Some of Spain's most famous towns sit within about an hour of Madrid, and so do the big theme parks. Stand under Segovia's Roman aqueduct, walk the top of Ávila's medieval walls, fly a zip line over the Tajo in Toledo, or spend the day at Puy du Fou or Parque Warner. Here's what we checked, from El Escorial to the river pools at Las Presillas.
Segovia's Roman aqueduct strides through the city center on stacked granite arches, and kids can stand right beneath them in Plaza del Azoguejo. At the far end of the old town, the Alcázar is a turreted castle on a rock above two rivers, with suits of armor inside and a 152-step spiral climb up the Torre de Juan II. The city tourism office also runs free treasure-hunt gymkhanas for families.
Toledo is a walled hilltop city wrapped on three sides by the Tajo river gorge, with steep cobbled lanes, a Gothic cathedral and the square-towered Alcázar on top. Kids can fly over the river on an urban zip line, ride a little tourist train out to the Mirador del Valle viewpoint, or play the free Guardianes de Toledo game, a 26-challenge clue hunt across the old town.
San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a mountain town built around Felipe II's vast 16th-century monastery and palace, where the kings of Spain are buried. Families can solve the free En Busca del Templo de Salomón phone gymkhana, 14 riddles over 2 km, then walk out through the royal La Herrería forest to the Silla de Felipe II, a rock seat with the whole monastery spread out below.
Puy du Fou España is a history park in the hills outside Toledo where the day is built around big outdoor shows, not rides. Kids watch knights clash, horses gallop and a sky full of falcons and eagles swoop over the crowd, then wander period villages with farm animals, craftspeople and two playgrounds. On show nights, El Sueño de Toledo replays 1,500 years of Spanish history in 80 minutes.
Parque Warner Madrid is a movie theme park in San Martín de la Vega with five areas: Hollywood Boulevard, Cartoon Village, Old West Territory, DC Super Heroes World and Movie World Studios. Young kids spend most of the day in Cartoon Village, with Bugs Bunny's burrow, Tweety and Sylvester's house, small coasters, water rapids and a Flintstones driving school, while older kids head for the big coasters.
Aranjuez is a royal riverside town on the Tajo, ringed by the palace gardens of the Spanish kings. Kids can run the paths of the Jardín del Príncipe, the biggest of them, see the decorated barges the royal court once sailed in at the Museo de Falúas Reales, take a 45-minute boat trip on the river, or loop the town on the Chiquitren tourist train.
Ávila is ringed by a complete medieval wall with 87 towers, and you can walk along the top of about 1.7 km of it, looking down into gardens and across the rooftops to the plain. Kids can spot Roman tombstones and carved stone boars reused as building blocks in the east wall, then cross the river to Los Cuatro Postes, where the whole walled city fits in one view.
Alcalá de Henares is the university town where Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, was born in 1547. Kids can sit on the bench with the bronze Don Quixote and Sancho Panza outside his birth house, now a free museum, spot white storks nesting on the church towers, and climb the 109 steps of the Torre de Santa María for a bird's-eye view of Plaza de Cervantes.
Chinchón's Plaza Mayor is a sloping square closed in by three-story houses with wooden balconies and arcades, used over the centuries as an open-air theater and a bullring. Kids can find the Torre del Reloj, a clock tower that lost its church in the Peninsular War, look up at the ruined Castillo de los Condes above town, and eat lunch on a balcony over the square.
Safari Madrid is a drive-through wildlife park near Aldea del Fresno. Families drive their own car along a route where giraffes, zebras, rhinos, elephants, bison and lions roam around the vehicles, then park and walk the rest: a petting corner, a reptile house, a crocodile grotto, a mini zoo and the bird of prey show, the first free-flight one in Spain when it began in 1978.
La Pedriza is a maze of granite boulders, domes and rock towers in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. The park's visitor center sits at its entrance, with an exhibition on the sierra and a two-hectare garden holding a rock garden, a mini Pedriza, a bird hide, an aquarium and a reptile and amphibian center. Trails into the rocks start just past the barrier.
Buitrago del Lozoya is a walled town on a loop of the Lozoya river, with medieval walls declared a national monument in 1931. Kids can climb onto the high south wall and clock tower, see siege engines and medieval weapons in the Dos Milenios de Artillería exhibition, and walk the low river wall for free. The Museo Picasso holds works the artist gave his friend Eugenio Arias, the town barber.
The Fuenfría Valley above Cercedilla is Scots pine forest crossed by old roads, including an excavated stretch of the Roman road that climbs to the Fuenfría pass. At the bottom, the national park visitor center has an exhibition and short films about the valley, a rock garden and a plot of native plants. Kids can play El tesoro de La Tuerta, a self-guided treasure hunt around the grounds.
Aventura Amazonia Cercedilla is one of Europe's biggest treetop adventure parks, in the pine woods of the Fuenfría valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Kids clip into a harness, do a short training course, then cross rope bridges and fly down zip lines. Seven circuits run from Kids and Explorador up to X-Trem, with 114 challenges and 33 zip lines; Canopy is all zip lines, over 470 meters.
Three natural pools on the Lozoya River, a short way from the El Paular monastery, and the only stretch of river in Rascafría where swimming is allowed. Wide lawns line the water and the Sierra de Guadarrama rises behind. The water comes from mountain snowmelt and stays cold even in high summer, so ease small kids in slowly.
A historic train that runs from the Railway Museum to Aranjuez, about an hour each way. Kids ride in wooden carriages built between 1914 and 1930, with slatted benches and open balconies at each end, while crew in early-1900s costume check tickets.
The middle of the day is free time in Aranjuez, with royal gardens, the palace and the river. On the ride home, staff hand out Aranjuez strawberries.
