Day trips from Madrid
Day trips with transport and recommendations
Anton K.· Updated:
Day trips from Madrid go further than Toledo and Segovia — nearly always by Cercanías train or bus, no car needed. Chinchón greets you with an oval Plaza Mayor and 234 green balconies, where bullfights still happen; in Aranjuez, the historic Tren de la Fresa (Strawberry Train) runs in spring to the royal palace and its UNESCO gardens; Buitrago del Lozoya hides behind 11th-century Arab walls in a bend of the Lozoya river. For mountains, there's Cercedilla and the Siete Picos ridge via the Camino Schmidt (1926), and the granite massif of La Pedriza with its El Yelmo outcrop in the Sierra de Guadarrama. The trip runs about an hour to ninety minutes each way almost everywhere, so head out in the morning.
Day trips
Must
Chinchón
Chinchón
🚂 45–50 km. Bus 337 (La Veloz) from Conde de Casal, ~55 min
An oval Plaza Mayor: 234 green balconies across 3 floors, and the square still gets fenced off for bullfights and shows. Anís Chinchón has been distilled here since the 17th century.
🗺️ Google MapsSaturdays — reenactments on the square [VERIFY]
Must
Buitrago del Lozoya
Buitrago del Lozoya
🚂 75–85 km. Bus 191/196 from Plaza de Castilla, ~1.5h
The Lozoya river loops around, and inside the loop stands a fortress with 11th-century Arab walls — among the few left in the whole Comunidad de Madrid. The Museo Picasso holds 75 works that Picasso's barber gave the town (free).
🗺️ Google MapsMuseo Picasso: Tue–Fri 11:00–13:45 + 16:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–14:00 + 16:00–19:00, Sun 10:00–14:00. Free tours Sun 12:00–13:30
Must
Aranjuez
Aranjuez
🚂 47–50 km. Cercanías C-3 from Atocha, ~45 min. Tren de la Fresa (spring/autumn, €30)
The Palacio Real and three gardens around it — a UNESCO-protected cultural landscape; the Jardín del Príncipe alone spans 150 ha. The Tren de la Fresa is its own story — a train from 1851 that hands out strawberries along the way.
🗺️ Google MapsTren de la Fresa: late April → early July + mid-September → October. Book at trendelafresa.es
Must
Cercedilla / Siete Picos
Cercedilla / Siete Picos
🚂 55–60 km. Cercanías C-8b from Atocha/Chamartín, ~1h15m
You take the train from Madrid for the trekking here. The Camino Schmidt was laid out in 1926 — 7 km along the Siete Picos ridge through pine forest and mountain streams, next to the Calzada Romana, a 1st-century Roman road through Fuenfría.
🗺️ Google MapsCercanías C-9 from Cercedilla to Puerto de Navacerrada. In winter, ice on the trails — crampons needed
Must
La Pedriza
La Pedriza
🚂 50 km. Bus 724 from Plaza de Castilla to Manzanares el Real, ~50 min
Europe's largest granite massif: the El Yelmo rock domes rise inside Parque Nacional Sierra de Guadarrama. In Manzanares itself — Castillo de los Mendoza, 15th century.
🗺️ Google MapsFree lanzadera bus: 9:00–20:30 weekends Apr–Jul. August — does NOT run [VERIFY]. Route to El Yelmo: 11.7 km, high difficulty, ~6h
Optional
Patones de Arriba
Patones de Arriba
🚂 ~60 km. Car or bus 197A from Plaza de Castilla (via Torrelaguna), ~1.5h
About 20 slate houses, black pizarra negra roofs, and not a meter of asphalt — the "black architecture" found nowhere else in Comunidad de Madrid (BIC).
🗺️ Google MapsNo direct public transport — needs a transfer or a car. Leave the car in Patones de Abajo → 800 m on foot along Senda del Barranco
Optional
Rascafría / Monasterio de El Paular
Rascafría / El Paular
🚂 90–107 km. Bus 194 from Plaza de Castilla, ~1.5–2h
The 14th-century Carthusian monastery has stood here for 600-plus years — inside, an alabaster retablo and a cloister. Beyond it starts the pine forest: Cascada del Purgatorio, 6 km on, and Las Presillas, natural swimming holes open in summer.
🗺️ Google MapsBus 194 takes a while. Las Presillas — summer only
Optional
Nuevo Baztán
Nuevo Baztán
🚂 45–55 km. Car ~40 min. Bus 261 from Conde de Casal [VERIFY]
José Benito de Churriguera built this utopian industrial town in 1709–1713: a palace and a church fused into one 18th-century Baroque ensemble, with the Fuente de los Tritones nearby (BIC).
🗺️ Google Maps5.6 km route around town. Limited public transport
Optional
San Lorenzo de El Escorial — beyond monastery
El Escorial — beyond the monastery
🚂 55 km. Cercanías C-3/C-8 from Atocha, ~1h. Buses 661/664 from Moncloa
BEYOND the monastery: Casita del Infante (small 18th-century palace, views), Casita del Príncipe (Villanueva, 1792), Bosque de La Herrería (chestnuts, oak), Silla de Felipe II (viewpoint).
🗺️ Google MapsThe monastery is the baseline — not something we'd pitch as a "discovery." Focus on what's around it
Optional
Alcalá de Henares — beyond Cervantes
Alcalá de Henares — beyond Cervantes
🚂 35 km. Cercanías C-2/C-7, ~35 min
BEYOND Cervantes: Corral de Comedias — Spain's oldest theater (since 1601, still active). Complutum — the excavated Roman city. Calle Mayor — Spain's longest arcaded street.
🗺️ Google MapsStorks on the towers — February. UNESCO university architecture
Optional
Sierra del Rincón
Sierra del Rincón
🚂 90–110 km. Car ~1.5h. Public transport limited
A UNESCO biosphere reserve, also called the "Poor Sierra" — backcountry with the slate-and-stone villages of La Hiruela, Puebla de la Sierra, Montejo, and medieval necropolises.
🗺️ Google MapsYou need a car. Can be combined with Buitrago (30 min)
Optional
Colmenar de Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja
🚂 ~55 km. Car ~50 min
The main reason to come is the Museo Ulpiano Checa, dedicated to the 19th-century orientalist painter. Beyond it, the arcaded Plaza Mayor, vineyards all around, and a town with no tourists.
🗺️ Google MapsMuseum tel.: 91 808 93 32. Can be combined with Chinchón (~20 min)
Optional
Hayedo de Montejo
Hayedo de Montejo — beech forest
🚂 ~100 km. Car ~1.5h. No direct bus
Europe's southernmost beech forest, UNESCO-protected, with individual trees over 1,000 years old. Entry is guided-only, by reservation: 50% of the slots go online 3 months out, the other 50% are handed out on-site the same day.
🗺️ Google MapsReservations: reservas.sierranortemadrid.org. Centro de Información: C/ Real 64, Montejo, tel. +34 91 869 70 58. Closed Mon. You need a car