Madrid: Private El Escorial & Valle de Cuelgamuros by Car

Leave Madrid at 9:30 am and in under an hour you are in the Sierra de Guadarrama, where Philip II built the palace-monastery that ruled an empire. No coach, no crowd - just your own small group and your guide in a comfortable hybrid car. The heart of the day is a two-hour guided tour inside the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, with your entrance ticket included. You walk the Courtyard of the Kings, the basilica under its great dome, the Hall of Battles with its painted walls, the royal library with its vaulted ceiling and thousands of manuscripts, and the Pantheon of the Kings, where almost every Spanish monarch since Charles V is buried. Your guide explains how one building was meant to be monastery, palace, library and mausoleum all at once. Afterwards you have an hour of free time in the village. The Plaza del Ayuntamiento and the streets around the monastery are full of terraces - a good moment for a coffee, a vermouth or a plate of something before the last stop. The day ends at the Valley of Cuelgamuros, formerly known as the Valley of the Fallen, a short drive away in the pine woods. The basilica is carved into the rock and topped by a cross around 150 metres high. It was built after the Spanish Civil War, in part with the forced labour of political prisoners, and it remains a memorial site under public debate in Spain today. This part is not a guided visit - you go in at your own pace - but your guide stays with you throughout and will answer whatever you want to ask about the history. The day runs about six hours door to door. We collect you at your hotel or apartment in Madrid and bring you back there afterwards. Fuel, tolls, parking and both entrance tickets are covered by the price, and because the group is only yours, the pace is yours too - tell us what interests you most and we adjust the day around it. Travelling with children? A child seat is available at no extra cost - just let us know when you book.