafes to perch with my laptop. One can easily foresee this business becoming another thriving watering hole in the barrio.

Pum Pum stands out amongst the competition for its breakfast/brunch offerings: a splendid eggs benedict and avocado tostada, an assortment of healthy juices, baked goods and organic products. Their mission is to offer breakfast at all hours of the day as to not discriminate against those who wake up at 5pm after a rowdy night. Aficionados of coffee will be as thrilled as I was to see that Pum Pum is equipped to prepare V60 and chemex filter coffees. 

The owner Papo is from Argentina, his brother Dam operates the kitchen, barista Jordan hails from Australia and the cafe manager Ira is from Ukraine. Papo has an adorable and well behaved infant son who can be seen on site at the weekend. Their hours during the week are 9am-9pm and their weekend brunch hours are 10am-9pm. This location is strongly recommended to any lovers of coffee and breakfast.

Photo: Steff Gutovska

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• Adress: Calle Tribulete 6
• Metro: Lavapiés

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• Toma Café, Fuel up, feel hip
• El Cafelito, for coffee lovers in Lavapiés
• Best brunch on a budget in Madrid
• Swinton & Grant, art, books and coffee in Lavapiés

As you might imagine, dragging myself out of bed and going to work on a Saturday morning is not really my idea of a good time, especially when it involves getting on a bus and schlepping all the way to Las Rozas. Ok, so it’s not really THAT far (about 20 minutes on the bus from Moncloa) but since I was making the effort to get out there, why not aprovechar and visit Cervezas La Virgen brewery and tap room afterwards?

I’m sure most of you have tried one of the delicious artisan beers made by La Virgen, or at least seen them around at events like MadrEat. At their brewery in Las Rozas they offer tours (on Wednesdays only), tastings and, most importantly, a tap room where you can sample all of their tasty beverages. After I was done with work on Saturday, I toddled off to meet my friends there for some lunch and a few beers in the sunshine.

The brewery is located on an estate called Európolis, which perhaps isn’t the most picturesque corner of Madrid, although there was a nice yard full of cherry pickers across the road, plus the shop next door was called Bebépolis (sadly just full of baby stuff, not another place to drink at).

We tried the Madrid 360 beer and a tasty IPA called Esperanza (they’d run out of the Veraniega) and both were excellent.

They also serve a variety of bar food, including burgers, hotdogs and plates to share such as potato wedges and pinchos morunos. Again, all very tasty.

It’s a popular spot for a Saturday afternoon, so all of the long tables inside were heaving with punters eating, drinking and making merry. We managed to grab a table outside on the terrace, which was very pleasant in the sunshine and afforded us the excellent view of the aforementioned cherry pickers. The whole place really had the feel of an American brew pub about it.

La Virgen isn’t exactly in the most convenient of spots, so the easiest way to get there is probably by car. However, if the car isn’t an option or no one fancies being the designated driver, there are plenty of buses from Moncloa to Las Rozas, and it’s a short(ish) walk to the brewery from there. The tap room is open every day from 12:30-16:30 and from 18:30-00:00, except for Sunday afternoons and Mondays. And for those of you who just can’t get enough, they also do beer to take away!

Info

Where: Parque Európolis nave A, Calle Turín, 13, 28232 Las Rozas, Madrid

Phone: +34 910 804 742

Website, Facebook and Twitter

Book tour here

Whether you’re planning a trip to Madrid or a long-time resident looking for new ideas, Madrid is full of great options to keep your little ones entertained.

You might also like my article on workout tips for moms in Madrid.

Parks

Madrid is home to several great parks that offer lots of fun activities.

Madrid Rio: Why not go for a run with your baby along the park lining the Manzanares River? Parents running with a jogging stroller in Spain used to get a lot of odd stares. The running boom has changed all that and made jogging strollers a trend that’s here to stay. Get yours at Baby Running – an online store with top-of-the-line sport strollers.

Casa de Campo:  Casa de Campo is a huge park housing the amusement park, zoo aquarium with more than 6,000 animals, and a scenic lake with outdoor cafes and boats for rent. If you’d like to avoid traffic jams and screaming kids on the metro, try the cable car for a scenic view of Madrid along the way. You may want to make sure you are out of the park before it gets dark as escorts tend to make their appearance later in the day.

