We were apprehensive, to say the least, about traveling to Spain from the U.S. with our one-year-old toddler, Luke. Buuut… we just couldn’t say no to the opportunity to see one of our dear friends get married in his family’s castle, Torres de Mens, in the hills of Northern Spain. So… off we went!
Although there were certainly challenges about traveling with a toddler abroad (particularly during transit), overall, it went much better than we had imagined.
Showing Luke different areas of the world and watching him grow surrounded by culture and soul makes the dinner-time walks outside of restaurants and constant singing of silly songs to ease fussing so totally worth it.
Our Hotel Recommendations in Madrid and A Coruña
Experiencing the Meliá hotel brand was one of the trip’s highlights for me. We stayed with Meliá for both legs of our trip, both in Madrid and A Coruña. Now that I’ve seen the service they deliver, I am looking forward to visiting many more of their properties.
Gran Meliá Palacio de Los Duques
WOW! This hotel is stunning. It has a rooftop pool, complete with a Veuve champagne cart, a full bar, and a jacuzzi. The view overlooks central Madrid, with a spectacular perspective of the palace. There is exquisite art on the walls and lining the halls.
Even though the amenities were spectacular, the true luxury of our stay was felt in the service.
All of the employees we encountered went above and beyond to create a pleasurable experience for us. Many of them were very charming, nearly all of them spoke perfect English, and every single one of them was professional.
The concierge helped us get taxis that could accommodate the children with car seats, the bellhops went with my husband to find street parking when our rental van wouldn’t fit in the garage, and room service promptly brought up ice and champagne glasses when we requested them for a bottle we bought at the market.
The standard room was a little small if you’re traveling to Spain with a toddler ( or as any group of more than just 2 adults), but the family-sized room was extremely accommodating. Then again, between the rooftop pool and the dreamy garden, you won’t want to spend much of your time in the room anyway.
Meliá Maria Pita
The Meliá Maria Pita is a gorgeous hotel overlooking the coast of A Coruña. It was definitely designed with children in mind, and even brought a platter of candy and special juices for our niece and nephew one night (with the bonus of also bringing champagne for their mom and dad). A special kid’s section in the hotel restaurant has a play kitchen, toys, and a kid’s buffet with decorated pancakes, waffles and fruit skewers with chocolate.
Window view from room 
Kid’s area in restaurant 
Room service kid’s cart 
Maria Meliá Pita lobby
Beach in the morning down by the Meliá Maria Pita 
Upgrading to a room with a beach view is 20 euros and totally worth it IMO
My sister-in-law and brother-in-law did have a fairly large complaint about the set-up of the family rooms at the Meliá Maria Pita—the kids were given bunk beds downstairs and the parents are meant to sleep upstairs in a loft that has a spiral staircase leading up to it. In their opinion, this set-up was too dangerous to comfortably enjoy with two kids under 10.
Hilton Madrid Airport
If you are looking for a comfortable bed, a good meal, and an indoor pool for the kids to let off some steam before the long flight—the Hilton Madrid Airport is an excellent choice to stay at the night before your departure home. They also run free shuttles to the airport every 30 minutes.
Activities in Madrid and A Coruña for Families
Flamenco Dinner Show at Tablao las Carboneras
If you visit Madrid, you must see this dinner show. For the first time during the trip, my husband and I could both enjoy a full meal because our son was absolutely enamored with the performance.
Food before the show 
The beat for the dancers was held by troupe members clapping
The dancers were all extremely talented in moving the music through their bodies with a vivid display of emotion. The most senior female dancer was truly captivating as she seemed to tell the many stories of her life through her movement.
Day Trip to Segovia
Segovia is a charming little city northwest of Madrid, in central Spain’s Castile and León region. The architecture was impressive, including medieval walls, Romanesque churches, a former royal palace, and a Gothic cathedral. Its iconic ancient Roman aqueduct has more than 160 arches and was constructed almost entirely from mortarless granite.
A small portion of the Aqueduct of Segovia 
We absolutely loved the Alcázar palace in Segovia. It was not too crowded so we were able to let Luke set the pace. This castle will always hold a special place in my heart as it’s where we found the name for our future daughter (should we have one)—Isabel.
