Free audio walk in Madrid
The boulevard of Charles III
- 62 min
- 3 km
- 8 stops
- Free
Starts at Plaza de Cibeles
About this walk
The boulevard where a king aligned science, nature, and art, from the fountain to the observatory.
The stops
Walk them in order; each story plays when you reach its pin.
- 1Stop 1
Welcome to Cybele
The goddess with the lions, and the plan by Charles III that this whole walk is about.
- 2Stop 2
Palacio de Cibeles
A post office that looks like a cathedral, built by two architects who were both still under thirty.
Read the story - 3Stop 3
The Salón del Prado
The meadow that became a salon, shaped like a Roman racecourse and anchored by three fountains.
Read the story - 4Stop 4
Fuente de Neptuno
Two fountains from a single design facing each other, and the football city that turned them into enemies.
Read the story - 5Stop 5
Museo del Prado
A cabinet of physics that turned into a museum, and the night Las Meninas was driven out of the city.
Read the story - 6Stop 6
Real Jardín Botánico
The garden where everything the Spanish expeditions brought back landed. Indoor stop, ticket required.
Read the story - 7Stop 7
Cuesta de Moyano
Thirty wooden stalls full of second-hand books, lined up on the same slope for a century.
Read the story - 8Stop 8
Real Observatorio
The observatory that Villanueva built, the telescope French soldiers melted down, and the end of our walk.
Read the story
Ready when you are
Walk The boulevard of Charles III with ROODS.
8 stops through Madrid, about 62 minutes. Open ROODS in your browser, walk to the first pin and the story plays.
- Stories on a map, with narrated audio
- Walk at your own pace, stop where you like
- Runs in your browser. An app is optional.
