# Skiing and snowshoeing an hour from Madrid: a weekend in Navacerrada and Cercedilla A Saturday of skiing at Valdesquí, a night in Cercedilla and a Sunday on snowshoes through the National Park or the Fuenfría Roman road. All an hour from Madrid, and it can be done by train. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/navacerrada-pass-and-cercedilla/itineraries/ski-and-snowshoeing-near-madrid-navacerrada · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Dónde: Navacerrada Pass and Cercedilla The Sierra de Guadarrama is the snow Madrid has an hour away: two ski resorts, the National Park for snowshoeing and a town with a train, Cercedilla, where you can sleep without going down to the city. From Segovia it is half an hour away, and from Ávila, Guadalajara or Toledo, under two hours. This weekend splits the snow into two days: Saturday, pistes at Valdesquí; Sunday, guided snowshoeing or, if there hasn't been enough snow, the Fuenfría Roman road. ## Where to sleep? In Cercedilla, a quarter of an hour from the pass. Las Rozuelas is a stone house from 1940 in the Fuenfría valley, with a lounge with a fireplace, a buffet breakfast and its own parking: you set out on foot to the Roman road. Luces del Poniente is a quiet country hotel with a restaurant and terrace, which limits the number of young children it takes. Hostal La Maya, in the centre, minutes from the train, is the option if you come without a car. ## Skiing or snowshoeing? Both. Valdesquí has 29 pistes and 22 km, a school, rental and a snowpark; the adult day lift pass costs €47 in the 2026-2027 season with over 11 km open, and the Pradera pass, for beginners, €26. Snowshoes need no technique: the Escuela Española de Esquí de Navacerrada organises guided routes from the pass, and at Valdesquí they can be rented for €12.50. SaturdaySunday With snowSkiing at ValdesquíGuided snowshoeing from the pass Without snowCamino Schmid and Siete PicosFuenfría Roman road ## And without a car? It can all be done on public transport: bus 691 from Moncloa reaches Valdesquí; the Cercanías C-8, Cercedilla; and the bus replacing the C-9 links Cercedilla with the pass and Cotos while the railway works last, except on heavy snow days. ## El plan ### Saturday · 7:30 · Set off for Valdesquí Via the A-6, the M-601 and the SG-615, with your parking space booked free on the resort website and chains in the boot. Without a car, the 691 from Moncloa. ### Saturday · 9:00 · Skiing at Valdesquí Pistes until early afternoon. If someone is starting, a Pradera lift pass and a private lesson: €52 an hour for one, €32 per person for two. ### Saturday · 14:15 · Lunch at the Venta Marcelino At the Cotos pass, since 1924: La Granja butter beans and tripe. No bookings. ### Saturday · 17:00 · Arrival in Cercedilla Down the Navacerrada pass to Las Rozuelas or your hotel. Dinner in the village: La Maya is open until 1:00. ### Sunday · 9:30 · Guided snowshoeing from the pass With the Escuela Española de Esquí de Navacerrada, a route adapted to the group and the snow. Book beforehand on 918 52 03 59. ### Sunday · 14:00 · Lunch at La Maya Holm-oak grill at weekends, in the centre of Cercedilla. ### Sunday · 16:00 · Walk along the Roman road If there is light left, a stretch from Las Dehesas, next to the Fuenfría Visitor Centre. Back to Madrid before dark. ## Consejos ### Book the Valdesquí parking Free on its website; on snowy Saturdays, essential. ### Carry chains The M-601 and the SG-615 require them in snow. ### If it hasn't snowed The Camino Schmid and the Roman road are just as good in autumn or a dry winter. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How much does the weekend cost? Between €150 and €240 per person, with lift pass, rental, a night and meals. ### Can it be done without a car? Yes, with bus 691, the Cercanías C-8 and the bus replacing the C-9. ### Where to sleep near the pistes? In Cercedilla, about 15 minutes from the pass. ### Are there guided snowshoe outings? Yes, with the Escuela Española de Esquí de Navacerrada, at the pass itself. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Hotel Rural Luces del Poniente**: A hotel built for quiet Luces del Poniente is a small country hotel on Calle Lina de Ávila, in the lower part of Cercedilla, about 45 minutes from Madrid. It is designed for resting: it limits the number of children aged 0 to 10 staying at any one time (families should check before booking) and rents the whole hotel to companies who want to meet without other guests. The rooms look onto the valley, the pine woods or the Sierra de Guadarrama, depending on which one you get. Fourteen doubles, almost all different It has 14 rooms, all doubles, with beds together or apart as you choose, television, heating, hairdryer, toiletries, a kettle with tea and coffee and a desk, and a lift