# Alcalá de Henares: university, Cervantes and Complutum

Cisneros's university, Cervantes's birthplace, the arcaded Calle Mayor and the Roman city of Complutum, 35 minutes from Madrid on the Cercanías.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/alcala-de-henares · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Alcalá de Henares is the university city that Cardinal Cisneros founded in 1499 and the place where Miguel de Cervantes was born in 1547. Its university and historic precinct have been a World Heritage Site since 1998: it is the only city in the Community of Madrid with that title. It is covered on foot in a day: the Plateresque façade of San Ildefonso, the arcaded Calle Mayor, Cervantes's house, the Magistral cathedral and, on the outskirts, the Roman city of Complutum. Almost everything is free and almost everything is ten minutes' walk from the Plaza de Cervantes.

## How do you get there from Madrid?

It is one of the few destinations of this kind that is better done without a car. The Cercanías C-2 leaves Chamartín and Atocha every 20 minutes and the C-7 every 10, according to the tourist office; the journey takes about 35 minutes and from the station to the centre it is a quarter of an hour's walk. ALSA buses 223, 227 and 229 from Avenida de América also arrive. By car it is about 30 km along the A-2 (exit 23, historic centre) or along the R-2 toll motorway, between 30 and 40 minutes depending on traffic. From Guadalajara, the C-2 arrives in half an hour and along the A-2 it is a little less; from Barajas airport, 14 km away, there is the 824 line.

On Saturdays in spring and autumn there is also the Tren de Cervantes: it leaves Atocha at 10:36 with actors on board and includes a guided visit of the city. It costs €22 for adults and is bought on the Renfe website.

## Where to park?

In the old town you cannot park on the street. The tourist office lists several public car parks less than ten minutes' walk from the centre: the Recinto Ferial one, with 457 spaces, GAL (180), Paseo de los Pinos (110), Roca (200), Luis Vives (75) and El Silo (200). There are also park-and-ride sites at La Garena and at the station, and private ones at the Mercado, La Paloma and San Lucas. For Complutum, on the outskirts, there is room beside the El Juncal sports centre.

## How much time do you need?

One day covers the essentials: the guided visit to the university, Cervantes's birthplace, Calle Mayor and lunch. If you want to add Complutum and the archaeological museum, which is what children like most, count on a long day or sleep a night. With a night you dine in the old town, see the Plaza de Cervantes lit up and leave Sunday morning for the Roman site.

## What to see in order?

Start in the Plaza de Cervantes, at the tourist office in the Capilla del Oidor, and climb the tower of Santa María, free in the morning. Two minutes away, in the Plaza de San Diego, the university can only be visited with a guide: on Sundays there are sessions at 11:00, 12:00 and 13:00, for €6. Then go down Calle Mayor, arcaded from end to end, to Cervantes's birthplace, at number 48, and the Antezana hospital, of 1483, which still operates. At the far end are the Magistral cathedral and, to the left, the regional archaeological museum and the monastery of San Bernardo. In the afternoon, Complutum: the forum, the House of the Griffins with its wall paintings and the House of Hippolytus with the fish mosaic.

## What closes on Sunday and Monday?

On Mondays almost all the museums close: Cervantes's house, the archaeological museum, Complutum and the Antiquarium. On Sundays, the Magistral cathedral is not open to the public; San Bernardo is, from 11:00 to 15:30. The archaeological museum closes on Sunday at 15:00 and the university runs its last sessions at 13:00, so Sunday is a morning day. Cervantes's house holds out until 19:00.

## When to go?

Alcalá can be visited all year. Spring and autumn are best for strolling, and are the seasons of the Tren de Cervantes. In summer it is plateau heat: do Calle Mayor in the morning, in the shade of the arcades, and leave the middle hours for the museums. Watch out for Complutum in July and August: it opens only in the morning. In winter there are few people and the square is in the sun.

