Parque de Atracciones Madrid celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019 so we visited the amusement park and the neighbouring Zoo Aquarium de Madrid.

Both attractions are located inside the leafy Casa de Campo in Madrid, and are within easy walking distance of each other. 

Combining them provides a selection of thrills and an opportunity to get up close to some remarkable animals.

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There is a great collection of roller coasters at Parque de Atracciones. The highlights include Abismo with a vertical lift, spinning Tarántula, and inverted Tornado. They are all located in the Maquinismo area, which is packed with thrill rides. 

Many of the flat rides are commonly found in amusement parks around the world, such as the La Lanzadera tower drop ride, La Máquina pendulum ride, Tifón Disk'O, Rotor and Top Spin.

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Abismo is the only extended X-Car SkyLoop roller coaster in the world, with the signature vertical lift into a heartline roll at 151 ft (46 m) followed by an intense circuit of sweeping curves and an airtime hill, with a top speed of 65 mph (105 km/h). It's worth visiting for this ride alone!

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Tarántula demonstrates just how thrilling a spinning coaster can be, with its long and unpredictable course of elements. A well themed entrance and volcanic setting enhance the appearance of the ride.

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Tornado is a rare suspended looping coaster that features two vertical loops, a corkscrew and a powerful double helix. We took advantage of front row seats for an uninterrupted view of the upcoming track that winds through a woodland setting.

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At the centre of the park, Tranquildad offers a variety of rides and attractions. The highlight is the Star Flyer, a 262 ft (80 m) tall chair swing tower ride, which offers incredible views of Madrid as it gracefully swoops you into the air. We also enjoyed the Zeppelin suspended monorail ride, which offers a relaxing tour around part of the park.

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The nearby Jungala boat ride has clearly been inspired by Disney's Jungle Cruise. There are some nicely themed scenes featuring various animatronics and some sound effects, but there isn't a skipper to deliver any humorous commentary!

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The Walking Dead Experience, a live action horror attraction, returns in 2019 with two new terrifying scenes. It was great to be able to experience the new elements as well as other iconic locations from the TV series. The introduction was delivered in Spanish, but once inside the language issue was of little concern. Hoards of infected zombies stalked the highly detailed sets, with a superb use of jump scares and some special effects. For just €5 extra, it's good value.

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Naturaleza is a lovely part of the park, with lots of trees and an adventure theme. We really enjoyed TNT Tren de la Mina, a modern family coaster that has some surprisingly exciting moments, and Vértigo is a classic 'wild mouse' coaster. There are two standard water rides here, Los Fiordos and Los Rápidos. The former is a simple flume, and the latter a winding rapids.

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Nickelodeon Land offers 10 well themed rides for children, based on the popular characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Fairly OddParents, Rugrats and PAW Patrol.

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Zoo Aquarium de Madrid is one of the largest zoos in Spain with over 500 species. It has the most extensive array of animals that we have seen in a zoo, with the highlights being giant pandas, koalas, dolphins, lions, tigers, giraffes, zebras, elephants, rhinos, hippos, leopards and bears.

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What did come as a surprise to us, was the brutalist architecture found in certain enclosures, with harsh angular concrete walls and floors. These are a stark contrast to the more natural and themed enclosures in other areas, and which are more common in modern zoos.

The more visually appealing animal habitats offered excellent viewing and photo opportunities. A land train, animal keeper talks and various displays all added to the experience.

We would definitely suggest visiting Zoo Aquarium de Madrid in the morning then heading over to Parque de Atracciones Madrid for the afternoon and evening as we did.