Retiro: Look for a puppet show at the outdoor theatre on weekends and enjoy the many other street performers surrounding the pond at the center of the park. You can also rent row boats if you’re feeling confident in your deltoids, or sit back and relax on the solar boat. If you are looking to get some exercise, Diverbikes across from the O’Donnell entrance rents all different kinds of bikes, and surreys.  Rain driving you and your kids up the wall? Check out the second floor of the library in the park for a space dedicated to babies and children.

Theme parks and zoos

In addition to the amusement park and zoo aquarium in Casa de Campo, your children will also love seeing the animals at Faunia in Valdebernardo. Visitors can interact with cage-free animals, and even feed them. The manatee exhibit and petting zoo tend to be a big hit.

If you have a car, the 30 kilometer drive to Warner Theme Park is the worth the trip. With five different park areas, including Hollywood Boulevard, Superheroes World, Cartoon Village, the Old West and WB Movie World Studios, there are plenty of options to keep everyone in your family happy. Younger kids will love seeing Batman, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Superman while older kids and parents check out the latest roller coasters, log fumes and rapid rivers.

You also have the largest water park in Europe about 15 minutes from Madrid in Villanueva de la Cañada. Aquópolis can get very packed during the peak season so you may be better off going to one of Madrid’s outdoor pools on hot summer weekends.

Summer pool by UCM

Sports fans

Kids dreaming of becoming the next Cristiano Ronaldo will forever thank you for taking them to the tour of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Mini Real Madrid fans will be in heaven as they visit the players’ locker room, the President’s Balcony and even sit on the players’ bench.

Little ones hoping to join Cholo’s squad will love seeing the Atlético de Madrid Museum. Atlético fans will adore looking at the trophies, memorabilia and collection of shoes and balls dating back to 1903.

Kid-friendly museums

If your kids hear the word “museum” and start to groan, several museums in Madrid could change all that.

The Wax Museum has over 450 figures including Harry Potter, Snow White, The Simpsons and Frodo from “The Lord of the Rings”. Look online for special discounts for families.

The Madrid Railway Museum contains a selection of 19th century trains, related exhibits and a wide range of family friendly activities. Take a break afterwards and have a snack in the café located in a 1930s carriage. In Spring and Fall you can also take a ride to Aranjuez on an old-fashioned train, the Strawberry Train (Tren de la Fresa).

Madrid’s Planetarium lets little explorers observe other galaxies, planets, stars and black holes. Children’s workshops are also available for Spanish-speaking little ones.

With huge dinosaur skeletons and weekend workshops for children, the National Museum of Natural Sciences is another good option for families.

Theatre and concerts for babies and kids

Madrid offers a wide range of theatre and concerts designed for babies and children. The bill is constantly changing so check BabyTribu and Sapos y Princesas for the latest options.

Other ideas

Older kids who are into go-carts will love the Carlos Sainz Center in Madrid and Las Rozas.

Little ones may enjoy visiting The Casa Museo del Ratoncito Pérez – the Spanish version of the tooth fairy. The hours change so check their website before going.

Located inside the Kinépolis movie theatre, The Magic Forest is a children’s park with slides, climbing trees and mazes.

Nearly every neighborhood in Madrid has a play center (ludoteca). Find the one closest to you here.

By Marybeth Redheffer

Marybeth is the founder of Baby Running, an online store selling sport strollers so you can stay fit with the little ones in the city! Check out her website and facebook.

You might also like: Workout tips for moms in Madrid!

If you are a former gym buff wondering how you can get some exercise that doesn’t involve changing diapers or pushing a swing, fear not! Your workout days don’t have to be over.

Also check out my previous article on great child-friendly activities in Madrid!

Yoga

Mom and baby yoga is a great way to get out of the house, recover strength and flexibility and spend time with your baby. Most yoga classes go from 6 weeks until the baby starts crawling. Check out the Mom and Baby yoga classes at Centro El Patio near the Bilbao metro stop and Zentro Yoga close to the Retiro on Calle Claudio Coello.

