Madrid, Spain: 6 Day Offbeat Trip
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Six days keeps days one through five identical to the 5-day version of this plan, ghost station, Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, Aranjuez and Chinchón, then hands day six to the one day on this whole route that isn’t a town at all: the Sierra de Guadarrama, granite peaks and a car-free trailhead within an hour of the city.
This plan builds on the 5-day version rather than repeating it, adding a sixth day instead of redoing the first five. Staying longer? See the one-week version of this same route, or the full base guide for everything six 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) |
| 6 | Sierra de Guadarrama: Manzanares el Real, La Pedriza | €30-60 (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.
Day 2: Toledo, the Whole Day
The AVANT from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha covers Toledo in roughly 33-34 minutes direct; 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.
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 and the fairy-tale Alcázar, its own 1985 listing confirmed on esmadrid.com , then return to Madrid by mid-afternoon for the Sorolla Museum (confirm current hours) or Retiro’s Fallen Angel statue.
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. Tickets are online-only as of 2026, no walk-up sales, with 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 Madrid’s own inscription. Nine kilometres further, Valle de Cuelgamuros carries a 150m cross over a basilica carved into the mountainside, a politically contested site worth a neutral visit; the funicular is closed indefinitely.
Day 5: Aranjuez’s Gardens, Chinchón’s Plaza Mayor
Cercanías reaches Aranjuez in about 45-50 minutes; the palace and gardens, a 2001 cultural-landscape listing, run roughly €9 full, closed Mondays. Continue to Chinchón by taxi or connecting transit for a circular, wooden-balconied Plaza Mayor and the anís liqueur the town is known for, an easy afternoon precisely because it carries no listing pulling in tour buses.
Day 6: The Sierra de Guadarrama, Not a Town for Once
Bus 724 leaves from the underground bus station at Plaza de Castilla, platform 26, reaching Manzanares el Real in about 45 minutes for a flat, cash-only €4.20. From the drop-off, it’s a 15-minute walk to La Pedriza, a granite massif that’s popular with climbers and walkers and sees a fraction of the day-trip traffic Toledo or Segovia pull. The Castillo Nuevo de Manzanares el Real, open daily except Mondays for around €5, adds an easy castle stop before or after. If a car is available, Cercedilla, reached by Cercanías C-8 in about an hour, is the alternative gateway into Valle de la Fuenfría’s trailheads, and the historic C-9 line continues on toward the higher Guadarrama when it’s running, its schedule has a history of multi-year shutdowns, so verify it’s operating before building a day around it.
Is the Sierra Day Worth It After Five Days of Towns?
Yes, precisely because it isn’t a town. Five straight days of cathedrals, palaces and old-town squares start to blur together by day five, and a granite massif with a bus that costs €4.20 in cash is a genuinely different kind of day, closer to a proper hike than a sightseeing circuit, and it’s the one day on this whole route most visitors to any of the towns above never bother with.
A currency note: Spain uses the euro, cards work almost everywhere across the towns on this route, but bus 724 to Manzanares el Real is cash-only, keep coins and small notes on hand for day six specifically. The Metro runs 06:00-01:30 daily; at six days and five day trips, the Abono Turístico tourist pass, from €10.30 for one day, is worth pricing against single tickets for the days spent mostly in the city.
One concrete tip: carry exact change or small notes for bus 724 before day six starts, it’s one of the only tickets on this entire route that machines and cards can’t cover.