Map
31 plans, by travel time
Under 45 min
3 plans
Alcalá: university, Cervantes and Romans
Guided university €6+Hostería del Estudiante €€€+Complutum free
A guided visit to Cisneros' university, Calle Mayor to Cervantes' birthplace, a Cervantes-themed lunch at the Hostería and the Roman city of Complutum in the afternoon.
Aranjuez: palace, gardens and boat
Palace with a guide 1 h+Free gardens+Boat on the Tagus 45 min+Market-garden cooking €€€
The palace with a guide at 10:30, the Isla and Príncipe gardens, a market-garden lunch and a boat trip on the Tagus. You can arrive by Cercanías from Atocha.
Chinchón: square, winery and roast
Plaza Mayor and church+Winery tasting €15+Wood-fired roast €€
The Plaza Mayor before it fills up, a tasting of Madrid wines in an 1870 winery and a long lunch in a tavern with caves. 45 minutes from Madrid.
45 min to 1 h
6 plans
Abantos: climb through the pine forest and lunch in the mountains
Medium route 9.5 km+Grill and game €€€
A mid-morning climb through the pine forest behind the monastery, lunch in a 1918 forestry house turned restaurant and a stroll round the Jardín de los Frailes.
El Escorial: the chestnut groves of La Herrería
Chestnut groves 8.6 km+Philip II's Chair+Castilian roast €€
An 8.6 km route through ash groves, chestnut woods and fountains of the royal forest to Philip II's Chair, a Castilian roast at an inn from 1768 and the Jardín de los Frailes. 50 minutes from Madrid.
La Pedriza: El Tolmo and the castle
Walk 5.8 km · 2 h+Mountain bar €€+Castle from outside
Enter Canto Cochino before 10:30, climb the Autopista de La Pedriza to El Tolmo, have lunch in the square at Manzanares el Real and finish at the Mendoza castle.
El Escorial: monastery and Philip II's Chair
Monastery with a guide 2 h+Castilian tavern €€+Chair viewpoint
Philip II's monastery at opening time, a Castilian lunch two streets away and the view from Philip II's Chair in the afternoon light. 50 minutes from Madrid.
Patones: climbing and a slate village
Introduction to climbing €45+Grill at Las Eras €€+Village and dam free
Four hours of beginner climbing on the Patones crags, lunch in the black-slate village and the old Pontón de la Oliva dam at sunset.
Navacerrada: guided snowshoeing and grill in Cercedilla
Guided snowshoeing+Holm-oak grill €€
A morning snowshoeing through the National Park pinewoods with the pass's school, no experience needed, and a grill lunch at La Maya, in Cercedilla. It can be done by train.
1 h to 1 h 30
6 plans
Toledo: Jewish quarter in the morning and cathedral in the afternoon
Jewish quarter and cathedral+Zip line and viewpoint+Lunch in the old town €€
On Sunday the cathedral opens at two and the Sephardic Museum is free in the morning: Jewish quarter and zip line before lunch, cathedral afterwards and the Mirador del Valle at sunset.
Valdesquí: a day on the slopes and spoon dishes at Cotos
Skiing until 14:00+Mountain spoon dishes €€
A day on the slopes at Valdesquí, Madrid's big resort, and a spoon-dish lunch at the Venta Marcelino, on the Cotos pass. An hour from Madrid by car or on bus 691 from Moncloa.
Rascafría: oaks and waterfall
Waterfall 10 km+Mountain cooking €€+Arboretum of 200 species
A half-day among oaks and Ávila cattle along the Aguilón river to the Purgatorio waterfall, mountain-village lunch on the edge of Rascafría and the Giner de los Ríos arboretum at dusk.
Peñalara: glacial lake and monastery
Easy route 4.7 km+Mountain roast house €€+Monastery with a guide €7
An easy route to the Peñalara glacial cirque before the visitor quota fills, a roast-house lunch in Rascafría and the El Paular charterhouse in the afternoon.
Segovia: Aqueduct, Alcázar and suckling pig
Aqueduct and Alcázar+Roast house €€€
The Aqueduct before the groups, the Mint by the river, suckling pig at the Azoguejo and the afternoon for the cathedral and the Alcázar. Doable without a car, too.
