Madrid · Charming villages
The most beautiful villages in Madrid
An arcaded main square with wooden balconies, a fairy-tale castle by a reservoir, black slate villages, walled towns in the mountains and royal palaces: the most beautiful villages in the Community of Madrid, little more than an hour from the capital.
Updated 20 October 2026 · How we make our guides
Sierra de Guadarrama and Sierra Norte
-
SpainManzanares el Real
A fairy-tale castle by a reservoir, below the granite of La Pedriza.
What to see in Manzanares el Real -
SpainBuitrago del Lozoya
A walled town in a bend of the Lozoya, with a small museum devoted to Picasso.
What to see in Buitrago del Lozoya -
-
SpainRascafría
A village in the Lozoya valley next to the monastery of El Paular and its woods.
What to see in Rascafría -
SpainSan Lorenzo de El Escorial
The monastery of Philip II and a stone town on the slopes of the mountains.
What to see in San Lorenzo de El Escorial
South and east
-
SpainChinchón
An arcaded main square with wooden balconies, a castle and the local anisette.
What to see in Chinchón -
SpainAranjuez
The Royal Palace and its gardens by the Tagus, a World Heritage Site, and its strawberries.
What to see in Aranjuez -
SpainAlcalá de Henares
Cervantes’s city, with its Renaissance university and the arcaded Calle Mayor.
What to see in Alcalá de Henares
Frequently asked questions
What are the most beautiful villages in Madrid?
Chinchón, Manzanares el Real, Buitrago del Lozoya, Patones, Rascafría and San Lorenzo de El Escorial, as well as Aranjuez and Alcalá de Henares.
Which villages around Madrid can you visit by public transport?
Aranjuez, Alcalá de Henares and San Lorenzo de El Escorial have Cercanías commuter trains from Madrid; the mountain villages are easier to reach by car or intercity bus.
When to go?
All year round; in spring and autumn the mountains are at their best, and in winter it sometimes snows in the Guadarrama villages.
Bagintravel · We travel together
Shall we plan your trip wherever you choose?
Tell us where and in under a minute you’ll have your day-by-day route, with places to stay, transport, expenses and tips. And we go with you in your pocket, offline too.
The app is currently available in Spanish.
More travel ideas
- Day trips from Madrid
- The most beautiful villages in Segovia
- The most beautiful villages in Castilla-La Mancha
- All ideas
Reviewed 20 October 2026. Dates and seasonal warnings: the same data the Bagintravel app uses. Sources and method.
Cover photo: José Ligero Loarte (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.