Places around Madrid

I am going to describe best places around Madrid I visited during my 5-month Erasmus stay there. You can visit many places around Madrid with your Abono joven (public transport card). And if you know where to go, you can have great trips. It can be one Saturday when you want to get out of the lively city, go to the nature from where you can see lakes and mountains, different kind of animals than pigeons and ducks or use a bit of your adventurous spirit to go discovering places yet unknown to you. There are two cities I unfortunately have not visited: El Escorial with its famous monastery you can reach taking the green bus and Segovia with its city wall and Alcazar palace. So that remained on my places to visit list as Madrid works like a magnet to me I want to go back so much.

Toledo

You have probably heard before about Toledo. It has extensive history being influenced by three cultures. Going there is one of the most common trips from Madrid. You can take the bus there and depending on which one you take you can go directly to the city or stop in all the intermediate bus stations on the way which takes more time. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old city is located on peninsula. Local souvenir shops are selling swords because of the sword production that use to take place there. What the city can offer is plenty of old buildings, those small flower pots ornamenting walls of houses, many restaurants offering paella and so much more.

The main square is the one with Town Hall and Cathedral where at the time of my visit I could see the dance festival. They were dancing salsa, cha-cha-cha and pasodoble at that day. Attending such an event in Spain was incomparable to anything else. There is also Alcazar fortress inside of which is The Army museum and on the other side of the river you can find the Castle of San Servando, transformed into a hostel. At times, you can go to the yard which offers a nice view of the old city.

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From across the river.

Aranjuez

I went to Aranjuez with my buddy and we had a really nice trip there. One can take Cercanias Renfe to get there, but going by bus is a better option if you want to arrive in the center. The most magnificent building there is Royal Palace which was unfortunately closed at the time of our arrival since the prince was visiting the next day. Just next to it lies a really nice park with ordered gardens, small bridges crossing the river Tajo - the largest river in Spain and many fountains decorated with sculptures.

Because we were not able to enter the Royal Palace, we decided to visit another building: Casa del Labrador, situated in Jardin del Principe, a short walk away from the centre. The tours occur every full hour and only a few people (12) can enter at one time so you may not be able to get in if you are late. When you enter, you will put on the shoe bags. The rooms are very nicely ornamented with many pictures and every room has its own spirit. When we came outside, the rain started sprinkling and we saw this gorgeous triple rainbow. In Aranjuez also stands Plaza de Toros (where bullfights occasionally occur), but we did not visit it.

View from the bridge. Source: own photo

Buitrago de Lozoya

The easiest way for you to reach Buitrago de Lozoya is taking the bus number 191 from Plaza de Castilla. The city got its second part of the name by the river Lozoya which is common among names of spanish cities. You can find storks on several rooftops. The old center has a nice atmosphere with wall around it. You can get on the smaller one for free and for the higher one you will pay 2€. The views from the river banks are really nice. The city also has a castle but do not expect too much of it as it does not actually look like one but rather a ruin.

Stork nest. Source: own photo

Alcalá de Henares

Alcalá de Henares is most known for being the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote - the idealistic knight riding around with his squire Sancho Panza, that, among other adventures on his journey, fights with windmills. No worries if you have not actually read the original book as neither have I and not so many people can claim they have. So the city contains (as you can expect) many statues of the two main characters. The old city part is on the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

The main square is quite small and besides it, there is not much to see so your stay there will probably not be very long. You can see many storks and stork nests on the cute old buildings even if you visit it in December. I went there during the Christmas time and there were stalls located on both sides of the main square offering sweets, books, souvenirs and others. In the middle of the square there was a small carousel. You can get there by bus, but faster way is taking Cercanias Renfe - fast train that will leave you close to the city center.

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The main square.

Ávila

Ávila is the only city on the list that cannot be reached using public transport from Madrid. There are probably options like taking intercity bus, but cheaper and perhaps more convenient way to reach it is using BlaBlaCar, where you agree with a driver going there from Madrid to take you to desired destination while you pay them agreed amount. Oftentimes you can choose where you want to be picked up and dropped off and you can start an interesting conversation with driver and other passengers during the drive.

They call it ''The Town of Stones and Saints'' because of the city wall hiding the old city and high number of churches located there. You will be able to have a nice view of the city taking a walk around the wall and after that you can explore the streets that walls guarded so they could not be conquered. There is a specialty called Yemas - yolk mixed with sugar which is offered in a shape of small spheres. Another specialty is Chuletón - steak grilled as you wish: raw, medium cooked or cooked. Out of the wall stand Cuatro postes (4 poles) looking really nice in the pictures, but in reality there will just be many people taking photos. Still, it does offer a view of another side of the wall.

The wall. Source: own photo

Manzanares el Real

When you take the bus to Manzanares el Real, it might look like you are going in the middle of nowhere. There is a landscape with hills and a lake, patches of trees and all at sudden you will see this Castle of the Mendoza and for a moment you will feel like you are into a fairy-tale. The castle is quite small but entering leads you into rooms hiding stories of lives in the medieval times trying to show it to you more close by being decorated like in the times when people were living there. Personally, the best part of the castle was walking on the walls from where one can get really nice views of the surroundings. The castle was also used when they were filming Game of Thrones. Have a look at this article if you want to know everything about all the places where Game of Thrones was filmed.

Since I did not want my trip there to end just yet, I decided to go to the lake. Getting there represented a bit of a challenge, but, then I finally got there. I had a company of many loud birds and some cows, but there were no other people. The lake itself is quite dirty since they drop waste waters; as a result, it does not have a nice waterfront. After that, I went to the hills on the other side of the castle. Again, getting there was a bit connected with luck since there are only a few ways up and some are blocked. However, from up there the city seemed so magical.

Castillo. Source: own photo.

As you can see, the province of Madrid has a lot more to offer than just the city itself. So either being on Erasmus or visiting it for just a few days, you can decide to visit at least one of the cities nearby. If I had to choose one, I would go to Toledo.

If you absolutely love Eurovision, you should definitely be in Madrid on the 19th and 20th of Abril to go to the Eurovision Pre-Party. Have a look at this article if you want to know everything about this event and Eurovision 2019.

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