Ávila: wall and Cuatro Postes
Wall and cathedral+Castilian cooking €€€
You walk along the top of the city wall, see the cathedral built into it, eat El Barco beans, step into San Vicente and finish at the Cuatro Postes with the wall lit up.
1 h 30 to 2 h
10 plans
Montejo Beech Forest and Buitrago
Free guided trail with a pass+Buitrago wall €5+Asador Las Murallas €€
The guided trail through the Montejo Beech Forest first thing, with the pass collected in Montejo de la Sierra, the high wall of Buitrago and a roast inside the walled town.
Sigüenza: castle, Doncel and Castilian roast
Castle, Doncel and cathedral+Walk down through the medieval town+Castilian roast house €€
You park by the castle and walk down: Parador courtyard, Santiago and the Casa del Doncel in the morning, a roast at midday and the cathedral with the Doncel's tomb in the afternoon.
Consuegra: castle, windmills and sunset on the hill
Castle and windmills+La Mancha cooking €€+Sunset on the hill
A guided visit to the Muela castle with the Bolero windmill, the Rucio mill from the inside, La Mancha lunch in a former pottery workshop, Plaza de España and sunset beside the windmills.
Duratón Gorges: canoe and San Frutos
Canoe 3 h 30+San Frutos 1 h+Roast house €€€
You paddle through the canyon between hundred-metre walls, eat lamb in Sepúlveda and climb to the San Frutos hermitage in the afternoon light.
Pedraza: village, roast and castle
Jail and castle+Roast house €€€
You enter by the only gate, visit its jail, stroll the Plaza Mayor, eat roast lamb from a wood-fired oven and finish at Zuloaga's castle in the afternoon light.
Cuenca: cathedral, Hanging Houses and San Pablo bridge
Free cathedral and museums+San Pablo bridge and gorge+Cuenca cooking €€€
Cuenca's old town on foot on a Sunday: the cathedral at opening time, two free museums, the San Pablo bridge facing the Hanging Houses and ajoarriero for lunch.
Almagro: theatre at the Corral and Calatrava castle
Corral de Comedias+La Mancha cooking €€€+Calatrava la Nueva
The Corral de Comedias with the 13:00 dramatised visit, the square of green galleries, aubergines and pisto at the Parador and, in the afternoon, the castle-convent of Calatrava la Nueva.
Gredos: Laguna Grande and revolconas
Route 13.6 km · 5 h+Mountain cooking €€
A five-hour route from the Plataforma to the Laguna Grande, at the foot of the Gredos cirque, and a late lunch of revolconas and Ávila meat in Hoyos del Espino.
Carraovejas, castle and roast lamb
2 h tasting · €85+Wood-roasted lamb €€€+A night under the castle
You leave the car at the hotel, taste four wines at Pago de Carraovejas, climb up to the wine castle, have lamb beside the Duratón and dine and sleep in a 1922 flour mill. Wednesday to Sunday.
Peñafiel: castle, lamb and winery
Castle and museum 1 h 30+Roast lamb house €€€+Winery with tasting 2 h
The ship-shaped castle and the Provincial Wine Museum in the morning, the Plaza del Coso, wood-fired roast lamb and a visit with tasting at a winery in the village.
Driving time without traffic from central Madrid to the town or the car park for the plan, calculated with an OpenStreetMap road router, with no stops. By train, from the Madrid stations each plan indicates.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Which plan is best without a car?
Those with a direct train: El Escorial and Aranjuez, by Cercanías; Toledo, Segovia and Cuenca, by high-speed train. Each plan says which station it leaves from and how long it takes.
And with small children?
Aranjuez, with its flat gardens and the boat on the Tagus; Chinchón, with its square; and the Peñalara lake in the Lozoya valley, if they can already walk for an hour.
What is there beyond an hour and a half?
Sigüenza and its castle, the Duratón Gorges, Pedraza, Cuenca and the Ciudad Encantada, Almagro and Peñafiel with the Ribera del Duero. It is worth setting off before nine.
What time should we leave?
Before nine. On fine Sundays the mountain roads and the car parks in El Escorial, Segovia and Toledo fill up by mid-morning, and the drive back to Madrid in the afternoon is usually heavy.
Do we need to book for lunch?
Yes, at almost all of them. The roast-meat restaurants in Segovia, Pedraza, Sepúlveda and Chinchón fill up on Sundays with people from Madrid.