## Dónde está
- Zonas: Scenic train journeys in Spain
- Cerca: Madrid (a 29.6 km), Chinchón (a 38.5 km), Manzanares el Real and La Pedriza (a 52.1 km), Aranjuez (a 53.9 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Guided visit to the old University of Alcalá** (1 h · Everyone; the visit is guided at fixed times · 6): The Plateresque façade of the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso, on Plaza de San Diego, is the front of the university founded by Cardinal Cisneros in 1499. The inside is seen only with a guide: the University's Guided Visits Team takes you through the three courtyards, the Paraninfo, where the Cervantes Prize is awarded, and the chapel of San Ildefonso with Cisneros's tomb. The university and the historic precinct have been a World Heritage Site since 2 December 1998.
What you see
The façade was begun in 1537 by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, the architect of the cathedrals of Salamanca and Segovia, and completed in 1553 by his site master, Pedro de la Cotera. The best carvers of the time worked on it, and the grilles were forged by Francisco de Villalpando and Ruiz Díaz del Corral, masters of Toledo cathedral. Today the building is the Rectorate.
Inside you pass through three courtyards: that of Santo Tomás de Villanueva, that of the Philosophers and the Trilingual. In the west wing of the latter is the Paraninfo, the former scholastic theatre where degrees were conferred and solemn ceremonies held, with a wooden coffered ceiling; it is the hall where the Cervantes Prize is presented each year. The chapel of San Ildefonso mixes Gothic, Mudéjar and Renaissance motifs, with polychrome lacework ceilings, and houses Cisneros's tomb, one of the great works of 16th-century Spanish sculpture. The Paraninfo and the chapel are the only two parts of the Colegio Mayor built in the founder's lifetime.
Hours and tickets
The visit lasts an hour and costs €6, €4 reduced, with limited capacity. According to the November 2026 timetable leaflet of the Tourist Office, there are tours Tuesday to Friday at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00; on Saturdays, every hour from 11:00 to 18:00, with one in English at 14:00, and on Sundays and public holidays at 11:00, 12:00 and 13:00. Book on the university's visits website or on 91 885 64 87; for groups, schools and students there are separate forms. Mondays do not appear in the leaflet.
If you want to combine two visits, Alcalá Turismo y Más sells a combined ticket with the Antezana Hospital: university at 11:00, validating 15 minutes earlier at the University shop, on Plaza de San Diego, and Antezana at 13:30. CompluTour also offers a two-and-a-half-hour visit that adds the university and a walk around the old town.
Around
On the same Plaza de San Diego are the Hotel El Bedel and La Cátedra, with big windows onto the façade. In the Trilingual College, the Hostería del Estudiante is the Paradores restaurant. A stroll away are Plaza de Cervantes and Calle Mayor.
- **Cervantes Birthplace Museum** (45 min · Everyone, also with a pushchair on the ground floor): A Castilian house with a columned courtyard, at number 48 Calle Mayor, recreated as the home of a 16th-century doctor, which was the trade of Cervantes's father. Admission is free and it is run by the Community of Madrid; it is closed on Monday. On the façade, the sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho are the photo everyone takes away.
What you see
The rooms are spread over two floors around a columned courtyard, with a stone-rimmed well at one end that supplied the family with water. The ground floor is the public and social part, where visitors and the patients of the father, Rodrigo de Cervantes, were received; the upper floor is the private one, with the bedrooms and a room devoted to the Retablo de Maese Pedro, the episode in chapter XXVI of the second part of Don Quixote. Everything recreates the daily life of a well-off family of the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the display cases there are objects from the trade of barber-surgeon: surgical instruments, lancets for bloodletting, herb jars, glass vessels and a still. The book collection brings together Cervantes editions published between the 17th and 21st centuries, in Spanish and other languages; among those on display is a French edition of Don Quixote from 1744.
A little history
Whether this was truly the birthplace of Cervantes, born in Alcalá in 1547, was much debated; the identification was made known by the researcher Luis Astrana Marín in 1948. The City Council bought the property in 1954 and the museum opened in 1956, with a garden and a new entrance on Calle Mayor, which previously faced Calle Imagen. The Community of Madrid has run it since 1985 and refurbished some rooms between 1997 and 2003.
Opening hours and visit
Tuesday to Friday, from 10:00 to 18:00; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 10:00 to 19:00. Last entry is half an hour before closing. Admission and activities are free. Groups of up to eight people enter without booking; larger ones book on the museum website on weekdays, and at weekends and public holidays, according to the municipal leaflet, enter without booking. Telephone, 91 889 96 54.
Until 7 March 2027 you can see the temporary exhibition Inclinado de mi estrella, on astronomy in the time of Cervantes, and on Saturdays in November and December 2026 there are autumn theatrical performances.
Bear in mind that the building, because of its age, is only partly accessible: a lift goes up to the temporary exhibition room. There are no toilets, so plan ahead. You can take photos with your phone, without flash.
