Aranjuez Madrid

Caravan Road Trip – Colares to Aranjuez (Madrid)

Early 5 am start for the next leg of our trip from Colares, Portugal, to Aranjuez, Spain. Aranjuez is 40km south of Madrid and we choose this location to park the caravan because it’s only a 30-minute train ride into the certre of Madrid. A pretty quiet site at this time of the year as it is still the off-season.

Towing a 2-tonne Caravan across Portugal and Spain can be a little stressful. The road trip was planned ahead of time and we estimated it would take approximately 9 hrs with rest stops. We arrived at the campsite mid-afternoon so a long slow day.

Our Camp Site in Aranjuez

We chose this campsite, Camping International Aranjuez, as it’s only a short walk from town through the beautiful Royal Place gardens. The cost per day with our ACSI EuroCamping.eu discount card is 20 euros per night. This included water, waste, and power. Toilets and Shower block, clean, heated, and with piped music.

Aranjuez Township

The town, which has existed since Roman times, became the seat of a royal summer residence and hunting lodge in the 17th century. The town was established about 1750, until then it was used exclusively by the royals and completed in 1778. Aranjuez’s cultural landscape was added to the UNESCO World Heritage site list in 2001. The walled garden is the largest in Europe. Aranjuez is on the main railway line to Madrid.

Train to Madrid

We happily left our campsite the following day and caught an early morning train to Madrid’s center called “Puerta del Sol”, the heart of the city. Return tickets from Aranjuez to the city centre, cost us eight euros each. From Puerta Del Sol We initially intended to walk to our various must-see locations but the rain attacked so decided to take the hop-on hop-off tourist bus. Cost twenty-two euros each. This wasn’t a good idea as the bus crawled through the heavy traffic and without windows we got wet anyway.

San Miguel Markets

After two hrs of slow travel on the tour bus, we decided to jump off and walk. Conveniently at the Market San Miguel. If you like tapas and wine this is the place for lunch-dinner in Madrid. We spent an hour sampling an array of tapas washed down with cava (Spanish champagne) followed by white and red wines. We left San Miguel quite happy.

Beware of the African street sellers outside the markets. They have a unique method of selling. They befriend you by telling you that they are discriminated against in Spain and that the locals hate them. The sympathy approach. Then they give you a cheap-looking bracelet before asking for a donation for their family. Yes, we donated. Well, what do you expect after a couple of wines and a full tummy?

The Royal Palace

After our late lunch, we did manage to find the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). The Palace is the official residence of the Royal Family of Spain while in Madrid. The site was first established in the ninth century in the bygone Muslim era. Although the site was expanded and modified over the year it was destroyed by fire in 1734.

A new palace was then built from scratch on the same site with construction spanning the years 1738 to 1755. The palace has 135,000 sqm of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Europe, a tour will cost you 13 euros (2020).

Teatro Real

We did walk past the Royal Theatre (by accident), Teatro Real, or El Real as it’s better known. Considered to be one of the best theatres in entire Europe, it delivers performances by leading artists from the industry of music, dance, and theatre. With a seating capacity of more than 1,745 people.

Puerta de Alcalá, Gateway

We ended up at what is known as the Puerta de Alcalá literally translates into a citadel (center of town or city). And that is how, this glorious gate which served as the main entrance to Spain during the early 16th century, received its present name. As iconic as it stands, it is indeed one of the most historically significant monuments in Spain.

Late afternoon so we decided to walk back to the train station at Puerta del Sol and travel back to Aranjuez, pick up some dinner things, and head back to camp. All in all a great and very interesting day in Madrid.

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