# Holy Week from Madrid: getaways for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Four getaways with a night away and three day trips from Madrid for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday: processions of international interest less than two hours away, Chinchón's living Passion and a national park for those who prefer birds. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/madrid/getaways/easter-holy-week · Revisado: 2026-11-13 Origen: Madrid - [A getaway to Cuenca and the Ciudad Encantada, two hours from Madrid and Valencia](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castilla-la-mancha/cuenca/itineraries/cuenca-enchanted-city-one-night.md) (1 night, Cuenca): Cuenca's Holy Week is of International Tourist Interest, and its most singular procession, the Turbas, leaves El Salvador in the early hours of Good Friday amid drums and bugles. On those days the city also holds the Religious Music Week: book the hotel in the old town months ahead. - [A weekend in Aranjuez and Chinchón: gardens, river and square](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/aranjuez/itineraries/aranjuez-chinchon-weekend.md) (1 night, Aranjuez): On Holy Saturday, as dusk falls, more than 250 locals act out the Passion around the Plaza Mayor and the streets of Chinchón, with free entry: it is a Festival of National Tourist Interest. Sleep in Aranjuez and arrive in good time, as the square fills up hours beforehand. - [A weekend in Segovia, an hour and a quarter from Madrid, with a balloon at dawn](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/segovia/itineraries/segovia-balloon-at-dawn-weekend.md) (1 night, Segovia): On Good Friday the Procession of the Pasos leaves the Plaza Mayor and ends in the Plaza de la Artillería, at the foot of the Aqueduct; Segovia's Holy Week is of National Tourist Interest. The balloon, if the wind allows, flies at dawn with the city still silent. - [A birdwatching weekend in Monfragüe, three hours from Madrid](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/extremadura/monfrague/itineraries/monfrague-birdwatching-weekend-from-madrid.md) (2 nights, Monfragüe National Park): For those who prefer birds to floats: in spring black vultures, imperial eagles and black storks nest on the park's cliffs, and from March to June there are free guided walks. The rural house in Villarreal de San Carlos and the 4x4 are booked before anything else. - [Salamanca: the frog, the cathedrals and Bambú](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/salamanca/itineraries/university-cathedrals-and-tapas.md) (Day itinerary, Salamanca): Salamanca has a Holy Week of International Tourist Interest, with more than twenty processions through the old town. On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday the cathedrals hold services, so the visit goes in the morning; stay for dinner, as the floats go out at night and some at midnight. - [Ávila: wall and Cuatro Postes](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/avila/itineraries/avila-city-walls-and-cuatro-postes-at-dusk.md) (Day itinerary, Ávila): In the early hours of Good Friday, the Vía Crucis de Penitencia circles the wall of Ávila with the Cristo de los Ajusticiados; Ávila's Holy Week is of International Tourist Interest. By day, the wall walk and San Vicente; at dusk, the Cuatro Postes with the wall lit up. - [Toledo: Jewish quarter in the morning and cathedral in the afternoon](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castilla-la-mancha/toledo/itineraries/toledo-jewish-quarter-zip-line-and-cathedral.md) (Day itinerary, Toledo): Toledo's Holy Week is of International Tourist Interest and its processions leave from the cathedral or pass beside it, so the services change the visiting hours. Buy the cathedral with a timed ticket, check the traffic closures in the old town and park below, by the river. ## Which days do you get off in Madrid? In the Community of Madrid, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are public holidays; Easter Monday is not. With the weekend that makes four days, Thursday to Sunday, and two nights away are enough to see a big procession without rushing. If you are already free on Wednesday afternoon, the outward journey is made with less traffic. With four days there is room for two cities: one night in Cuenca for the Good Friday Turbas and another in Aranjuez to reach the Passion in Chinchón on Holy Saturday. With two, choose one: Cuenca, Segovia or a long day in Ávila, Salamanca or Toledo, all three under two hours away and with a train. ## Procession by night or at dawn? The processions you remember best start when Madrid is asleep. The Turbas of Cuenca leave El Salvador at about half past five on Good Friday, and at the same hour the Vía Crucis de Penitencia in Ávila goes round the wall. To see them you have to sleep there: from Madrid you will not get there in time. The afternoon and evening ones are easier to fit in. In Segovia, the Procession of the Pasos on Good Friday goes down to the Aqueduct; in Salamanca, floats go out through the old town almost every night of the week, some at midnight from the New Cathedral. The times are published each year by the city's brotherhood council a few weeks beforehand: check them before booking dinner. ## And if you are not looking for processions? You do not have to go far. Monfragüe National Park is three hours away, and in spring its cliffs are full of nests: vultures, imperial eagle and black stork. The two-night getaway sleeps inside the park, in Villarreal de San Carlos, and from March to June the park runs free guided walks. Closer, Aranjuez is Holy Week without the crowds around the floats: the Príncipe gardens in bloom, a boat on the Tagus and the Casa del Labrador, which opens Friday to Sunday. The Strawberry Train, with its wooden carriages from the Railway Museum, starts its spring season and usually runs on those days. ## What sells out first? The beds in Cuenca inside the old town, before anything else: the Religious Music Week and the processions fill the city. Then the rural houses in Villarreal de San Carlos, which are few, and the tables at the roast-meat restaurants in Segovia and Chinchón for Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Book as soon as you know the dates; the Holy Week calendar is known years ahead. What cannot be booked is your spot on the street. For the Passion in Chinchón, which has free entry, arrive in mid-afternoon and find a space under the arcades; for the Turbas, on the slope that climbs from El Salvador, go before five. In Toledo, the cathedral is bought with a timed ticket, and on the days of the services it opens less. ## Plateau spring: cold at dawn and showers Holy Week falls between late March and late April, and on the plateau that is unsettled spring: mornings at zero degrees in Ávila and Cuenca, afternoons of twenty, and showers that force a procession to be shortened or suspended. Bring a coat for the early hours and an umbrella, and check the brotherhood's notice before leaving: if it rains, the floats do not go out. ## Processions with children: which ones work The Turbas are noisy and at an impossible hour: better with children who can already manage an early morning. For little ones, the Chinchón Passion, at dusk and in a square, works, or the day in Aranjuez, all flat. In Monfragüe, the guided 4x4 and binoculars turn the morning into an eagle hunt, and in Toledo the zip line over the Tagus admits children from 20 kg. ## The exodus, there and back The DGT (traffic authority) sets up a special operation: the outward traffic builds from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday midday, mainly on the A-3 towards Cuenca and Valencia and the A-4 towards the south. The return on the afternoon of Easter Sunday is the worst of the break; those returning from Valencia or Catalonia with their Easter Monday also load the road on the Monday. Leave early or return on Sunday after lunch. Without a car, Cuenca, Segovia, Toledo and Salamanca have fast trains, and Aranjuez has Cercanías. In the old towns of Toledo, Cuenca and Ávila streets are closed as the processions pass: leave the car outside and walk up. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Is Easter Monday a holiday in Madrid? No. In the Community of Madrid, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are holidays; Easter Monday is a holiday in other communities, such as Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Navarre and the Basque Country. ### Which procession near Madrid is worth sleeping away for? The Turbas of Cuenca and the Vía Crucis around the wall of Ávila, both in the early hours of Good Friday. From Madrid you cannot arrive in time in the morning. ### When is the Chinchón Passion? On Holy Saturday at dusk, in the Plaza Mayor and the streets of the centre. It is free and more than 250 locals take part. ### Can it be done without a car? Yes, to Cuenca, Segovia, Toledo and Salamanca by fast train and to Aranjuez by Cercanías. There is a bus to Chinchón, and for Monfragüe you need a car.