leafyliterary

The Botanic Garden & the Jerónimos: behind the Prado

The royal botanic garden, the king's old church, and a hill of second-hand books.

Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

2.8 km

Time

~ 75 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Estación del Arte (Metro 1)

End

Banco de España (Metro 2)

Best at

morning

Right now

34°C· Clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Everyone walks the front of the Prado. This is the walk round the back — the green, literary edge of the museum mile, where Madrid keeps its botanic garden, its book stalls and the king's old church within a few hundred metres of each other and almost no crowds. A morning walk; come before the coaches.

Under three kilometres, mostly flat with one gentle slope. Start in the Real Jardín Botánico, Charles III's garden of 1781, terraced and quiet at opening time — walk the lower beds up to the greenhouse. Out the side and onto the Cuesta de Moyano, the hill of green wooden book stalls that have traded here for a century; browse the spines whether or not you read Spanish.

Climb into the still streets behind the Prado, where the traffic falls away, and find San Jerónimo el Real, the twin-towered royal church where Spain still crowns its kings. The steps out front give the view back over the museum.

Carry on past the Prado's quiet flank to Plaza de la Lealtad and its obelisk, with Banco de España a block on.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 55 m·↓ 48 m·627–663 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Real Jardín Botánico
Charles III's botanic garden of 1781, laid out in formal terraces between the Prado and Atocha. Cheap to enter and almost never busy in the morning — pay it, and walk the lower parterres before the school groups arrive. The greenhouse at the top is worth the climb.
01
Real Jardín Botánico
Charles III's botanic garden of 1781, laid out in formal terraces between the Prado and Atocha. Cheap to enter and almost never busy in the morning — pay it, and walk the lower parterres before the school groups arrive. The greenhouse at the top is worth the climb.
02
2
Cuesta de Moyano
The slope rising west of the garden, lined with green wooden book stalls that have sold second-hand and remaindered books here since the 1920s. Browse even if you can't read Spanish; the spines and the ritual are the point. Best in the morning, Sunday quietest of all.
02
Cuesta de Moyano
The slope rising west of the garden, lined with green wooden book stalls that have sold second-hand and remaindered books here since the 1920s. Browse even if you can't read Spanish; the spines and the ritual are the point. Best in the morning, Sunday quietest of all.
03
3
Calle de Claudio Moyano and the quiet streets
Top of the slope, where the noise of Atocha falls away and the streets behind the Prado go residential and still. No single landmark — just walk north on the calm side and let the city slow down.
03
Calle de Claudio Moyano and the quiet streets
Top of the slope, where the noise of Atocha falls away and the streets behind the Prado go residential and still. No single landmark — just walk north on the calm side and let the city slow down.
04
4
Iglesia de San Jerónimo el Real
The king's church, late-Gothic and twin-towered, where Spanish monarchs were once acclaimed and still are crowned. Slip in for the high white nave; the cloister was swallowed by the Prado's extension next door. Climb the steps out front for the view back over the museum.
04
Iglesia de San Jerónimo el Real
The king's church, late-Gothic and twin-towered, where Spanish monarchs were once acclaimed and still are crowned. Slip in for the high white nave; the cloister was swallowed by the Prado's extension next door. Climb the steps out front for the view back over the museum.
05
5
Calle de Moreto and the back of the Prado
The lane between the church and the museum, where the Prado's modern Jerónimos wing meets the old stone. A two-minute walk that most museum crowds never see. Carry on north along the quiet flank.
05
Calle de Moreto and the back of the Prado
The lane between the church and the museum, where the Prado's modern Jerónimos wing meets the old stone. A two-minute walk that most museum crowds never see. Carry on north along the quiet flank.
06
6
Plaza de la Lealtad
A calm oval of a square with an obelisk to the fallen of 1808 and the grand old Ritz on one side. The end of the quiet, and a block from Banco de España — a soft landing after the gardens.
06
Plaza de la Lealtad
A calm oval of a square with an obelisk to the fallen of 1808 and the grand old Ritz on one side. The end of the quiet, and a block from Banco de España — a soft landing after the gardens.

The Botanic Garden & the Jerónimos: behind the Prado

On the map.

Things to notice.

Real Jardín Botánico

Real Jardín Botánico

Cuesta de Moyano

Cuesta de Moyano

Calle de Claudio Moyano and the quiet streets

Calle de Claudio Moyano and the quiet streets

Iglesia de San Jerónimo el Real

Iglesia de San Jerónimo el Real

Calle de Moreto and the back of the Prado

Calle de Moreto and the back of the Prado

Plaza de la Lealtad

Plaza de la Lealtad

Two more, on similar days.

Barrio de las Letras: the literary quarter

Recoletos & Plaza de Colón: the literary promenade