# San Isidro long weekend from Madrid: getaways for 15 May Two getaways with a night away and four day trips for 15 May, San Isidro, a holiday only in the city of Madrid: the Cervantes Train, Segovia's puppets and the high mountains newly open. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/madrid/getaways/san-isidro-long-weekend · Revisado: 2026-11-13 Origen: Madrid - [A weekend in Alcalá de Henares with the Cervantes Train](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/alcala-de-henares/itineraries/alcala-de-henares-cervantes-train-weekend.md) (1 night, Alcalá de Henares: university, Cervantes and Complutum): In spring the Cervantes Train sets off from Atocha on Saturdays again, with actors on board and a guided visit in Alcalá, and its season usually runs from April to June. If San Isidro joins up with the weekend, the ticket lets you come back the next day and sleep in the old town. - [A weekend in La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia, an hour from Salamanca](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/la-alberca/itineraries/la-alberca-sierra-de-francia-weekend.md) (2 nights, La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia): In mid-May the Sierra de Francia is in full spring, with chestnuts and oaks coming into leaf, water in Las Batuecas and the Peña de Francia already free of snow. With San Isidro next to the weekend there is room for both nights; the Casa del Parque is open Friday to Sunday. - [Segovia: Aqueduct, Alcázar and suckling pig](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/segovia/itineraries/segovia-aqueduct-mint-and-roast-suckling-pig-day-trip.md) (Day itinerary, Segovia): Every May Segovia celebrates Titirimundi, the international puppet festival, with performances in squares, courtyards and beside the Aqueduct, many on the street and free; it usually falls in the middle of the month, near San Isidro. Check the programme and leave the Alcázar for the afternoon. - [Peñalara: glacial lake and monastery](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/lozoya-valley/itineraries/penalara-laguna-grande-roast-lunch-in-rascafria-and-el-paular.md) (Day itinerary, Lozoya Valley: Rascafría, El Paular and Peñalara): By mid-May the short route to the Laguna Grande de Peñalara is usually free of snow, and the cirque streams run with meltwater. The Cotos car park has 250 spaces and on a holiday it fills by mid-morning: arrive before nine. - [Gredos: Laguna Grande and revolconas](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/sierra-de-gredos/itineraries/gredos-laguna-grande-and-lunch-in-hoyos-del-espino.md) (Day itinerary, Sierra de Gredos): May opens the season for the Laguna Grande in Gredos: the route from the Platform can be done, although in mid-month some patch of snow may remain in the cirque. Ask in Hoyos del Espino the night before, bring poles and book a late lunch of revolconas. - [Abantos: climb through the pine forest and lunch in the mountains](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/san-lorenzo-de-el-escorial/itineraries/abantos-pine-forest-and-mountain-lunch.md) (Day itinerary, San Lorenzo de El Escorial): In May the Abantos pine wood is green and cool for climbing before the heat, and the Felipe II Train, the tourist train from Madrid to El Escorial, runs in spring. The 1918 forest lodge needs booking: a holiday in Madrid fills the hills with madrileños. ## Who has the day off on 15 May? San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint, is a local holiday in the city of Madrid. It is not one in the rest of the Community: Alcobendas, Getafe or Alcalá have their own local holidays. So it is a holiday for those who work in the capital, and almost always a single day, which only becomes a long weekend when it falls next to the weekend. That is why this page has more days than nights. For the single day, the sierra is an hour away: Peñalara, Abantos, Segovia and, two hours away, the Laguna Grande in Gredos. If you get three days, one night in Alcalá or two in La Alberca. ## The high mountains, newly open Mid-May is when the high sierra stops being winter. On Peñalara and in the Gredos cirque the snow retreats from the most-walked routes, the streams run full of meltwater and the meadows fill with flowers. For anyone who does not go up in winter, it is the first time in the year the Laguna Grande in Gredos can be reached without snowshoes. First time does not mean always: in a year of late snow, patches of snow stay in the shaded areas until June. Ask the night before at the Peñalara visitor centre, in Cotos, or in Hoyos del Espino, and bring boots that do not soak through. Up there it is between ten and fifteen degrees colder than in Madrid. ## And the festival in Madrid? If you want to see it and also get away, do both in order. On the morning of the 15th the San Isidro meadow, beside the hermitage, fills with chulapos in traditional dress, rosquillas listas y tontas doughnuts and the saint's water; in the afternoon there are street dances and concerts in the Plaza Mayor and at the Vistillas, and the San Isidro Fair continues at Las Ventas. With all that, the getaway goes better the day before or the day after. ## What to buy beforehand The Cervantes Train, first: it leaves on spring Saturdays from Atocha, with a limited number of places, and the May Saturdays sell out. Then lunch: the Abantos forest lodge, the roast-meat restaurants in Rascafría and Hoyos del Espino and the suckling pig at the Azoguejo, in Segovia, fill up on holidays. In Segovia, during Titirimundi, some indoor performances are paid and have numbered tickets; the street ones are not booked. For La Alberca, if you get two nights, book as soon as you can: in spring the village has more visitors than in winter and few beds in the old town. ## Afternoon storms in the sierra May in Madrid already touches thirty degrees some days, and in the sierra it is full spring. What changes the day are the afternoon storms, which in Gredos and Guadarrama build from two or three o'clock. Start early, eat after the walk and do not stay on the peaks if the sky closes in. ## Peñalara, puppets and train: the 15th with children The Zabala route on Peñalara is the easiest in the massif: a little under five kilometres there and back, with a lagoon at the end. Titirimundi is a festival designed for children too, with street performances for all ages. The Cervantes Train has actors on board and a child's fare for ages 7 to 11. The Laguna Grande in Gredos, at over thirteen kilometres, is for children of ten and over who already walk. ## The road on a holiday On 15 May half the city leaves at once for the sierra, and the A-6 and M-601 towards Navacerrada and Cotos get heavy before ten. At weekends access to the Gredos Platform is regulated from kilometre 7, and Cotos fills up: leave early or choose Segovia or Alcalá, which have trains. The return, like a Sunday: heavy from six onwards. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Is San Isidro a holiday across the whole Community of Madrid? No. 15 May is a local holiday in the city of Madrid. Each municipality in the region chooses its two local holidays. ### Is there snow on Peñalara or in Gredos in mid-May? Normally not on the main routes any more, although in years of late snow some patches remain. Ask at the visitor centre the night before. ### When is Titirimundi in Segovia? In May, normally in the middle of the month and for about six days. The festival publishes its programme in spring. ### And without a car on 15 May? Alcalá, with the Cervantes Train or by Cercanías; Segovia, by high-speed train; El Escorial, by Cercanías or on the Felipe II Train; and Peñalara, on bus 691 to Cotos.