Fall in Europe | Madrid Cool to Be Green
After the blast furnace of the Spanish summer, Madrileños eagerly await the gentler climate of fall, when they can stroll through the city's parks and gardens.

While Retiro Park (Plaza de la Independencia) may not rival Vermont for leaf-peeping, the towering oaks, chestnuts and sycamores provide enough blazing yellows and rich russets to make a worthy backdrop for the new fall fashions that the locals proudly sport on their daily paseo.

Other favored green zones include the romantic Botanical Gardens (Plaza Murillo; open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; entry, 2 euros, $2.84 at $1.42 to the euro), which stretch between the Prado Museum and Atocha rail station in the heart of the city and seem little changed since they were inaugurated in 1781.

Even closer to Madrid's historic center, amid the bustle and noise of La Latina neighborhood tapas bars, is the tiny Garden of the Principe Anglona (10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.). Nestled between the Plaza de la Paja the site of Inquisition burnings and the precipitously downhill Calle Segovia, the garden was originally laid out in 1761. When the leaves start to fall, the garden seems to float among the red tile rooftops and church spires of Madrid's oldest quarter.