Yoga for families is another good option for toddlers and children (the age requirement varies from center to center). City Yoga offers classes for parents and toddlers from 1-3 years and Centro Infantil Nariz Roja starts at 4 years.

Gyms with daycare

Unfortunately gyms with daycare are few and far between in Madrid. Why deep-pocketed entrepreneurs aren’t investing in gyms with daycare remains a mystery. If you are lucky enough to live near one of the gyms that offer daycare, be sure to ask the minimum age before going. Some won’t take babies or toddlers.

• Virgin Atlantic Capitán Haya (Tetuán)

• Zagros Puerta Europa (Chamartin)

• Holmes Places (Moraleja)

• Reebok Sports Club (Pozuelo)

Try Baby Running

Going for a run with your baby or toddler is probably the most convenient way to get some exercise. Just make sure you have a proper jogging stroller – you don’t want to hurt your little one in the process!  If you’re tight on space, opt for a model that can go from swivel to fixed wheel and it can also serve as your everyday stroller. Check out Baby Running for a selection of top-rated sport strollers.

Try Baby Blading

If rollerblading is your thing, the BOB Revolution PRO is the first stroller to be certified for rollerblading. Get yours here.

Rent bikes

Places to rent bicycles are popping up all over the city. Go for a bike ride with your kids in a nearby park, or if you live in the center, the Paseo del Prado is closed for cars from 9AM-4PM on Sundays. Located across from the O’Donnell entrance to the Retiro, Diverbikes is also a fun way for the whole family to get some exercise.

MamiFit classes

MamiFit classes are designed to help new moms in their postpartum recovery, with an emphasis on hypopressive exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor and core. The best part is that you can bring your baby, a few of his or her favorite toys and get in a workout (if your baby cooperates☺).

Go swimming

Take your children for a swim at one of the many indoor and outdoor public pools. If your little ones could use some help learning to swim, some pools offer swimming lessons. Take advantage of class time to do some laps yourself!

YouTube

Ignore your to-do list and use nap time to release some endorphins doing exercise at home. There are tons of good full-length exercise videos on YouTube. Some favorites are All Around Fitness and Body Rock.

By Marybeth Redheffer

Marybeth is the founder of Baby Running, an online store selling sport strollers so you can go out for a run with the little one in the city! Check out her website and facebook.

You might also like: Madrid with kids – tips from a mom!

I’ve started jokingly referring to Gran Via as my Madrid version of the River Thames. Should you know London, you’ll know that when it comes to being a dweller of the affectionately nicknamed ‘smog’, you very much fall either the North or South camp thanks to the watery divide; and to this end I feel that the same can be said for Madders. If you’re Fuencarral side of Gran Via you tend to spend your free time hot footing it around the streets of Malasaña and Chueca. Whereas if you veer down towards Sol, you can usually be found whiling away time between La Latina and Lavapiés. Either way, had I not crossed the ‘symbolic’ gulf provided by our very own Oxford Street equivalent, I may never have found El Imparcial.

Inconspicuous and almost completely nondescript from the exterior, El Imparcial is quite the find upon entering. On the right hand side your greeted by a pocket-sized bar where you can grab a coffee or a cana. However, make your way up the impressively sized staircases and you enter into an Aladdin’s Cave of all round prettiness. I’m loathe to bandy around this term liberally, but the high ceilings and beautifully restored décor can almost be described as ‘breath taking’ – close one eye and squint with the other and it does have a touch of the old Palace De Versailles about it.

Part concept store, part restaurant, El Imparcial straddles a line where you literally want everything that you see. Cocktails, they’ve got them in spades. Food, well there are morsels so delicious that it wouldn’t be uncommon to not want to share your starter *apologies to my fam as I inhaled the bao buns without as much as a thought of ‘did you want to try one?!’

Last but not least are the Wallpaper magazine worthy purchases waiting to adorn your casa. El Imparcial stocks a carefully (and I’d hazard a guess, lovingly) curated range of stationary, magazines and books – apt really considering the building once housed a newspaper.

