Getaways from Guadalajara: day trips and destinations close by.

To Madrid or to Sigüenza, always the A-2

The A-2 serves both directions. To the west it leads in twenty-five minutes to Alcalá de Henares and continues to Madrid, which you cross or skirt on the M-50 to reach everything to the south and west: Chinchón, Aranjuez, Toledo, El Escorial and the Sierra de Guadarrama. To the east, the same motorway climbs the Henares valley to the kilometre 104 turn-off, the one for Sigüenza, and continues towards Aragón to exit 231, the one for the Monasterio de Piedra.

To the north-west, the N-320 goes via El Casar to Torrelaguna, the gateway to the Sierra Norte: Patones, Buitrago and the Hayedo de Montejo are on that side, and Patones is closer to Guadalajara than to Madrid. To the south-east, the same N-320 drops through the Alcarria towards Sacedón and Cuenca.

Without a car, the train covers both ends of the corridor. The Cercanías C-2 links Guadalajara with Alcalá and Madrid, and the Media Distancia regional towards Sigüenza stops at Guadalajara, so the castle and the cathedral of the Doncel can be seen in a day without driving. For the Sierra de Guadarrama you have to connect in Madrid with the Cercanías or the sierra buses.

Three very different plans within an hour

Under an hour there are three very different plans. Alcalá, at 25 minutes, with Cisneros's university, Cervantes's birthplace and the Roman city of Complutum; Patones, at 50, with beginner climbing and the black-slate village, and Sigüenza, at 55, with the castle turned into a Parador, the cathedral and a roast at midday.

Between one and one and a half hours are the south of Madrid and the first step of the sierra: Chinchón (70 minutes), Aranjuez (75), Toledo (80), La Pedriza (85) and El Escorial and the Navacerrada pass (90).

With a little under two hours by car are Valdesquí and the Hayedo de Montejo (100), Peñalara and Rascafría (105), the Duratón Gorges (111), Segovia (113) and, at 115, Pedraza, Cuenca and the Monasterio de Piedra. Several call for a night and have one: Cuenca and the Ciudad Encantada, Sepúlveda and the canyon or Segovia with a balloon at dawn.

Past two hours the trip is a weekend one: Peñafiel with two wineries, at two hours forty; Albarracín and the Rodeno, at almost three, and the Laguna Negra and Urbión, at a little over three. Consuegra, at two hours five, still fits into a long Sunday.

The snow, on the other side of Madrid

In winter, the snow is on the other side of Madrid: a ski day at Valdesquí, a morning snowshoeing at Navacerrada or the snow weekend in Cercedilla, always with chains in the car. Closer, Sigüenza is cold at over a thousand metres, but the cathedral does not close at midday at weekends, and Alcalá works in any month.

In spring the outdoor plans arrive: climbing at Patones, the gardens of Aranjuez, canoeing on the Duratón and the Monasterio de Piedra waterfalls, which is when they carry the most water.

In July and August Toledo, Aranjuez, La Pedriza and Patones are not recommended. Better to go up: the Peñalara lake has an access quota and fills up early, and in Sigüenza the evenings are cool.

October and November are the most requested months for the Hayedo de Montejo, a hundred minutes away, with the pass collected in the village. In those weeks there are also the oak woods of Rascafría and the Monasterio de Piedra in autumn, with a dip in the Alhama thermal lake.

Cercanías to Alcalá and Cervantes's house

• Without a car, in a day: Alcalá de Henares. Cercanías to Alcalá, a guided visit to the university, Calle Mayor to Cervantes's house, a Cervantes-style lunch and Complutum in the afternoon.
• To the east: Sigüenza, from the castle to the Doncel. Fifty-five minutes along the A-2, the Casa del Doncel in the morning, a pre-ordered roast and the cathedral in the afternoon.
• With one night: the Sierra Norte. Fifty minutes away: on Saturday, climbing and slate at Patones; on Sunday, the Hayedo de Montejo and the Buitrago wall.