to all floors. The categories: Hydromassage suite: views of the sierra, a hydromassage bath in the room and a bathroom with shower and bath. Fireplace suite: fireplace, freestanding clawfoot bath and views of the sierra. Room with terrace and lounge: its own lounge and a terrace over the valley, designed for long stays. Rooms with terrace: five, each decorated in its own way, with a private terrace. Duplex: its own staircase up to an attic bedroom, with a freestanding bath and a shower. Exterior doubles: three, bright and quiet. Attic room: sloping ceilings and views; the most secluded in the house. Ground floor: no stairs, with a window onto the garden and a walk-in shower. Some admit an extra bed or a cot; the attic room does not, and the ground-floor room is not recommended for them. A pool at 33 degrees The hydromassage pool, heated to 33 degrees, is open from 20 March to 10 November and is for guests only; in season it is included. If you want to make the most of your last day, late check-out until 16:00 costs €40 per room with a pool (€50 in the hydromassage suite) or €30 without one. Breakfast and meals in the house Breakfast is a buffet from 8:30 to 11:00. The hotel restaurant serves lunch and dinner with a terrace over the sierra and a menu of afternoon snacks in between. Booking, arrival and surroundings When you book directly there is no advance payment, cancellation is free up to 48 hours before and there is a discount from two nights. The Navacerrada pass and its slopes are about 10 minutes away by car, and the Fuenfría valley, with the Roman road, about the same. Without a car, the C-8 commuter train reaches Cercedilla from Madrid and the hotel explains on its website how to continue. Telephone 918 52 55 87, WhatsApp 699 925 402. - **Hostal La Maya**: In the heart of Cercedilla La Maya has been a guesthouse and restaurant since 1982, at Calle Carrera del Señor, 2, in the centre of Cercedilla. It is simple, practical accommodation: you sleep in the village, the commuter-train station is a few minutes' walk away and the restaurant is on the floor below, open until 1:00 every day. Fifteen doubles It has 15 double rooms, with a double bed or two beds, television, free wifi and a full bathroom; some have a balcony and the website says which ones have air conditioning. There is heating. If you book on their website they take 10% off the price, and the booking is made directly with the establishment. The website does not publish prices, whether breakfast is included, check-in and check-out times, or what the policy is on dogs or parking: ask on 91 852 22 52 or 91 852 12 67. It has its own published cancellation policy. A base for the snow and the Fuenfría without a car It is a practical base for the sierra: you arrive by train from Madrid and sleep in the village. By car, the Navacerrada pass is 12 km away by road and Valdesquí a little over half an hour, so you can head up early and come back down for dinner without hunting for a space at the pass. From here you can do the Navacerrada Pass ski resort or Valdesquí in a day, as in the Sunday of skiing at Valdesquí, and in summer the Fuenfría valley is a few kilometres away. Eat without going out Downstairs you have the La Maya restaurant, with a holm-oak charcoal grill at weekends, afternoon snacks and a terrace, part of it covered all year round. By the A-6 and the M-622, or on the C-8 C/ Carrera del Señor, 2. From Madrid, take the A-6 and the M-622, or the C-8 commuter train to Cercedilla. - **Hotel Rural Las Rozuelas**: A 1940 stone house in the oak wood Las Rozuelas is a stone house from 1940, restored as a country hotel and blended into the mountainside, at Carretera de las Dehesas, 45, in an oak wood halfway up the Fuenfría valley, above Cercedilla. It is not in the village or on the main road: you reach it by a short forest track and what surrounds you is woodland. Cercedilla has mild summers and cold, damp winters, often with snow. Eight rooms Two attic suites of 40 and 28 m² with a balcony-terrace and views of the Fuenfría pass, Majalasna and Montón de Trigo; two doubles of 20 m² under a timber roof; and double rooms with a 1.80 m bed that splits into two. All have a minibar, television and free wifi; rooms 1 to 4 also have air conditioning. The website does not publish prices outside its booking system, nor check-in and check-out times, nor whether pets or children are allowed: ask on 629 829 288. Breakfast by the fireplace Breakfast is the house speciality: a generous buffet with quality produce, included in the price, served in the lounge with its wood fire and large windows onto the garden and the forest. The lounge is always open to guests, with board games, and outside there are several terraces. The hotel does not advertise a restaurant for lunch and dinner, so go down to