Madrid Río is the city's best act of repair: a roaring motorway buried underground, the Manzanares uncovered, and six kilometres of riverbank handed back as park. The stretch through Arganzuela is the one to walk — bridges old and new, water to run through, and an arts centre in a slaughterhouse.
About four kilometres, best on a warm afternoon. From Pirámides, start on the Puente de Toledo, the granite baroque bridge with its saints, then drop to the bank where the river runs clear of traffic at last. Follow it south to Matadero Madrid, the old municipal slaughterhouse turned arts complex — courtyards open to wander, a coffee in the central yard.
Back at the water, the Playa de las Tablas fountains jet straight out of the paving; in summer the children own them. Cross Perrault's spiralling steel footbridge, the Puente Monumental de Arganzuela, for the view back to the rooftops. Then the planted pines, the reconstructed orchards, and the slow walk south.
End at Legazpi, where Metro 3 and 6 take you home — the river behind you, the motorway still humming, unseen, beneath your feet.
