A Day Trip to El Escorial is the perfect escape from the busy city life of Madrid, offering a mix of history, culture, and stunning mountain scenery. Located less than an hour away from Spain’s capital, you’ll find a charming small town which is home to a magnificent UNESCO World Heritage site, the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. This breathtaking palace-monastery complex is a display of Spain’s Golden Age.
To make it even more appealing the Royal Monastery is located within the Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) which makes for the most breathtaking scenery you can imagine. A visit to San Lorenzo de El Escorial is not complete without combining it with a short hike to “La Silla de Felipe II” (King Philip II Chair), which grants the most beautiful views over the Monastery and the surrounding area.
Whether you’re a history buff, an architecture lover, or simply looking to enjoy the nature outside Madrid, El Escorial has something for you. So join me to explore this beautiful town just outside Madrid!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL
San Lorenzo de El Escorial, or “El Escoria” as it is called by the locals, is a small town located Northwest of Madrid, at the feet of the Mount Abantos. The town is mostly famous for the beautiful Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, an impressive palace-monastery built by King Philip II of Spain.
The construction of the monastery began in 1563 and it took 21 years to complete it. El Escorial served both as a monastery and as a palace, it was the residence of King Philip II, and eventually it became his burial site as well. Since then, all Spanish Monarchs are buried in the Royal Pantheon of the Monastery.
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED TO VISIT EL ESCORIAL?
San Lorenzo de El Escorial is located approximately 49 km away from Madrid, which makes it one of the best day trips you can do from Spain’s capital.
If you’re only planning to visit the Royal Monastery, then half a day is more than enough. A visit to the monastery will take you somewhere between 3 to 4 hours. However, if you have the time, I really recommend combining your visit to the town with a short hike to “King Philip II Chair”, which will take you 1 to 2 hours depending on your pace.
This is what we did and had the most amazing day trip from Madrid.
GETTING TO EL ESCORIAL
San Lorenzo de El Escorial lies about an hour northwest of Madrid, within the Sierra de Guadarrama. There are three different options to get there.
🚗 BY CAR
The fastest and easiest way to reach El Escorial is by car. All you have to do is drive along the A6 highway for 43 km and take exit 47. From there, you’ll have to drive for 9,5 km until you reach El Escorial. The whole drive will take you more or less 50 minutes.
You can park your car at Parking de Plaza de la Constitucion (exact location at the map at the end of this blog).
🚉 BY TRAIN
If you don’t have a car or just don’t feel like driving you can reach El Escorial by train. All you have to do is take the C8-a suburban train line (“Cercanias”) from Atocha or Chamartin train stations to El Escorial.
Once you’re at the station El Escorial, you’ll have to walk for 30 minutes until you reach the monastery.
🚌 BY BUS
The last option is to get there by bus. You’ll want to take either line 661 or 664 that depart from Intercambiador de Moncloa Bus Station and get off at San Lorenzo de El Escorial bus station.
From the bus station, you’ll have to walk somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes to reach the monastery.
A BEAUTIFUL DAY TRIP TO EL ESCORIAL
This is everything we did during our day trip to San Lorenzo de El Escorial. There are other sites you can visit in El Escorial but they were closed on the day we visited.
As usual, I will list all the other possibilities at the end of this blog in case you want to add them to your itinerary.
ROYAL MONASTERY OF SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL
We began our visit to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, by visiting the Royal Monastery which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important buildings of the Spanish Golden Age.
The visit to the monastery will take somewhere between 3 and 4 hours depending on how in detail you explore each different area of the building. It has over 4.000 rooms and 1.200 doors. Your visit will be divided into the following areas:
- Patio of the Kings. The first thing you’ll visit in the monastery is the Patio of the Kings, which gets its name fromt he six statues from the kings of Judah featured in the building’s façade: Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, David, Solomon, Josiah, and Manasseh.
- San Lorenzo’s Basilica. The basilica is dedicated to San Lorenzo, the patron saint of scholars, librarians and chefs.
- The Palace, where you’ll notice that Philip II’s room had a direct view to the basilica.
- The Royal Pantheon, where former Spanish Monarchs are buried.
- The Library, the most remarkable room in the palace with over 40.000 books and 4.700 manuscripts. The room is beautifully decorated with frescos painted on the ceilings.
