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The Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and the town below the Guadarrama slopes, seen from the Silla de Felipe II
The Royal Palace of Aranjuez seen across the flowerbeds of the Jardín del Parterre
The Paraninfo of the University of Alcalá, with its gilded coffered ceiling and wooden benches
The Royal Library of El Escorial, with Tibaldi's frescoed vault above the carved bookcases

Things to do in the Community of Madrid, beyond the city

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Photo: jacilluch, CC BY-SA 2.0

Aranjuez

Walk the royal gardens of Aranjuez and visit the palace

Check dates and prices

Photo: Timyoud, CC BY-SA 3.0 es

Alcalá de Henares

Tour Alcalá's old university, then Cervantes' birthplace

Check dates and prices

Photo: Raimundo Pastor, CC BY-SA 4.0

San Lorenzo de El Escorial

Tour El Escorial, from the library hall to the royal pantheon

Check dates and prices

Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Community of Madrid is the capital plus the ring of royal sites, old towns and mountains around it, most of them under an hour away by train or bus. Madrid itself has its own page; this one is for the days you spend outside the city.

The region is easiest to read by direction. To the northwest, San Lorenzo de El Escorial and, above it, the Sierra de Guadarrama, with Cercedilla and Peñalara. To the south, Aranjuez and its gardens on the Tajo; to the southeast, Chinchón; to the east, Alcalá de Henares. Cercanías trains or interurban buses reach all of them.

Two of the classic day trips from Madrid sit in neighbouring regions: Toledo, in Castilla-La Mancha, and Segovia, in Castilla y León. Both have their own pages, and both combine well with the trips below.

Places in this region

5 things to do in Community of Madrid

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The Royal Library of El Escorial, with Tibaldi's frescoed vault above the carved bookcases

Tour El Escorial, from the library hall to the royal pantheon

San Lorenzo de El Escorial

2 to 3 hours inside, a full day with the townBook ahead

A monastery, palace and royal burial place in one, with a 55-metre library hall under frescoes and the tombs of Spain's kings.

Check dates and pricesEl Escorial monastery entry with express security lane
The Paraninfo of the University of Alcalá, with its gilded coffered ceiling and wooden benches

Tour Alcalá's old university, then Cervantes' birthplace

Alcalá de Henares

Half a day to a full dayBook ahead

See the hall where the Cervantes Prize is presented, in Cardinal Cisneros's university town, then the house where Cervantes was born.

Check dates and pricesAlcalá day trip from Madrid: university and Cervantes house
The Royal Palace of Aranjuez seen across the flowerbeds of the Jardín del Parterre

Walk the royal gardens of Aranjuez and visit the palace

Aranjuez

Half a day or moreBook ahead

The Bourbon court's spring residence, where the Tajo meets the Jarama, with free royal gardens open every day.

Check dates and pricesGuided Aranjuez walk: gardens and Royal Palace entry
Green wooden balconies with restaurant tables on the Plaza Mayor of Chinchón

Eat a wood-oven roast on a balcony over Chinchón's Plaza Mayor

Chinchón

Half a dayBook ahead

Eat a wood-oven roast on a wooden balcony over a Plaza Mayor that has been bullring, theatre and film set.

Tours in Community of Madrid
The Roman road through the pine forest of the Fuenfría valley, dusted with snow

Walk the Roman road of the Fuenfría valley from Cercedilla

Cercedilla, Valle de la Fuenfría

A full day from MadridFree

Walk Roman and Bourbon roads through the Fuenfría valley, starting from a Cercanías station in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Tours in Community of Madrid

Plan your trip

  • Which day trip for what

    For royal history and one of Europe's great library halls, El Escorial. For gardens and a lighter palace visit, Aranjuez. For a compact old town with a university you can tour inside, Alcalá de Henares. For a long Castilian lunch on a balcony, Chinchón. For a walk in pine forest, Cercedilla and the Fuenfría valley. Beyond the region, Toledo is the richest single day of monuments and Segovia pairs its Roman aqueduct with the Alcázar; see their own pages.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, give Madrid itself three days, then add one day for each trip out. With a week, three day trips fit comfortably: Toledo first, then Segovia or El Escorial, then whichever of Aranjuez, Alcalá or Chinchón suits you. All of them are there-and-back trips, so there is no need to change hotels: stay in Madrid and travel out each morning.

  • Getting out of Madrid

    Three hubs cover almost everything. From Atocha, Cercanías lines C-2 and C-7 reach Alcalá de Henares in 39 minutes, line C-3 reaches Aranjuez in about 45, and Avant high-speed trains reach Toledo in about half an hour. From Chamartín, line C-8 runs to El Escorial in under an hour and to Cercedilla in about an hour, and high-speed trains run to Segovia-Guiomar, a station outside Segovia. From the Moncloa interchange, buses 661 and 664 go to El Escorial and 684 to Cercedilla. Chinchón's bus 337 leaves from Pavones while the Conde de Casal interchange is rebuilt.

  • Mind the Monday closures

    The El Escorial monastery, the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the Alcalá university tour and the Cervantes birthplace museum all close on Mondays. Save Monday for Chinchón, a walk in the Sierra or the Aranjuez gardens, which open every day. If you are an EU or Ibero-American citizen or an EU resident, plan El Escorial or the Aranjuez palace for a Wednesday or Sunday afternoon, when Patrimonio Nacional lets you in free with ID.

  • When to go

    Spring suits the region best: Aranjuez was the court's spring residence, and the Strawberry Train, when it runs, works spring and autumn weekends. In July and August the Sierra is the cooler escape, and El Escorial keeps its summer hours, 10:00 to 20:00, from April to September. From October to March the Patrimonio Nacional sites close at 18:00, and snow can reach the Sierra. Its car parks are rationed all year: Las Dehesas by paid reservation at weekends, Los Cotos by a daily cap of 250 cars.

Questions travellers ask

What is the best day trip from Madrid?

Toledo and Segovia, just outside the region, are the classics, and each has its own page. Inside the Community of Madrid, in must30's view, El Escorial is the strongest: the monastery, the royal pantheon and the library hall fill a morning, and the town and its gardens the rest of the day.

How do I get from Madrid to El Escorial?

Take bus 661 or 664 from the Moncloa interchange, about an hour; the 664 stops about 200 metres from the monastery. The alternative is Cercanías line C-8 from Chamartín, under an hour, but El Escorial station is more than a kilometre below the town. The monastery is closed on Mondays.

Is the Strawberry Train to Aranjuez running?

Its website showed it as provisionally suspended in October 2026, with no restart date. Check trendelafresa.es before you plan around it. Cercanías line C-3 reaches Aranjuez from Atocha in about 45 minutes every day of the year.

Can you visit the Sierra de Guadarrama without a car?

Yes. Cercanías line C-8 runs from Chamartín to Cercedilla in about an hour, and the Fuenfría valley trails start a short walk uphill from the station. The C-9 line from Cercedilla up to Cotos, for Peñalara, has been closed for works since May 2024, with replacement buses, so check Renfe before relying on it.

When is entry to El Escorial free?

On Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, for EU citizens, EU residents and Ibero-American citizens who show ID. From October to March the free slot starts at 15:00, and the last entry to the monastery is at 16:45. Summer times differ, so check the Patrimonio Nacional page before you go.

Other places to go

Things to do in Spain

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