Madrid, Spain: 5 Day Offbeat Trip
Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use.
Five days keeps days one through four identical to the 4-day version of this plan, ghost station and mansion museum, Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial and the valley past it, then adds a fifth day that pairs two lighter half-day trips into one: Aranjuez’s royal gardens in the morning, Chinchón’s anís village in the afternoon. Neither needs a full day alone, and combining them is how the real tour trade does it too.
This plan builds on the 4-day version rather than repeating it, adding a fifth day instead of redoing the first four. Staying longer? See the 6-day and one-week versions of this same route, or the full base guide for everything five days still leaves out.
Book these before you go:
- A Toledo day-trip tour or train : weekend AVANT trains sell out in shoulder season
- El Escorial’s advance-purchase tickets : mandatory online in 2026, there’s no walk-up ticket office
- A place to stay in Malasaña or Chamberí : close to this plan’s offbeat city stops and both Atocha and Chamartín stations
| Day | Focus | Rough daily cost (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cerralbo Museum, Chamberí’s ghost station, San Antonio de la Florida | €40-70 |
| 2 | Toledo full day (Cathedral, Alcázar, El Greco sites) | €50-90 (incl. train) |
| 3 | Segovia’s aqueduct and Alcázar, Retiro’s Fallen Angel, Sorolla Museum | €60-100 (incl. train) |
| 4 | El Escorial’s monastery-pantheon, Valle de Cuelgamuros | €50-90 (incl. transit) |
| 5 | Aranjuez’s royal gardens, Chinchón’s Plaza Mayor and anís | €40-70 (incl. transit) |
Day 1: The Offbeat City, Not the Golden Triangle
Start at the Cerralbo Museum, a 19th-century mansion left intact with El Greco, Zurbarán and Tintoretto, free every day it’s open. Move to Chamberí for Andén 0, the ghost Metro station shut since 1966, reopened in 2008 as a free museum with live Line 1 trains audible behind the glass. Close at San Antonio de la Florida, where Goya frescoed the dome himself in 1798 and where his own remains have rested since 1919.
Day 2: Toledo, the Whole Day
The AVANT from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha covers Toledo in roughly 33-34 minutes direct, around 13 departures a day, €13.90-18 one-way; timetables and fares are on Renfe’s own site . See the Cathedral, the Alcázar now housing the Army Museum, El Greco’s grave at Museo del Greco and his Burial of the Count of Orgaz inside Santo Tomé, and the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca. It genuinely wants the full day.
Day 3: Segovia in the Morning, the City’s Strangest Corners After
The AVE from Chamartín covers Segovia in roughly 26-28 minutes, but the station sits about 4km outside the old town, take bus 11 or a taxi. See the Roman aqueduct, the fairy-tale Alcázar, and cochinillo asado if timing allows. Segovia’s own 1985 listing is confirmed on esmadrid.com . Return to Madrid by mid-afternoon for the Sorolla Museum (confirm current hours) or Retiro’s Fallen Angel statue, sculpted in 1877.
Day 4: El Escorial and the Valley Next Door
Cercanías C-3 or C-8 reaches El Escorial in roughly 50-60 minutes plus a short walk or bus. Philip II’s monastery-palace-royal pantheon is closed Mondays, and as of 2026 tickets are online-only through Patrimonio Nacional, entry moving to the West Façade / Patio de Reyes from 17 February 2026. It’s a separate 1984 listing, confirmed on whc.unesco.org , distinct from both Madrid’s and Toledo’s own inscriptions. Nine kilometres further, Valle de Cuelgamuros, renamed from Valley of the Fallen in 2022, carries a 150m cross over a basilica carved into the mountainside; the funicular is closed indefinitely and it’s a politically contested site worth a neutral visit. Bus 660 reportedly runs once daily between the two, confirm before combining them same-day.
Day 5: Aranjuez’s Gardens, Chinchón’s Plaza Mayor
Cercanías from Atocha or Chamartín reaches Aranjuez in about 45-50 minutes; the palace is a 10-minute walk from the station. It’s a 2001 “cultural landscape” listing, water engineering, gardens and royal leisure grounds together, rather than a single monument, entry roughly €9 full, €4 reduced, closed Mondays. From Aranjuez, a taxi or connecting bus reaches Chinchón, or take bus 337 back toward Madrid via Plaza Conde de Casal on a different day if the connection doesn’t line up; either way, Chinchón’s circular, wooden-balconied Plaza Mayor and its anís liqueur tradition make an easy, uncrowded afternoon precisely because the town carries no UNESCO listing to pull in tour buses.
Do Aranjuez and Chinchón Really Work as One Day?
Yes, with the caveat that the connection between them isn’t a direct train, most visitors either book a combined tour or use a taxi for the short hop, since public transit links the two towns to Madrid separately rather than to each other directly. Confirm same-day bus or taxi timing before you commit to the pairing, or treat Chinchón as its own separate half-day if the logistics don’t line up on the date you’re travelling.
A currency note: Spain uses the euro, cards work almost everywhere across all four day-trip towns, though Chinchón’s smaller vendors and old-town Toledo still favour cash under €10. The Metro runs 06:00-01:30 daily; at five days and four day trips, the Abono Turístico tourist pass, from €10.30 for one day, is worth pricing against single tickets for the city-only days.
One concrete tip: confirm the Aranjuez-to-Chinchón connection (tour, taxi, or bus timing) before day five starts, not once you’re already at the Aranjuez station, the gap between them is the one weak link in this whole route.