Cercedilla to eat: La Maya is in the centre, open all day. Getting here and parking Along the Las Dehesas road, leaving Cercedilla: at kilometre point 1.8, going uphill, a 160-metre forest track branches off to the left with a sign saying "Las Rozuelas". Parking is private and free, an advantage in a valley where the Las Dehesas car park works by reservation and charges on the busiest days. What you have on foot The Fuenfría Visitor Centre and the Fuenfría Roman road are a few minutes away; the Navacerrada pass and the Schmid Path are a quarter of an hour by car. ## Dónde dormir without a car - **Hotel Rural Luces del Poniente**: A hotel built for quiet Luces del Poniente is a small country hotel on Calle Lina de Ávila, in the lower part of Cercedilla, about 45 minutes from Madrid. It is designed for resting: it limits the number of children aged 0 to 10 staying at any one time (families should check before booking) and rents the whole hotel to companies who want to meet without other guests. The rooms look onto the valley, the pine woods or the Sierra de Guadarrama, depending on which one you get. Fourteen doubles, almost all different It has 14 rooms, all doubles, with beds together or apart as you choose, television, heating, hairdryer, toiletries, a kettle with tea and coffee and a desk, and a lift to all floors. The categories: Hydromassage suite: views of the sierra, a hydromassage bath in the room and a bathroom with shower and bath. Fireplace suite: fireplace, freestanding clawfoot bath and views of the sierra. Room with terrace and lounge: its own lounge and a terrace over the valley, designed for long stays. Rooms with terrace: five, each decorated in its own way, with a private terrace. Duplex: its own staircase up to an attic bedroom, with a freestanding bath and a shower. Exterior doubles: three, bright and quiet. Attic room: sloping ceilings and views; the most secluded in the house. Ground floor: no stairs, with a window onto the garden and a walk-in shower. Some admit an extra bed or a cot; the attic room does not, and the ground-floor room is not recommended for them. A pool at 33 degrees The hydromassage pool, heated to 33 degrees, is open from 20 March to 10 November and is for guests only; in season it is included. If you want to make the most of your last day, late check-out until 16:00 costs €40 per room with a pool (€50 in the hydromassage suite) or €30 without one. Breakfast and meals in the house Breakfast is a buffet from 8:30 to 11:00. The hotel restaurant serves lunch and dinner with a terrace over the sierra and a menu of afternoon snacks in between. Booking, arrival and surroundings When you book directly there is no advance payment, cancellation is free up to 48 hours before and there is a discount from two nights. The Navacerrada pass and its slopes are about 10 minutes away by car, and the Fuenfría valley, with the Roman road, about the same. Without a car, the C-8 commuter train reaches Cercedilla from Madrid and the hotel explains on its website how to continue. Telephone 918 52 55 87, WhatsApp 699 925 402. - **Hostal La Maya**: In the heart of Cercedilla La Maya has been a guesthouse and restaurant since 1982, at Calle Carrera del Señor, 2, in the centre of Cercedilla. It is simple, practical accommodation: you sleep in the village, the commuter-train station is a few minutes' walk away and the restaurant is on the floor below, open until 1:00 every day. Fifteen doubles It has 15 double rooms, with a double bed or two beds, television, free wifi and a full bathroom; some have a balcony and the website says which ones have air conditioning. There is heating. If you book on their website they take 10% off the price, and the booking is made directly with the establishment. The website does not publish prices, whether breakfast is included, check-in and check-out times, or what the policy is on dogs or parking: ask on 91 852 22 52 or 91 852 12 67. It has its own published cancellation policy. A base for the snow and the Fuenfría without a car It is a practical base for the sierra: you arrive by train from Madrid and sleep in the village. By car, the Navacerrada pass is 12 km away by road and Valdesquí a little over half an hour, so you can head up early and come back down for dinner without hunting for a space at the pass. From here you can do the Navacerrada Pass ski resort or Valdesquí in a day, as in the Sunday of skiing at Valdesquí, and in summer the Fuenfría valley is a few kilometres away. Eat without going out Downstairs you have the La Maya restaurant, with a holm-oak charcoal grill at weekends, afternoon snacks and a terrace, part of it covered all year round. By the A-6 and the M-622, or on the C-8 C/ Carrera del Señor, 2. From Madrid, take the A-6 and the M-622, or the C-8 commuter train to Cercedilla.