Practical information:
- Price: Tickets to visit the El Escorial cost 14 € per person in 2025. If you have to get an audiguide (which I definitely recommend) you’ll have to pay 5 € extra.
- Free entry: Entrance to the monastery is free on Wednesday and Sunday between 15:00 and 18:00.
- Opening Hours: The Monastery is open from Tuesday to Sunday between 10:00 and 18:00. It is closed on Mondays and special bank holidays.
- You can buy your tickets online at the official website.
- Photography: Unfortunately it is not allowed to take photos inside the Monastery.
THE MONASTERY'S GARDENS
Once you’re done visiting the Monastery, make sure to spend some time exploring its beautiful gardens. These are devided into three different gardens: Los Jardines del Fraile (The Frair’s Gardens), Los Jardines del Rey (The King’s Gardens) and Los Jardines de la Reina (The Queen’s Gardens).
The gardens are very pleasant to visit and we had a very relaxing time in them. It was late spring and The Queen’s Garden’s were full of roses.
HIKE TO KING PHILIP II CHAIR
Hike Stats
Trail Start/End – At Park Adolfo Suarez, outside the Monastery’s gardens.
Distance – 5,4 km
Elevation Gain – 160 m
Level – Easy
Route Type – Linear Route
Estimated Time Needed – 2 hours. This includes plenty of time to enjoy the views from the King’s Chair.
Best Time To Visit – Between April and October. Late Spring or early Autumn are the best moments to avoid the high temperatures.
Hike to King Philip II Chair
The hike to the King’s Chair viewpoint is very straight forward. All you have to do is exit the Monastery’s gardens and turn left until you arrive to the entrances of La Herrería Forest. From there, you follow the trail that goes into the forest. At your right, you’ll see a golf course and on your left, you’ll see the forest. Half way through the walk, you’ll reach a bench where you will already get some nice views of the monastery.
Keep following the trail until you reach a secondary road and cross it. Here, you’ll see a sign already giving you directions to the Silla de Felipe II. Follow the trail and after you go uphill for 20 minutes (don’t worry it is not too steep), you’ll reach the viewpoint.
We spent almost 30 minutes relaxing at the top and we were there alone for most of the time. It was so incredible to have this place just to ourselves.
On the way back, we took an alternative route to go down and we found an interesting rock which was in a perfect balance.
Tips:
- The hike is very easy and has almost no technical difficulty. However, I do recommend you wear hiking shoes with a good grip. I did this with just regular running shoes and I slipped and fell a few times during the descent.
- If you are not into hiking, it is also possible to reach this viewpoint by car. However, I definitely recommend you hike here as it is not very difficult.
OTHER PLACES TO VISIT IN SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL
If you visit San Lorenzo de El Escorial during the weekend, make sure to include these two sites in your itinerary. Unfortunately, we visited on a Wednesday and they are only open during the weekends.
ROYAL HOUSE OF THE PRINCE (CASITA DEL PRINCIPE)
The Royal House of the Prince is a small palace, built between 1771 and 1775 as a recreational hall for Carlos IV (Charles IV) who was Prince of Asturias at that time. The building was designed by Juan de Villanueva, one of the most important neoclassical Spanish architects.
The house is surrounded by two gardens which are full of fountains, ponds and beautiful promenades.
PRINCE'S COTTAGE (CASITA DEL INFANTE)
This pavillion was built by Gabriel of Bourbon, son of Charles III as a recreational cottage where he could enjoy his interests such as music away from the palace’s protocol. The building was also design by architect Juan de Villanueva and was inspired by the Italian villas.
ACCOMMODATION IN SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL
We visited San Lorenzo de El Escorial as a day trip from Madrid. However, if you want to spend the night here and enjoy the beautiful and peaceful Sierra de Guadarrama, here is what I would choose for myself.
Hotel De Martin
Hotel De Martin is a modern hotel located in a renovated 19th century building only 200 meters away from the Royal Monastery. Some rooms come with a hot tub, which will allow you to relax after a day of exploring this charming town.
Photos from Booking.com
MAP WITH ALL LOCATIONS
HOW TO USE THIS MAP: Click the star next to the map title to add this map to your google maps account. To view it on your phone while traveling, open Google Maps, click on the menu button and go to “Your Places”, click on Maps and you’ll see this map in your list.
And that’s it for this week’s blog. I hope you liked it and found it useful. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Happy travels!
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