Food wise they offer a complete smorgasbord of delights. We wolfed down (amongst other treats) Roasted black cod with miso edamame beans, oxtail croquettes and a lip smackingly good buttifara pizza with scamorza. Our lunch lasted for hours, dinner…even longer. It really is one of those places that seems to draw you in and make you not want to leave (or maybe after the array of cocktails placing one foot in front of other could’ve been tricky and partly to blame for the desire not to budge).

Did I mention just how pretty it is? *and that’s just the staff. Book well ahead or find yourself lingering outside, nose pressed against the glass wanting to get in.

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• Address: Calle Duque de Alba, 4, 28012 Madrid
• Metro: Tirso de Molina

Sometimes when I go out to have lunch or dinner I can’t  help but think that an important part of customer service is missing. So when I had dinner at New Cucos with my friend, when we went outside afterwards, we could only say how well we were treated and what a wonderful dinner we had.

New Cucos is a family-style restaurant in the neighborhood of Arturo Soria. This closeness and warmth can be seen in the way Juan (the owner) treats everyone who works there, as well as all the customers who are having dinner or lunch.

The restaurant is located on the quiet street of Arturo Soria. It is a large space with a perfect covered terrace for more intimate dinners or larger celebrations. The terrace provides a very cozy place where you can talk quietly without being bothered by the next table, and then there’s also a smaller and equally cozy interior. The first day we decided to sit in inside, as Real Madrid was playing and we wanted to see the match. The second day we sat in the covered terrace, great decision.

The Food

New Cucos has a simple and traditional menu with very good quality ingredients. The portions are generous, in fact, the most popular dishes on the menu are large sharing platters; these can be great among a group of friends, or even just for two.

First we went for the warm burrata salad with cherry tomatoes. It was simply delicious. Great quality, never tried the burrata and I have to say I totally loved it.

Burrata Salad

Then we decided to try the spring rolls with vegetables and prawns – a highly recommended and delicious dish as well.

Spring rolls

By the time we had to eat our third dish, we were already full, but how can you say no to a plate of ravioli? These were filled with pumpkin and cheese sauce – simply spectacular and very rich. In fact the second time we went we couldn’t help but order them again.

Ravioli

The second day we also ordered a delicious mixed salad. For me, nothing beats a well-prepared mixed salad.

Salad

As for the rest of the menu, in addition to the dishes to share, they have a small selection of fish and meat dishes. I have to say the South African ostrich burger looks delicious.

Prices are very reasonable. The first day we had three dishes, three glasses of wine and two beers for 47 euros. The second day our bill came out to 33 euros.

I’d also like to highlight once again that we received fantastic service both times we went; the staff was attentive, asking if everything was fine, and very importantly, without putting any pressure on us to leave. That sort of thing is very noticeable and makes your dinner even better.

Nothing else to add, New Cucos points out on Twitter: “eat and drink in an oasis” And I couldn’t agree more.

So, “Mucha mierda” (or “break a leg”) to Juan and the rest of his family. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon!

Info

• Where: Calle Arturo Soria 84
• Metro: Arturo Soria
• Tf: 913774039
• Twitter
• Monday to saturday 11 to 1.

Travel the world through food at this unique mobile market open one weekend a month. With a variety of countries represented and blended by cuisine, Madreat is an inspiring mix of chefs and customers sharing the spices of life. They even take gastronomic suggestions through their website to keep the melting pot bubbling. Stop by their temporarily new location in Casa de Campo on March 19th and 20th for an exciting edible experience. If you miss Saturday (from 12pm-12am), remember it closes early on Sunday at 6 pm!

Picture from Facebook

Doktor Lemoine will be singing a song or two for the folk-loving folks at Desperate Literature on Friday, March 11th. Charming all with his tuxedo and camper van, Lemoine will be worth the trip so strum on down for this folk-tastic concert.

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Do you like bicycling or film? Then don’t miss the chance to combine the two in the Bicycle Film Festival in Madrid going on March 10-13. Get the chance to view shorts, documentaries, and full-length films. This festival has been going on for over 15 years so come out and celebrate the art of film while enjoying the world of bicycling!