Playgrounds in Madrid: Essential for Traveling to Spain with a Toddler
Madrid is full of playgrounds! They are seriously everywhere. My friend local to the area, Leticia, was kind enough to bring me and Luke to the playground she takes her daughter to daily. Usually around the hours of 18:00-20:00 the playgrounds in Madrid are in full swing.
Madrid’s Royal Palace
The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family, but the family no longer actually lives there so now it’s only used for state ceremonies. The palace contains 3,418 rooms, although only a small portion of them are available to the public. It is the biggest functioning Royal Palace and the largest by floor area in Europe.
We purchased a guided group tour and walked through with about 30 other people before the palace officially opened. If you have small children with you, I would definitely recommend doing the same or at least arriving as early to opening time as possible.
Sailing in A Coruña
If I had to pick my favorite part of the trip, aside from the wedding, I would most definitely choose the sailing trip. The boat was pristine, our captain was bilingual and extremely friendly, the scenery was beautiful, and I’ve never seen Granddad as happy as he was when he got behind the wheel.
Our friend Jesus helped us rent the boat through a boater’s club, Altavela. The women working in the shop were really helpful and I would definitely recommend their company. David used a 365-degree camera to take this video of our sailing trip. You can use your mouse to grab and drag to look all around while you watch!
Beach Day in A Coruña
The sand is soft, the people are relaxed, the social media scrolling is nearly NON-EXISTENT! It truly feels like a slice of heaven sitting on the edge of the world in such a peaceful place. The water was really cold, but none of the locals seemed to mind.
Santiago and Ale’s Wedding at Torres de Mens
The precious, fairy-tale love between our friend Santiago and his bride, Ale, is evident. They are truly a divine couple and deserve all the happiness in the world.
Their wedding was exquisite—dawning a lemon tree growing through the tent centered in the courtyard of the castle, massive flower arrangements lining the hallways, and finely aged architecture everywhere. The ceremony was held in the village’s gorgeous cathedral and then all of the wedding guests were led through the streets of the Galician town to the castle by a band of musicians in traditional dress.
Many of the female wedding guests were dressed in monochrome and there were so many fun hats—a European tradition that I petition we bring to the states! The music moved our hips and the energy lifted our spirits. I am so glad we decided to travel to Spain with a toddler. It was a wedding I will never forget.
Restaurant Recommendations in Madrid and A Coruña
If I’m being honest, I am not a big foodie, so I usually don’t pay too much attention to my meals. But, wow-ee, the food in Spain is good. My favorite dish to order was the scallops (they were delicious everywhere I tried them) and I loved how easy and readily available croquetas were for Luke.
A few restaurants I would highly recommend are:
Luzi Bombon (Madrid)
Dos Cielos Madrid (Located in Gran Meliá Hotel)
Alcume (A Coruña)
La Cabana del Pescador (A Coruña)
Flying Internationally With a Toddler
Our flight over to Spain was a little rough. We had economy-plus seats and bought a seat for Luke. They allowed us to use his car seat. He fell asleep in the car seat for about 30 minutes, but then crawled over to daddy and would only sleep there. They turned the lights back on for breakfast about 2 hours before we landed, and Luke was not about that.
Having a bottle for him during take-off and landing was really helpful and avoided him getting upset from the pressure change.
For our flight back, we found out during check-in that our airline did not have any seats assigned for us due to a last-minute plane switch. If we had not been at the airport early, we definitely would have missed the flight. Customs coming into Madrid is also extremely chaotic with a large waiting area filing into about 10 different lanes and very little direction.
I would recommend getting to the Madrid airport at least 3 hours ahead of your flight back to the US.
By the grace of God, the trouble we ran into with Iberia turned out to be a blessing in disguise. They upgraded us and we were able to experience how much easier it is to fly with a little one in first class. If you can afford the splurge, it was a huge value-gain for our sanity and comfort in traveling to Spain with a toddler.
First class on Iberia 
Economy plus on Iberia
Que tengáis un buen viaje!