Getaways from Madrid: day trips and destinations close by.

Each radial road leads to a different kind of plan

Each radial motorway leads to a different kind of plan. The A-6 climbs to the Sierra de Guadarrama: via the M-505 to El Escorial, via the M-601 to the Navacerrada pass and, via the AP-61, to Segovia. The AP-6 and AP-51 continue to Ávila and, via the N-502, to the Sierra de Gredos. The M-607 leads to Manzanares el Real and La Pedriza. The A-1 goes towards the Sierra Norte, with Patones, Buitrago and the Hayedo de Montejo, and beyond towards the Duratón Gorges. The A-2 passes Alcalá de Henares on the way to Sigüenza; the A-3 leads to Chinchón and, with the A-40, to Cuenca; the A-4, to Aranjuez and La Mancha; the A-42, to Toledo, and the A-5, to Extremadura.

You can also get out well without a car. Cercanías reaches Aranjuez (C-3 from Atocha), Alcalá (C-2 or C-7) and Cercedilla (C-8), at the foot of the Navacerrada pass. Toledo is about 25 minutes by Avant from Atocha and Segovia-Guiomar 30 by AVE, with an urban bus to the Aqueduct; there is an AVE to Cuenca, a regional train to Sigüenza and an Alvia to Salamanca from Chamartín, in 1 h 36. The sierra is reached by intercity bus: the 661 and 664 from Moncloa to El Escorial, the 691 to Navacerrada, Cotos and Valdesquí, the 724 from Plaza de Castilla to Manzanares el Real and the 337 from Conde de Casal to Chinchón.

Alcalá, Aranjuez and El Escorial fit into a long morning

Under an hour are the plans that fit into a long morning: Alcalá de Henares, at 35 minutes, with Cisneros's university and Cervantes's house; Aranjuez and Chinchón, at 45, and El Escorial and La Pedriza, at 50. They are the only ones where the journey weighs less than the meal.

The bulk of the Sundays are between one and one and a half hours: climbing at Patones (60 minutes), Toledo (65), Valdesquí (70), Segovia and the Lozoya valley with Rascafría (75) and Ávila (86). Almost all have a direct train or bus.

Between an hour and a half and two hours the day gets tight: Sigüenza and the Hayedo de Montejo (95), Consuegra and the Duratón (100), Pedraza (104), Cuenca (110) and Peñafiel, Almagro and the Laguna Grande de Gredos (120). Several call for a night, and have one: Cuenca and the Ciudad Encantada, Sepúlveda and the canyon, Peñafiel with two wineries or Gredos in two nights.

From almost three hours onwards, the trip is a weekend one: the Lagunas de Ruidera, Monfragüe and its birds, Guadalupe and the Villuercas, Albarracín, at three hours and a quarter, and Sanabria lake, at three and a half.

Snow without a car? Valdesquí and Navacerrada

In winter the Guadarrama snow rules: a ski day at Valdesquí or a morning snowshoeing at Navacerrada, both possible without a car, or the snow weekend in Cercedilla. To the pass, by car, with chains. For grey days, the roast in Sigüenza, from the castle to the Doncel.

In spring, from the end of March to mid-April, the cherry trees blossom in the Jerte Valley, almost three hours away; book weeks ahead. It is also the season for the gardens of Aranjuez, for paddling the Duratón and for the birds of Monfragüe.

In summer it is best to go up. The Peñalara lake has an access quota and fills up early; the Laguna Grande de Gredos is a five-hour route for June and July. Toledo, Aranjuez, La Pedriza and Patones are not recommended in July and August.

Autumn is the best season around Madrid. In October and November there are the woods of La Herrería and El Castañar, the oak woods of Rascafría to the Purgatorio waterfall and the Hayedo de Montejo, with the pass collected in the village. Further off, the chestnut trees of Hervás in the Otoño Mágico and, from mid-September to mid-October, the rut in Sanabria and the Sierra de la Culebra.

Segovia by half-hour AVE

• Without a car, in a day: Segovia on a Sunday. A half-hour AVE, the Aqueduct before the groups, the Casa de Moneda, suckling pig in the Azoguejo and the Alcázar in the afternoon.
• With one night: El Escorial, monastery and royal forest. 50 minutes away, to see the monastery at opening time, walk through La Herrería and climb Abantos without watching the clock.
• With two nights: Mérida and Cáceres. About three hours forty-five along the A-5 on Friday evening, a whole day for the Roman city and monumental Cáceres on the way back on Sunday.