Where to see almond trees in blossom in Madrid

As spring approaches, but before all the other flowers start to come out, the almond and cherry trees steal all the attention with their delicate, white and pink petal blossoms. Social media goes wild with the most aesthetic photos and we remember that winter always passes and the sun will return.

There are records from even the era before Christ that mark that humans have always celebrated the spring equinox, when the days start to get longer, the riverbeds resume and flowers push through the branches to bring the landscape back to life. So let's celebrate!

These are the best places, in the province of Madrid, to go and see the almond blossom and celebrate the end of winter.

This park is known, above all, for the ephemeral spectacle of its 1,600 almond trees for only about three weeks between February and March. It is now open to the public, but it was once an estate with farmland and other land for bourgeois strolls. What remains are beautiful gardens. You can find almond trees scattered all over the place, but there are more next to the secondary entrance on Calle Alcalá and also the one on Calle Miami.

This is one of the largest parks in Europe and has as much history as it does almond blossom. It was first owned by a noble family, the Vargas, but King Felipe II bought it from them to extend the land and turn it into the royal site of his Casa de Campo (hence its name), close to Monte de El Prado.

In the botanical path of this park you will find some four kilometres of varied vegetation, including the almond trees that begin to bloom during the months of February and March. Unlike the garden of the Quinta de los Molinos, this space is not only for this type of trees, but is a much more diverse and random space.

On the other side of the Manzanares River, next to the Casa de Campo park, is another natural space, which was once the orchard that supplied the Casa Vargas. Here you can also enjoy the almond trees, scattered among other fruit trees such as hazelnut and olive trees.

You can also climb up to the viewpoint to enjoy the Madrid Río park, the Royal Palace, the Almudena Cathedral and the towers of the Plaza de España.

Further out of the city, within the Butarque linear park, there is a path to enjoy the almond trees that begin to put out their blossoms shortly before the arrival of spring. These coveted trees are at the western end of the park, out of bounds and somewhat forgotten by the municipal authorities. This does not detract from their beauty, and on the contrary, helps to make it a much less busy park than the others, which particularly at this time of year are full of people wanting to take photos.

One tree stands out from the rest: the Almendro Real, a gigantic specimen of this species, 12 metres high and 14 metres thick. To reach it you can follow this route, making this visit a real stroll through the park.

This is probably the most coveted place to enjoy the almond blossom in this pre-spring season. In the heart of Madrid's most emblematic park, these trees are dressed in shades ranging from white to pink from the end of February to March.

However, this spectacle cannot be enjoyed throughout the park, but only in the area where the Napoleonic troops were billeted during the War of Independence, which gave the orchard its name. In addition to seeing the almond trees in bloom, here you can also see a large waterwheel that was used for the Royal Porcelain Factory and, of course, to irrigate the gardens.

This beautiful garden and must-see in the Spanish capital was founded in 1755 by King Ferdinand VI. It was originally designed as a medicinal and study garden for flora and vegetation, but over the centuries, it has evolved into an important centre for botanical research, conservation and education. It is also a beautiful place to walk around.

The almond trees that you can now visit were also introduced as part of the original botanical collection, so to walk among them is also to take a journey into the history of this city.