Getting there and what to combine
From the station, served by the C-2, C-7 and C-8 commuter trains from Madrid, you walk to the centre; by car, the museum recommends the Pico del Obispo car park. Next door is the Antezana Hospital, where tradition says Rodrigo de Cervantes worked, and Calle Mayor leads to Plaza de Cervantes. To sleep nearby, the Hotel Miguel de Cervantes is on Calle Imagen.
- **Calle Mayor, Plaza de Cervantes and the Santa María tower** (1 h 30 · 1.5 km · Everyone; all flat and pedestrian): Calle Mayor, arcaded from end to end on stone and wooden columns, links Plaza de Cervantes with the cathedral and was the street of the Jewish quarter. It is the walk that structures the centre of Alcalá: all flat, pedestrian and free, with the Santa María tower for seeing the rooftops and the Corral de Comedias on one side of the square.
Plaza de Cervantes
On the square, what was the Oidor chapel is now the tourist office and exhibition hall, free: it opens Monday to Friday and on Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00, and on Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00 without closing. Next to it, the tower of the former church of Santa María can be climbed without paying to see the rooftops and the storks; it is open every day from 11:00 to 14:00 and on Saturday also from 16:00 to 19:00.
From the Oidor chapel, every day at 11:30, leaves the municipal guided tour 'Alcalá World Heritage Site', in Spanish, with tickets on visitalcala.es. If it is your first time in the city, it is a good way to start.
The Corral de Comedias
At Plaza de Cervantes, 15, is the Corral de Comedias. It was already operating as a corral in 1601, was roofed over as a coliseum in 1785, became a Romantic theatre in 1830 and was a cinema until the 1970s; the tourist office presents it as the oldest documented corral de comedias in Spain. Since 2005 it has been managed by the Teatro de La Abadía team, with a regular theatre programme.
You can see it inside on guided tours from Tuesday to Sunday, for €3 per person, booked at visitas@corraldealcala.com. Show and tour times, on 91 877 19 50 or at corraldealcala.com: they change often, so check first.
Calle Mayor
Walking Calle Mayor under the arcades takes little time, but it deserves to be done slowly. At number 46 is the Antezana Hospital, from 1483, and at 48 the Cervantes Birthplace, free. At the end opens Plaza de los Santos Niños with the Magistral Cathedral. If you have time left on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday morning, the medieval walls open from 10:00 to 14:00, also free.
How to do it
Allow an hour and a half with the climb up the tower and a look at the Corral; more if you go into the museums. Everything is flat and pedestrian, comfortable with a pushchair, and the dog can accompany you on a lead along the street, although it cannot enter the tower or the museums. From Plaza de Cervantes, the University is a stroll away, on Plaza de San Diego.
For lunch, Mesa 12, on Calle Imagen, is open every day at midday. If you come by car, see the car parks in the centre; for questions, the tourist office is in the centre.
- **Magistral Cathedral and San Bernardo Monastery** (1 h 30 · Adults and teenagers · 8): The Magistral, on Plaza de los Santos Niños, is visited with the crypt and the tower, from which you see the whole city. Ten minutes' walk away, on Plaza de las Bernardas, the San Bernardo monastery has an elliptical church from the early 17th century. Both are on the same joint ticket, and can be seen in a long morning.
The cathedral
Tradition places here the martyrdom of the boys Justo and Pastor, in the early 4th century, and their burial; hence the name of the square. The present Gothic church was begun in 1497 on the initiative of Cardinal Cisneros, with Antón and Enrique Egas and the help of Pedro Gumiel, a native of Alcalá. In 1519 it received the title of Magistral, which required all its canons to be doctors of Theology; according to the cathedral itself, only two churches in the world have it. It has been a cathedral since 1991, when the diocese of Alcalá was re-established.
In the crypt, the origin of the church, are kept a silver reliquary chest and the martyrdom stone. The cloister, in the Herrerian style, has an interpretation centre, gravestones of former canons and the Covarrubias door of the Archbishop's Palace rebuilt with original pieces. The museum, in the former antechamber and chapter house, displays goldsmith's work, Cisneros's chalice, the reconstruction of the Gothic tomb of Archbishop Carrillo de Acuña and a Flemish triptych of the Adoration of the Magi.
The Renaissance tower, by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, is 62 metres high and its staircase has reopened to the public: at the top, a 360-degree view over the rooftops, towers and storks of the historic centre.
San Bernardo
The monastery was founded by Cardinal Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Archbishop of Toledo, and designed by Juan Gómez de Mora, the great architect of Philip III and Philip IV. The façade is austere; inside, the oval-plan church is covered by a great oval dome that the cathedral's website presents as the largest of its type in Spain. In the presbytery, the baldachin combines architecture, painting and sculpture, and the painter Angelo Nardi decorated the high chapel and side altarpieces between 1619 and 1621; the monastery holds the largest collection of his work in Spain.
Opening hours and tickets

