Madrid Summer Activities: Water Park

Feeling like summer is coming on? Sunny days are upon us, and what better way to celebrate the coming of the often most loved and briskest of seasons than to get down on some water and sun?  Madrid may not have a port or beaches, but it does have the perfect escape just a half an hour away from the city center: The Aquopolis Water Park. The good ol’ Spaniards have recreated the American tradition of wave pools, fast waterslides and water park wedgies. Aquopolis is in fact one of Europe’s biggest and oldest water parks and has a little bit of everything for everyone, whether you are young or have a family with six kids.

Located in Villanueva de Canada,Aquopolis is a maze of water rides. Among the big attractions are the Kamikaze and Super Slide, long and narrow slides that take a special liking to velocity. If these things freak you out a bit don’t fret, the Zig Zag and Black Hole slides offer many more turns and tosses than speed. The old and mellow can enjoy the slow river ride—think Splash Mountain without the splash—or the two big wave pools. Little kids have plenty of choices: slides for their size, an activity pool full of safe games and the like, and a fast river ride are among the things to keep them occupied. The place is also chock full of resting and relax zones, green areas ideal for eating, resting, reading, or catching a game on the newly installed TV sets (after all, the World Cup is happening this summer). Food, bathrooms and changing rooms also abound, further proving this isn’t just a shaggier version of an original water park but a first rate attractions park in its own right. Much of the food is, as expected, pizzas, burgers and fries—don’t worry though, salads and other things rarely seen in these places are around too.

Aquopolis opens the 13th of June and will close the 6th of September, so it’s strictly a summer fling. Day hours are from noon until 19:00 in the evening. The park has several paying methods depending on their customers like,  for instance, special rates for schools or groups of over twenty people. Here we will give out information on the standard individual rate, if you would like to see the rates for groups click here. Day rates are: Adults higher than 1.40 meters 21.95 euros, kids between .90 and 1.40 meters and seniors 16.95 euros, and kids under .90 meters enter free. Entrances can be bought online, at the park or by calling 902 345 006. Resting chairs are 3.80 euros while renting a box to keep belongings in is 4.20 euros.

Getting there is possible by personal transportation or by public buses, which include lines 623 and 627 (both leave outside the Moncloa metro approximately every 10 minutes) and 851 (leaves outside the Principe Pio metro every hour during the summer). For more information on bus routes click here.  There is also another Aquopolis water park near Madrid in San Fernando de Henares, click here to check it out. They’ve got the water and the rides, you’ve got the sun and the transportation to get there—go have some fun!

Parque Acuatico Aquopolis Villanueva de la Canada
Calle de la Mirasierra, 28691 Villanueva De La Cañada‎
902 34 50 06

By Daniel Sznajderman