Madrid for The Family Explorers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Rent a rowing boat for forty-five minutes on the Retiro pond; the children steer, the parents row, and the jetty is flat.

Dinner at six in the Chueca market hall: stalls for burgers, croquetas, pasta and fruit, so the pickiest child is covered; the roof terrace is the highlight.

The bear and the strawberry tree on Puerta del Sol, which every child climbs; Kilometre Zero is on the pavement behind it.

A zoo and an aquarium in one site on the Casa de Campo; plan by animal rather than by distance, go early, and bring a pushchair for the tired.

The gondola back to central Madrid over the Manzanares; the children keep the window seat and the nap starts on the platform.

Dinner at six: half a roast chicken, chorizo and a basket of bread, at benches long enough for the whole family and a noise level to match.

Eight hectares of paths and glasshouses beside the Prado; flat, shaded, and with enough ducks and old trees to fill an hour.

Ship models, cannon and a world map of 1500, with lifts and free entry; the museum is closed on Mondays, so Sunday is the day.

Dinner at six in the market hall: tapas and little plates so everyone chooses something, and the queue is shortest before the evening crowd.

A palace of 3,000 rooms, with the armoury and the royal pharmacy the two places the children keep asking about; allow ninety minutes.

Hedged formal gardens below the palace's north side, with a pond and a flat path, a good place to let go of small hands.

Napolitanas and croquetas at the pastry shop on Puerta del Sol since 1894; upstairs has a window over the square.