Cathedral: Monday 10:00 to 14:00; Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00; Saturdays 10:00 to 19:00; Sundays, closed to tourist visits.
Tower: Monday 10:30 to 12:30; Tuesday to Friday 10:30 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 17:30; Saturdays 10:30 to 18:30.
San Bernardo: Monday closed; Tuesday 11:30 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 19:00; Wednesday to Friday 10:30 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 19:00; Saturdays 10:30 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00; Sundays 11:00 to 15:30.

The joint ticket costs €8; €7 for over-65s, €6 for ages 12 to 18 and €5 for groups of more than 15. Under-12s and people with a disability above 65% do not pay. It is bought online from the cathedral's website. There are no visits during Mass, and hours may change because of liturgical events. There is an audio guide for children. Information on 685 260 563.
How to fit it in
If you go on a Sunday, you will only be able to see San Bernardo; leave the cathedral for another day. From Plaza de los Santos Niños starts Calle Mayor, and on Plaza de las Bernardas, next to San Bernardo, is the Regional Archaeological Museum, free.
- **Roman city of Complutum and the House of Hippolytus** (2 h · Families and archaeology buffs; flat ground): On the outskirts, next to the El Juncal sports complex, are the forum of Complutum, with its baths and basilica, and the House of the Griffins, with wall paintings in a very rare state of preservation. On the other side of Avenida de Madrid is the House of Hippolytus, with the fish mosaic. The tourist office presents it as the most important visitable archaeological site in the Community of Madrid, and entry is free.
The Roman city
Complutum arose in the 1st century BC and under Augustus was laid out with straight streets in a grid, porticoes, forums, public baths and refined houses. It came to cover more than 50 hectares, on the road linking Augusta Emerita (Mérida) with Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), and is the origin of present-day Alcalá. In the forum area you walk past a monumental façade, streets and water conduits, the so-called Paredón del Milagro, which is the north façade of the curia and the basilica, the civil basilica, the market and the baths.
The House of the Griffins is a stately home that keeps, according to the tourist office, the best-preserved collection of Roman wall painting in Spain. It is seen on its own tour: on Saturdays at 13:00, half an hour in a small group, free with prior registration on 650 509 186 (Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 to 14:00). One Sunday a month there is also a two-hour technical visit, also free and with registration; the next ones are 15 November and 6 December 2026.
The House of Hippolytus
Despite the name, it was not a house: it was a leisure complex of the Annius family, built around the year 300 over earlier structures, interpreted as a meeting place for a college of young men or as a spa. The great central hall, probably a frigidarium with two pools, has the mosaic that gives the complex its name: three child fishermen surrounded by octopuses, squid, dolphins, tuna, sea urchins and moray eels, signed by the artist Hippolytus. It also had hot rooms, latrines with mosaics and a garden with semicircular benches for 60 to 80 people. In the 4th century the northern area became a necropolis and the central hall was very probably turned into a church. In March 1999 it became the first visitable archaeological site in the Community of Madrid.
Opening hours and tours
The site is open Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00; in the afternoon, from 16:00 to 18:00 from October to April and from 17:00 to 19:00 in May, June and September; in July and August, mornings only. Every Saturday at 10:00 there is a free one-hour guided tour, without registration, leaving from the guide's hut; it takes 30 people on a first-come basis and does not admit groups. For something more in depth, CompluTour offers a paid tour with an archaeologist.
The Antiquarium, at Calle Antonio Suárez, 12, is the interpretation centre: about 1,000 m² of exhibition in eight spaces, from the founding of the city to the games and chariot races. Free entry, Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00 in winter.
Getting there
The urban buses L-1A, L-1B and L-6 arrive; from the centre it is about a 25-minute walk. The ground is flat. To continue with the objects found here, the Regional Archaeological Museum, in the centre, is free. Archaeology service information on 91 877 17 50.
- **Archaeological and Palaeontological Museum of the Community of Madrid** (1 h 30 · Families with children from about 6, teenagers): On Plaza de las Bernardas, in the former Dominican college-convent of the Madre de Dios, the regional museum tells the history of Madrid from palaeontology and prehistory to the Modern Age, with the mosaics of Complutum as its star pieces. Entry is free and there is a free guided tour every day it is open. It is the best card to play for a rainy morning with children.
Hours and entry
It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 19:00 and on Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 15:00; closed on Mondays. Admission is free. According to the November 2026 timetable leaflet of the Tourist Office, the free guided tour, in Spanish, runs Tuesday to Friday at 11:00 and 12:15; on Saturdays at 11:30, 13:00, 16:00 and 17:00, and on Sundays and public holidays at 11:30 and 13:00. The museum can be reached on 91 879 66 66.
What you see
The permanent exhibition is a chronological journey in eight periods: before humanity, the first inhabitants, the first producers, Hispano-Roman reality, medieval Madrid, the Madrid of the court and a garden of antiquities with an altar dedicated to Mars. Each stage has its standout piece, such as the Carolinas vase, a bell-beaker bowl, a small Roman hoard or a bust of Godoy. The Roman collection, with the mosaics as protagonists, is one of the museum's most important, and in 2012 the Titulcia patera was added, a ritual bowl found in recent excavations.
The renovated Emiliano Aguirre Palaeontology Room shows that the region had a fauna comparable to that of the African savannahs: there are skeletons of mastodons and Miocene fossils from Cerro de los Batallones, in Torrejón de Velasco, a world-reference site, with landscape illustrations by Mauricio Antón.
Current exhibitions
From 5 November 2026 to 12 September 2027, Visigoths in Madrid tells of the social, economic and cultural changes of that era in the region. Sabre teeth, devoted to these predators of the past, has been extended to 31 January 2027.
The building
The convent was founded in 1565 by María de Mendoza, daughter of the counts of Mélito, inside the university city; what you see is mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries. In December 1808 Napoleonic troops expelled the friars and used it as a cavalry barracks. After the confiscation of church property in 1835 it passed to the City Council and the convent part was a prison until 1951. The church doorway was moved from Plaza de las Bernardas to Calle Santiago.
Nearby
On the same Plaza de las Bernardas is the San Bernardo monastery, visited with the ticket for the Magistral Cathedral. To see the mosaics in place, the Roman city of Complutum is on the outskirts. And also in the centre, the Escolapias staircase opens at weekends by reservation.
