Retiro Park Madrid: Hours, Boat Hire and Palacio de Cristal

Opening hours and how to get in

The Turismo de Madrid Retiro page (updated 19 August 2026) lists:

The main address is Plaza de la Independencia 7, by the Puerta de Alcalá. Four Metro stations are close: Retiro (line 2) for the north gate and the lake, Ibiza (line 9) for the east side, and Atocha or Estación del Arte (line 1) for the south end and the Paseo del Prado. If you are combining the park with the Prado or Reina Sofía, the south gates are closest. Our museum free hours guide explains when those museums cost nothing.

The Real Jardín Botánico, on the Prado side, keeps shorter hours and charges for entry; our Botanical Garden guide has the details.

The Retiro page also notes that, since 25 July 2021, the Paseo del Prado and the Buen Retiro have been a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape, the "Paisaje de la Luz".

Palacio de Cristal and Palacio de Velázquez

Both palaces in the park are exhibition spaces of the Museo Reina Sofía, and both have been free to enter.

Palacio de Cristal. The Turismo de Madrid page for the glass palace (updated 16 June 2026) lists it as "temporarily closed" for works until 2027. The same page still carries an entry for Fardo by Andrea Canepa "until 1 January" and says the building's art installation can be seen, without giving a year. Read together, you should expect to see the glass palace from the outside only, with no exhibition inside, until the works end. We could not open the Reina Sofía's own page to confirm a reopening date, so check the museum's website before making a special trip.

Palacio de Velázquez. The brick palace, owned by the Ministry of Culture, is open. The Turismo de Madrid page (updated 23 June 2026) lists free entry and these hours:

The exhibition listed is La Perla Peregrina by Fernando Sánchez Castillo, from 24 June to 8 March. The page does not state the years (it was last updated on 23 June 2026), so confirm the closing date on the Reina Sofía's website before planning around it.

Boat hire on the Estanque Grande

Rowing boats on the large lake are run by the city's Centro Deportivo Municipal Estanque del Retiro. The Turismo de Madrid lake page (updated 8 September 2026) gives:

The price is per boat, not per person. A family of four pays €8 on a Saturday; a group of five needs two boats, so €16. Two of the rowing boats are accessible to wheelchair users through a rear gate, and the jetty and the solar boat are adapted.

The midday break from 14:00 to 15:15 and the early winter closing matter more than the price. On a November or December afternoon, last hire can be as early as 17:15, so arrive by about 16:00 if you want a full 45 minutes in daylight.

Booking ahead

You can book in advance in the city's Madrid Móvil app or on deportesweb.madrid.es: open "Clases abiertas", choose the Estanque del Retiro facility and pick a slot. No official page publishes queue times; booking removes the risk on a sunny weekend.

Closures in wind and weather alerts

Retiro is one of six city parks covered by Madrid's weather-alert protocol, along with El Capricho, Fuente del Berro, Quinta de Torre Arias, Quinta de los Molinos and the Rosaleda in Parque del Oeste. According to Turismo de Madrid, under an alert parts of the park can be cordoned off or the park can close temporarily. The city posts alerts on its X account, @MADRID, and 22 screens at the park entrances show the notice two hours before the alert takes effect.

The pages we read do not publish the wind speeds or alert levels that trigger each step. Use this order on a windy or stormy day:

1. Check @MADRID or the screen at the gate before you go in.
2. If areas are taped off, stay out of them.
3. If the park is closed, switch to the museums along the Paseo del Prado, a few minutes' walk from the south gates, or the indoor sights in the centre.

The city's parks overview also points to a municipal map of park closures, which lists Retiro among the parks it covers. That map could not be opened when we checked, so rely on the X account and the gate screens.

Planning around the season

• November to February: park open until 22:00, but the Palacio de Velázquez closes at 18:00 and boats can stop from 17:15. Do the palace and the lake first and walk the park afterwards.
• Christmas week: no boats on 24, 25 and 31 December or 1 January; the Palacio de Velázquez closes early on 24 and 31 December and all day on 25 December and 1 and 6 January. Our Madrid at Christmas guide covers what else closes.
• April to September: the park stays open until midnight and the Palacio de Velázquez until 22:00, so evenings are the easiest time to avoid the heat.

For a day out of the city on another day, our El Escorial day trip guide covers train, bus and monastery tickets.