Published on May, 2024
This is the second self-guided tour of the Madrid rio (the Manzanares river) from VoiceMap Madrid that I've done and I've been very impressed with both.
Distance-wise, this is the shorter of the two, but don't think that this means it's any less value for money, because it's not! You'll get plenty of entertainment and interesting facts about the history of the river.
Very little of this tour overlaps with the previous one, so if you have the time it's well worth doing both. Having said that, no prior knowledge is assumed, or needed, so it works brilliantly as a stand-alone tour too!
The focus of this tour is on the last 500 years, from Madrid becoming the capital city, to the present day. Since this is a part of the city that many tourists never visit, you'll be getting something unique, but even locals are likely to learn several things here.
I've lived about 20 minutes walk from the Manzanares since 2018 and always enjoyed walking in the park along it, but now I have a much greater understanding of the historical context of it, thanks to these walking tours.
If the guide ever produces a third audio tour, I guarantee that it'll be something I'll download as soon as I'm able!