- **Monumental staircase of the Escolapias** (30 min · Adults · 3): At number 29 Calle Santiago, in the school of the Madres Escolapias, is preserved a Baroque imperial staircase with a dome, from the early 18th century. It cannot be seen from the street: you can only enter on a guided visit of about half an hour for €3, booked by phone or WhatsApp (626 418 082 or 680 524 185). It fits well between Cervantes's house and lunch.
What it is
The building was a Baroque palace built in 1725 by a Navarrese nobleman settled in Alcalá, around the time of his wedding. He used part of an earlier 17th-century house and added a doorway with his coat of arms, an entrance hall, a courtyard and this monumental staircase, a great 'façade staircase' that combines the Baroque idiom with a carefully worked study of proportions. Light, colour and shapes were conceived as a single space that envelops whoever climbs.
Between 1863 and 1882 the French photographer Jean Laurent lived here, repainting and gilding the staircase dome and adding his own symbolism, while keeping almost everything that was there before. Today the building is a school of the Madres Escolapias, and the staircase, because of its acoustics, is often used for concerts and theatre.
Hours and booking
Visits are on Saturdays at 12:30 and 18:30 and on Sundays at 12:30, according to the November 2026 timetable leaflet of the Tourist Office. Booking is necessary: call or message by WhatsApp on 626 418 082 or 680 524 185, numbers that also serve for groups. The visit costs €3 per person, lasts about 30 minutes and ends in the back courtyard, with a little free time to take photos. It is organised by the Congregation of the Madres Escolapias, Province of Paula Montal.
The tourism listing gives no accessibility information: if you have reduced mobility, ask when booking.
How to fit it in
Calle Santiago is in the historic centre. A Saturday or Sunday morning works like this: Cervantes Birthplace first thing, the staircase at 12:30 and lunch afterwards. Also in the centre, on Plaza de las Bernardas, the Regional Archaeological Museum is free and opens until 15:00 on Sundays.
For a nearby lunch, La Cátedra and Mesa 12 are in the centre. If you stay overnight, the Hotel El Bedel is on Plaza de San Diego.
- **Antezana Hospital** (30 min · Adults and teenagers · 6): The hospital of Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia, founded by Luis de Antezana and his wife, Isabel de Guzmán, in 1483 on Calle Mayor, is one of the oldest hospitals in Europe still operating, today as a social-health centre and care home. It is visited as the Museum of Golden Age Medicine: a house with a wooden courtyard, apothecary and chapel that has been caring for the sick for more than five hundred years.
What you see
The guided tour takes in the spaces of the old hospital with a thread about how the sick were treated and cared for from the 16th century: the apothecary, the Mudéjar courtyard, the poor people's dining room, the men's and women's infirmaries, the doctors' room, the medicinal plant garden and the rooms of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The courtyard, beyond the entrance hall, combines octagonal pillars with wooden posts and a projecting gallery; beside the staircase is the so-called well of Saint Ignatius.
Ignatius of Loyola lived and worked here as a nurse in 1526 and 1527, while studying at the university. His kitchen is on the upper floor, and the chapel of San Ignacio, Baroque, with 17th-century frescoes on the dome and a canvas of the saint signed by Diego González de la Vega in 1669, was built over the room he occupied. The church, from the 15th century and remodelled in 1702, has on its altar a carving of the Virgen de la Misericordia attributed to the circle of Martínez Montañés.
The medical history is the most curious part: after the university was founded in 1499, its doctors and surgeons were the professors of Medicine, and from 1540 to 1830 students did anatomy practice here, which makes it, according to the foundation, the first university hospital in Spain. Tradition says Rodrigo de Cervantes, the writer's father, worked here as a surgeon, opposite his house; the tourist office clarifies that there is no documentary proof.
Hours and price
The visit lasts about 45 minutes and costs €6, €4 reduced. According to the foundation, there are tours from Tuesday to Friday at 11:00, 12:00 and 13:00 without booking, and at 16:00 with booking; on Saturdays at 11:30, 12:30, 13:30, 16:00, 17:00 and 18:00, and on Sundays and public holidays at 11:30, 12:30 and 13:30. The November municipal leaflet adds a Sunday tour at 16:00. Groups are small and, as it is still a healthcare centre, changes of hours are posted on the door. Bookings on 619 289 144 or 680 799 356.
On Saturdays at 18:00, Alcalá Turismo y Más also organises a route on Saint Ignatius in Alcalá that leaves from the hospital, lasting about two and a quarter hours, for €10.
Nearby
It is at Calle Mayor, 46, wall to wall with the Cervantes Birthplace: you can see both in the same morning. From here, Calle Mayor and Plaza de Cervantes lead to the university.
- **Cervantes Train from Atocha** (8 h · Families and groups of friends without a car · 22): Since 1997, a special train has left Atocha-Cercanías on autumn Saturdays at 10:36 and reached Alcalá in about 35 minutes, non-stop, with actors dressed as Cervantes characters. There a guided walk follows in the morning and in the afternoon, with free time for lunch, and the return is at 18:35. It is the plan designed for spending a Saturday in Cervantes's city without a car and without organising anything.
Dates and times
In autumn 2026 the train runs on Saturdays from 19 September to 5 December; the remaining dates are 14, 21 and 28 November and 5 December. Reception is at 10:15 next to the Cercanías Customer Service office at Madrid-Atocha; the train leaves at 10:36 and arrives in Alcalá at 11:15. The return leaves at 18:35 and arrives at Atocha at 19:14.
In spring the departure point changes: the train leaves from Chamartín at 11:00 and returns at 18:40, although reception is still at Atocha at 10:00 and Cercanías staff accompany travellers to Chamartín. The spring 2027 dates are not yet published.
What is included and how much it costs
The ticket includes the return journey on the special train, with the actors on board, and a guided visit of the city's best-known monuments, in the morning and in the afternoon. Lunch is at your own expense, in the free time at midday; the listing does not mention museum tickets or restaurant discounts.
It costs €22 for adults and €16 for children aged 7 to 11; under-6s, accompanied by an adult, do not pay. It is bought only online, on the Renfe website, up to 48 hours before travel. With the booking reference you get the ticket from the self-service machines, and it is worth keeping the purchase document all day, because it is used to board the train and for the visits. Groups are not admitted: it is for individual travellers only. Renfe information, 24 hours, on 91 232 03 20.
If you want to stay longer
The return can be made until 24:00 the next day on any ordinary Cercanías, so you can stay overnight; however, you lose the special services of the return journey. To stay the night, the Parador de Alcalá de Henares or the Hotel El Bedel are next to the university.
It is a Saturday plan: on Sunday, the ordinary Cercanías makes the same journey, and on your own you can link the university visit and the Cervantes Birthplace, free. For lunch in the free time, the Hostería del Estudiante is in the Trilingual College.

