hey. I'm not quite sure what you're after. Will you be staying outside but still be visiting Madrid daily?

Most of the towns outside of the centre are industrial, and the south of Madrid isn't a very nice area. Anything else will be a quiet village. Alcala de Henares is ok, you can take the bus direct to Madrid, about 40 minutes - but it's rather boring, just a University, some bars, restaurants etc.

Is there a reason you don't want to stay in the centre? If you do, I could suggest some of the nicer areas (or the areas to avoid lol).

Also, Feb is very very chilly in Madrid! I lived there during the winter just gone! (If you want any more info about Madrid, send me a message).

If you are a quite active family, and are after self catering outside of Madrid city centre (but still in the Madrid region), you could look for "Casa Rurales". "toprural.com" is a good site. You can find some very nice ones in the countryside surrounding Madrid. In these areas there is usually lots of walking, hiking and cycling fun to be had :). The area between Madrid and Segovia is very nice. Pick up and hire car at the airport, drive anti clockwise around madrid, and look for places near the A6 motorway.

Why don't you want to go to Madrid? It's got a zoo, a cable car, a theme park (though I think that's only open weekends during February), fast-food restaurants ...

I've just come back from there and there were loads of kids. It's a great place. You might find the odd thing to appeal to grown-ups, too.