Some of Spain's most famous towns sit within about an hour of Madrid, and so do the big theme parks. Stand under Segovia's Roman aqueduct, walk the top of Ávila's medieval walls, fly a zip line over the Tajo in Toledo, or spend the day at Puy du Fou or Parque Warner. Here's what we checked, from El Escorial to the river pools at Las Presillas.
Segovia's Roman aqueduct strides through the city center on stacked granite arches, and kids can stand right beneath them in Plaza del Azoguejo. At the far end of the old town, the Alcázar is a turreted castle on a rock above two rivers, with suits of armor inside and a 152-step spiral climb up the Torre de Juan II. The city tourism office also runs free treasure-hunt gymkhanas for families.
Toledo is a walled hilltop city wrapped on three sides by the Tajo river gorge, with steep cobbled lanes, a Gothic cathedral and the square-towered Alcázar on top. Kids can fly over the river on an urban zip line, ride a little tourist train out to the Mirador del Valle viewpoint, or play the free Guardianes de Toledo game, a 26-challenge clue hunt across the old town.
San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a mountain town built around Felipe II's vast 16th-century monastery and palace, where the kings of Spain are buried. Families can solve the free En Busca del Templo de Salomón phone gymkhana, 14 riddles over 2 km, then walk out through the royal La Herrería forest to the Silla de Felipe II, a rock seat with the whole monastery spread out below.
Puy du Fou España is a history park in the hills outside Toledo where the day is built around big outdoor shows, not rides. Kids watch knights clash, horses gallop and a sky full of falcons and eagles swoop over the crowd, then wander period villages with farm animals, craftspeople and two playgrounds. On show nights, El Sueño de Toledo replays 1,500 years of Spanish history in 80 minutes.
Parque Warner Madrid is a movie theme park in San Martín de la Vega with five areas: Hollywood Boulevard, Cartoon Village, Old West Territory, DC Super Heroes World and Movie World Studios. Young kids spend most of the day in Cartoon Village, with Bugs Bunny's burrow, Tweety and Sylvester's house, small coasters, water rapids and a Flintstones driving school, while older kids head for the big coasters.
Aranjuez is a royal riverside town on the Tajo, ringed by the palace gardens of the Spanish kings. Kids can run the paths of the Jardín del Príncipe, the biggest of them, see the decorated barges the royal court once sailed in at the Museo de Falúas Reales, take a 45-minute boat trip on the river, or loop the town on the Chiquitren tourist train.
Ávila is ringed by a complete medieval wall with 87 towers, and you can walk along the top of about 1.7 km of it, looking down into gardens and across the rooftops to the plain. Kids can spot Roman tombstones and carved stone boars reused as building blocks in the east wall, then cross the river to Los Cuatro Postes, where the whole walled city fits in one view.
Alcalá de Henares is the university town where Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, was born in 1547. Kids can sit on the bench with the bronze Don Quixote and Sancho Panza outside his birth house, now a free museum, spot white storks nesting on the church towers, and climb the 109 steps of the Torre de Santa María for a bird's-eye view of Plaza de Cervantes.
Chinchón's Plaza Mayor is a sloping square closed in by three-story houses with wooden balconies and arcades, used over the centuries as an open-air theater and a bullring. Kids can find the Torre del Reloj, a clock tower that lost its church in the Peninsular War, look up at the ruined Castillo de los Condes above town, and eat lunch on a balcony over the square.
Safari Madrid is a drive-through wildlife park near Aldea del Fresno. Families drive their own car along a route where giraffes, zebras, rhinos, elephants, bison and lions roam around the vehicles, then park and walk the rest: a petting corner, a reptile house, a crocodile grotto, a mini zoo and the bird of prey show, the first free-flight one in Spain when it began in 1978.
La Pedriza is a maze of granite boulders, domes and rock towers in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. The park's visitor center sits at its entrance, with an exhibition on the sierra and a two-hectare garden holding a rock garden, a mini Pedriza, a bird hide, an aquarium and a reptile and amphibian center. Trails into the rocks start just past the barrier.
Buitrago del Lozoya is a walled town on a loop of the Lozoya river, with medieval walls declared a national monument in 1931. Kids can climb onto the high south wall and clock tower, see siege engines and medieval weapons in the Dos Milenios de Artillería exhibition, and walk the low river wall for free. The Museo Picasso holds works the artist gave his friend Eugenio Arias, the town barber.
The Fuenfría Valley above Cercedilla is Scots pine forest crossed by old roads, including an excavated stretch of the Roman road that climbs to the Fuenfría pass. At the bottom, the national park visitor center has an exhibition and short films about the valley, a rock garden and a plot of native plants. Kids can play El tesoro de La Tuerta, a self-guided treasure hunt around the grounds.
Aventura Amazonia Cercedilla is one of Europe's biggest treetop adventure parks, in the pine woods of the Fuenfría valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Kids clip into a harness, do a short training course, then cross rope bridges and fly down zip lines. Seven circuits run from Kids and Explorador up to X-Trem, with 114 challenges and 33 zip lines; Canopy is all zip lines, over 470 meters.
Three natural pools on the Lozoya River, a short way from the El Paular monastery, and the only stretch of river in Rascafría where swimming is allowed. Wide lawns line the water and the Sierra de Guadarrama rises behind. The water comes from mountain snowmelt and stays cold even in high summer, so ease small kids in slowly.
A historic train that runs from the Railway Museum to Aranjuez, about an hour each way. Kids ride in wooden carriages built between 1914 and 1930, with slatted benches and open balconies at each end, while crew in early-1900s costume check tickets.
The middle of the day is free time in Aranjuez, with royal gardens, the palace and the river. On the ride home, staff hand out Aranjuez strawberries.