## Dónde comer
- **Hostería del Estudiante** (Restaurant, Alcalá de Henares, €€€). Qué pedir: Alcalá sopa boba or duelos y quebrantos, and cocido croquettes to share
- **Mesa 12 Restaurant** (Restaurant, Alcalá de Henares, €€). Qué pedir: On weekdays, the €26 daily menu with a drink; Friday and Saturday nights, the Noches de Mesa 12 tasting menu (€37.50)
- **La Cátedra Restaurant** (Restaurant, Alcalá de Henares, €€€). Qué pedir: Raciones to share: Iberian ham croquettes (€10), broken eggs with small prawns (€14) and grilled sirloin (€29); for dessert, Alcalá costrada (€5.50)

## By car: By car, 35 minutes along the A-2
Alcalá is about 30 km from Madrid by the A-2 or the R-2. The car is for getting there and for going to Complutum, on the outskirts; inside the old town you go on foot. Park in a public car park on the edge of the centre.
Presupuesto orientativo: 45–90 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Parador de Alcalá de Henares** (Hotel): Three Cisneros colleges and a carved garden
The Parador de Alcalá de Henares opened in 2009 in three of the colleges that Cardinal Cisneros ordered built, with a 17th-century convent-college as its main piece. Outside it is historic centre; inside, contemporary design. What is most remembered is the cloister and the Jardín Tallado, and the spa, which is under the vaults of the convent's former church. It is on Calle Colegios, two minutes' walk from the university and Plaza de Cervantes, so it is the option for sleeping inside the old town with a car.
Paradores has been in Alcalá since 1930, when the Hostería del Estudiante, the network's third establishment, opened opposite.
Rooms and what they include
There are standard doubles, accessible doubles, superior doubles and junior suites. They have air conditioning, flat-screen television with Chromecast, minibar, a safe big enough for a laptop, hairdryer and a work area with internet; wifi is free, there is a lift, room service and accessibility facilities. The rate can be checked in the calendar on the Paradores website, which varies a lot between weekdays and weekends.
Spa under the church
The spa has a water circuit with separate conditions and price, and a 2026 treatment menu: a 30-minute zonal massage for €49, a 60-minute moisturising facial for €70, a 70-minute vitamin C one for €75 or a 75-minute body ritual for €109. There is also a gym, garden and a seasonal outdoor pool. Book at spa.alcala@parador.es.
Two restaurants
The Santo Tomás restaurant, in the former convent-college, serves authentic Madrid cooking with references to the Cervantes recipe book. Opposite, the Hostería del Estudiante keeps its classic menu from 1930 and adds specialities from other paradores.
Car, train and events
By car, take the A-2, exit 23 towards the historic centre; the parador has a paid garage and charging for electric cars, which counts for a lot in Alcalá's old town. Paradores places it about 20 minutes from Madrid airport and IFEMA and half an hour from Madrid. Without a car, Cercanías C-2 or C-7 to Alcalá station and about fifteen minutes' walk. It has a convention centre with five rooms and the Paraninfo hall.
At the door: the University and Calle Mayor to Plaza de Cervantes.
- **Hotel El Bedel** (Hotel): On Plaza de San Diego, facing the university
El Bedel is at number 8 Plaza de San Diego, the square with the Plateresque façade of the University of Alcalá: the bedel was the employee who kept order in the classrooms, and the name is no accident. It is the hotel closest to the door of the guided university visit, and is two minutes' walk from Plaza de Cervantes and Calle Mayor. The whole old town can be covered on foot from here.
The premium double, onto the square
The room the hotel highlights is the premium double, with a double bed or twin beds, which faces Plaza de San Diego and the university; the hotel describes it as central but quiet. All have a bathroom with bath, minibar, safe, heating or air conditioning, 32-inch television, telephone and free wifi. The website does not publish how many rooms there are or the prices: ask when booking on 91 888 67 26 or at reservas@hotelelbedel.com.
Apartments on Plaza de Cervantes
The hotel also rents apartments on pedestrianised Plaza de Cervantes, about two minutes' walk away; check-in is at the hotel reception. They have a full kitchen with fridge, washing machine, oven, microwave, utensils and coffee machine (with capsules for the first night), 42-inch television, internet, bathroom with towels and amenities, iron, air conditioning and electric water heater. For families or stays of several nights they are the alternative to a room.
Services
Reception open 24 hours, room service, luggage storage, laundry and private parking a few metres from the hotel. They help you find a tourist guide. On the ground floor is the restaurant La Cátedra, with big windows onto the university, and the hotel has a terrace for a drink on the square.
The website says nothing about pets or check-in and check-out times, or whether breakfast is included: ask when booking.
By the A-2 or by Cercanías to San Diego
By car, take the A-2, exit 23; ask about the private parking when booking, because you cannot leave the car on the square. By train, Cercanías C-2 or C-7 to Alcalá de Henares and about ten minutes' walk. From the door, the University visit starts on the other side of the square.
- **Hotel Miguel de Cervantes** (Small hotel, desde 84 € / night): A small hotel on Calle Imagen
The Miguel de Cervantes occupies a charming building at Calle Imagen, 12, in the historic centre of Alcalá de Henares, a few steps from Calle Mayor, Cervantes's birthplace and the university. It is a small hotel, with personal service, with its own restaurant in the same building and a terrace. The tourist office also lists it as a hostal.
Four types of room
All have a private bathroom, television, hairdryer, free wifi, hot and cold air conditioning and central heating.
Single: small, with a 105 cm bed and desk, from €84 a night.
Standard double: double bed or twin beds depending on availability, with shower, from €89.
Superior double: the same, plus a small balcony, iron, coffee machine and tea tray, bathrobe, slippers and toiletries. The website does not give its from price.
Triple: three single beds, two of them convertible into a king size, and a small balcony, from €135.
The website does not give the room sizes or the policy on children or extra beds: ask on 91 883 12 77 or at hotel@hcervantes.es.
Breakfast and meals
Breakfast is a buffet. Booking on its website, the hotel advertises a 50% discount on the buffet and a best-price guarantee, and early check-in and late check-out are granted subject to availability. The restaurant Mesa 12, in the same building, serves lunches every day and dinners on Fridays and Saturdays, with a daily menu of €26 from Monday to Friday.
Car and train
The hotel does not advertise its own parking on its website: leave the car in one of the public car parks in the centre. Without a car, Cercanías C-2 or C-7 to Alcalá and about fifteen minutes' walk.
When you go out, the Cervantes Birthplace is around the corner, and Calle Mayor to Plaza de Cervantes is the walk for any hour.
### Servicios
- **Car parks near the centre**: Recinto Ferial (457 spaces), GAL, Paseo de los Pinos and El Silo, public and less than ten minutes' walk from the old town

