The Fantastic Playgrounds of Madrid: Plaza de Chamberí

Plaza de Chamberí recently underwent a massive renovation. The old playground area was tbh getting a little gross-it was one of those old sand playgrounds with worn out equipment. 

They redid the entire plaza, removing only 1/3 (?) of the trees* and it's now a really interesting three sector playground with a pirate ship?? theme. Unlike the pirate ship playground in Plaza del Conde de Suchil near San Bernardo metro station, the Plaza de Chamberí's pirate ship theme is like a ropes course and is aimed at older elementary kids and up. There are three sectors: one for toddlers, one for older elementary, and then the part in the middle is a straight up ropes course. The rope course in the middle is QUITE high off the ground and Don Loco could not do it on his own. Even the little house part was impossible to climb without a lot of coordination and upper body strength. My verdict: this is definitely a Big Kid playground.

This is a challenging play ground!

There are a small collection of terrace cafes lining the playground which is fantastic, including my forever favorite fast food in madrid, Rodilla sandwiches. 

*my personal gripe with many Spanish urban renovation projects, they take out all the lovely mature trees!!!. but many trees still remain for a nice shaded experience in this case.

Logistics: It's not super convenient to any metro stop, but I take the Bilbao metro stop. Note: take the Linea 1 Light Blue line exit toward Calle Luchana; if you exit at Glorieta del Bilbao exit it is a much longer walk outside. (however the Glorieta de Bilbao exit side has an elevator if you have a stroller)