Alcalá de Henares, 25 km east of Madrid, is a charming UNESCO world heritage city worth a day trip. Its claim to fame is being the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote de la Mancha. 1. Museo-Casa Cervantes: Learn here about Cervantes’ life and get a glimpse of life in the [...]
Possibly one of the best things about Madrid is the ease with which you can get away from it all. The lovely Sierra de Guadarrama lies to the north and northwest of the city, offering great train-accessible hiking. But the closest bit of mountainous wilderness to Madrid is in the southern foothills of the Sierra—in [...]
Known as the “city of three cultures,” medieval Toledo was a relatively harmonious home to Christians, Muslims and Jews for several centuries—and luckily, while the latter two groups have disappeared, traces of their architecture remain. Toledo also conjures associations with El Greco’s artwork and its artisans’ distinctive metalwork. Toledo makes a great day-trip from Madrid. [...]
Want to get out of the city for a day? Already been to Toledo and El Escorial? Set your sights just beyond the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains to Segovia. And be sure not to miss the Top 5 must-sees. 1. Roman Aqueduct – The 2000 year-old aqueduct is at its most glorious spanning the Plaza [...]
Closer than Segovia and less mercenary than Toledo, El Escorial makes an absurdly easy day trip from Madrid. Go when it’s fine and you can combine nature, culture and fine dining in the time it takes to reach the front of the queue at the Prado. Well, almost. As the train draws you into the [...]
After around a decade of closure due to lack of sufficient public interest, Madrid’s Hipódromo horse racing track reopened last year. Today marked the beginning of the new season, which runs through to July 19th. This is an extremely pleasurable way to spend a Sunday morning, especially a sunny one like today’s! There are five [...]
Photo: wild horses in the Sierra high above Cotos This article on walking in the Sierra de Guadarrama (with a treat for Google Earth users at the end!) comes from Graeme at South of Watford. Graeme has lived and worked in Madrid for almost 10 years and writes regularly in his blog about current [...]