## Car-free: Without a car, by Cercanías
It is one of the easiest destinations without a car: the Cercanías C-2 and C-7 leave Atocha and Chamartín very frequently and the old town can be covered entirely on foot from the station. On spring and autumn Saturdays, the Cervantes Train makes the journey with actors and a guided visit.
Presupuesto orientativo: 35–80 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir without a car
- **Parador de Alcalá de Henares** (Hotel): Three Cisneros colleges and a carved garden
The Parador de Alcalá de Henares opened in 2009 in three of the colleges that Cardinal Cisneros ordered built, with a 17th-century convent-college as its main piece. Outside it is historic centre; inside, contemporary design. What is most remembered is the cloister and the Jardín Tallado, and the spa, which is under the vaults of the convent's former church. It is on Calle Colegios, two minutes' walk from the university and Plaza de Cervantes, so it is the option for sleeping inside the old town with a car.
Paradores has been in Alcalá since 1930, when the Hostería del Estudiante, the network's third establishment, opened opposite.
Rooms and what they include
There are standard doubles, accessible doubles, superior doubles and junior suites. They have air conditioning, flat-screen television with Chromecast, minibar, a safe big enough for a laptop, hairdryer and a work area with internet; wifi is free, there is a lift, room service and accessibility facilities. The rate can be checked in the calendar on the Paradores website, which varies a lot between weekdays and weekends.
Spa under the church
The spa has a water circuit with separate conditions and price, and a 2026 treatment menu: a 30-minute zonal massage for €49, a 60-minute moisturising facial for €70, a 70-minute vitamin C one for €75 or a 75-minute body ritual for €109. There is also a gym, garden and a seasonal outdoor pool. Book at spa.alcala@parador.es.
Two restaurants
The Santo Tomás restaurant, in the former convent-college, serves authentic Madrid cooking with references to the Cervantes recipe book. Opposite, the Hostería del Estudiante keeps its classic menu from 1930 and adds specialities from other paradores.
Car, train and events
By car, take the A-2, exit 23 towards the historic centre; the parador has a paid garage and charging for electric cars, which counts for a lot in Alcalá's old town. Paradores places it about 20 minutes from Madrid airport and IFEMA and half an hour from Madrid. Without a car, Cercanías C-2 or C-7 to Alcalá station and about fifteen minutes' walk. It has a convention centre with five rooms and the Paraninfo hall.
At the door: the University and Calle Mayor to Plaza de Cervantes.
- **Hotel El Bedel** (Hotel): On Plaza de San Diego, facing the university
El Bedel is at number 8 Plaza de San Diego, the square with the Plateresque façade of the University of Alcalá: the bedel was the employee who kept order in the classrooms, and the name is no accident. It is the hotel closest to the door of the guided university visit, and is two minutes' walk from Plaza de Cervantes and Calle Mayor. The whole old town can be covered on foot from here.
The premium double, onto the square
The room the hotel highlights is the premium double, with a double bed or twin beds, which faces Plaza de San Diego and the university; the hotel describes it as central but quiet. All have a bathroom with bath, minibar, safe, heating or air conditioning, 32-inch television, telephone and free wifi. The website does not publish how many rooms there are or the prices: ask when booking on 91 888 67 26 or at reservas@hotelelbedel.com.
Apartments on Plaza de Cervantes
The hotel also rents apartments on pedestrianised Plaza de Cervantes, about two minutes' walk away; check-in is at the hotel reception. They have a full kitchen with fridge, washing machine, oven, microwave, utensils and coffee machine (with capsules for the first night), 42-inch television, internet, bathroom with towels and amenities, iron, air conditioning and electric water heater. For families or stays of several nights they are the alternative to a room.
Services
Reception open 24 hours, room service, luggage storage, laundry and private parking a few metres from the hotel. They help you find a tourist guide. On the ground floor is the restaurant La Cátedra, with big windows onto the university, and the hotel has a terrace for a drink on the square.
The website says nothing about pets or check-in and check-out times, or whether breakfast is included: ask when booking.
By the A-2 or by Cercanías to San Diego
By car, take the A-2, exit 23; ask about the private parking when booking, because you cannot leave the car on the square. By train, Cercanías C-2 or C-7 to Alcalá de Henares and about ten minutes' walk. From the door, the University visit starts on the other side of the square.
- **Hotel Miguel de Cervantes** (Small hotel, desde 84 € / night): A small hotel on Calle Imagen
The Miguel de Cervantes occupies a charming building at Calle Imagen, 12, in the historic centre of Alcalá de Henares, a few steps from Calle Mayor, Cervantes's birthplace and the university. It is a small hotel, with personal service, with its own restaurant in the same building and a terrace. The tourist office also lists it as a hostal.
Four types of room
All have a private bathroom, television, hairdryer, free wifi, hot and cold air conditioning and central heating.
Single: small, with a 105 cm bed and desk, from €84 a night.
Standard double: double bed or twin beds depending on availability, with shower, from €89.
Superior double: the same, plus a small balcony, iron, coffee machine and tea tray, bathrobe, slippers and toiletries. The website does not give its from price.
Triple: three single beds, two of them convertible into a king size, and a small balcony, from €135.
The website does not give the room sizes or the policy on children or extra beds: ask on 91 883 12 77 or at hotel@hcervantes.es.
Breakfast and meals
Breakfast is a buffet. Booking on its website, the hotel advertises a 50% discount on the buffet and a best-price guarantee, and early check-in and late check-out are granted subject to availability. The restaurant Mesa 12, in the same building, serves lunches every day and dinners on Fridays and Saturdays, with a daily menu of €26 from Monday to Friday.
Car and train
The hotel does not advertise its own parking on its website: leave the car in one of the public car parks in the centre. Without a car, Cercanías C-2 or C-7 to Alcalá and about fifteen minutes' walk.
When you go out, the Cervantes Birthplace is around the corner, and Calle Mayor to Plaza de Cervantes is the walk for any hour.
### Servicios
- **Cercanías and buses from Madrid**: Cercanías C-2 and C-7 from Atocha and Chamartín; ALSA buses 223, 227 and 229 from Avenida de América

