Castles · Tour

El Escorial and the Chapels of the Valley Basilica, Five Hours by Bus

Two monuments in one afternoon, and four centuries between them: the 16th century at El Escorial, the Spanish Civil War at the Valley of the Fallen. The group forms on Calle San Nicolás, next to the Plaza de Ramales, and takes the bus out to the Sierra de Guadarrama. El Escorial comes first. The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo is on the UNESCO list, and the visit walks several of its rooms, along with parts of the Habsburg Palace, the pantheon and the library. What the guide sets out is why Philip II put it here rather than anywhere else, which is the question the building is an answer to. The Valley of the Fallen follows. Its basilica is carved into the rock under a cross more than 100 metres tall, and the visit goes inside, through the nave and the side chapels. The monument is contested, and the history that makes it contested is dealt with rather than avoided. The tour runs five hours and ends back in Madrid at the coach park on the Plaza de Oriente. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start.