## As a family: Cervantes, Romans and storks

Alcalá works well with children because it is flat, pedestrian and almost everything is free: Cervantes's house, the archaeological museum and the Roman site. Distances are short and on every square there are storks on the bell towers.

### What works best
Cervantes's birthplace, with the photo on the bench with Don Quixote and Sancho

The Regional Archaeological Museum, free and with a guided tour on Sunday

Complutum: the House of Hippolytus and its fish mosaic

The Cervantes Train, with actors in the carriage, on autumn and spring Saturdays

### Where to sleep
Hotel Miguel de Cervantes, with a triple room and free breakfast up to age 10

The parador, with a pool in season

### Where to eat
Mesa 12, with allergy options

### Bear in mind
The cathedral is closed on Sunday

The university is seen only with a guide; an hour can feel long for little ones

Museums are closed on Monday

### Qué hacer as a family
- Guided visit to the old University of Alcalá
- Cervantes Birthplace Museum
- Calle Mayor, Plaza de Cervantes and the Santa María tower
- Roman city of Complutum and the House of Hippolytus
- Archaeological and Palaeontological Museum of the Community of Madrid
- Cervantes Train from Atocha

## Consejos

### Book the university
The Sunday sessions have limited capacity: book on the university's visits website or with CompluTour, which combines it with a walk through the old town.

### Go on the Cercanías
The C-7 runs every 10 minutes and drops you fifteen minutes from the Plaza de Cervantes: no parking and no toll.

### Eat before 15:30
La Hostería del Estudiante closes its kitchen at 15:30 and does not serve dinner on Sundays.

### Put Sunday together as a morning
University at 11:00, Cervantes's house and the archaeological museum before 15:00.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### What is there to see in Alcalá de Henares in a day?
The university with a guided visit, Calle Mayor, Cervantes's birthplace, the Magistral cathedral and, if you have time, the Roman city of Complutum.

### How do you get to Alcalá de Henares without a car?
On the Cercanías, lines C-2 and C-7 from Atocha and Chamartín, in about 35 minutes, or on buses 223, 227 and 229 from Avenida de América.

### How much does it cost to visit the university?
€6 with a guide (€4 reduced). With CompluTour, €16 with a walk through the old town included.

### Is Cervantes's house free?
Yes, and it is open from Tuesday to Sunday; it is closed on Monday.

### What is the Tren de Cervantes?
A special train with actors that leaves Atocha on Saturdays in spring and autumn and includes a guided visit. It costs €22 for adults and €16 for ages 7 to 11.

### Is the cathedral open on Sunday?
No. The Magistral cathedral is open Monday to Saturday; on Sunday you can see the monastery of San Bernardo.