Madrid Info please

[Mike B.]

We are thinking of staying for a few nights at Camping El Escorial nr Madrid on the journey south in January. Does anyone know what the transport situation is from there to central Madrid? Is there local train or bus within walking distance from site or would we be better going in on the bike?

Would prefer train so can have a nice lunch with a few beers and then watch scenery on way back.

Anyone stayed on this site? Opinions? (sorry Brian! :-D )

 

Mike

[terryW]

I can't help with the train link from that site but what I can say is never ever think of cycling into Madrid. The buses all have multiple stripes down their sides from rubbing against other vehicles. In traffic jams they actually touch the car in front! There is no such thing as fully comp insurance in Madrid and parking is 3 deep at the road side in the evening. If you are parked on the inside you just stand on the pavement with your hand through the car window and press the horn until someone comes.

 

Don't let me put you off it's a fantastic city (even better on a expense account). It is the Seafood capital of Spain and the Metro is great. Taxies were cheap so I suggest a cab to the rail station and have a great time.

 

Have a great time.

[Bojitoes]

I do not know camping Escorial but earlier this year we stayed at a superb site at Aranjuez 42 km south of Madrid. Super town, as well as campsite ,with a royal palace including a barge museum, which is well worth a visit, lots of shops, bars, eating places and a train direct to Madrid. It is no 1912 in this years ACSI book. We cannot reccommend campsite or town highly enough

 

North of Madrid there is another good site at Riaza but I do not know about train links to madrid as we were snowed in when we stayed there!

 

bob

[BGD]

Unfortunately Madrid isn't well served by campsites around it.

 

We have stayed at El Escorial, and Aranjuez, and also at the ACSI site on the Northern outskirts of Madrid itself.

 

El Escorial is a long way from Madrid. A long way.

It's a very big site, with many hundred pitches. Lots of facilities, but of course almost all will not be open in January.

It's out in the countryside, not really near to anything unless you've got powered transport. It's at a highish elevation too.

If you want to get into central Madrid I'd say this site is too far out....but it's obviously a good place to stay if you want to see the Franco memorial site nearby....but again, only if you've got your own transport as the entrance to that memorial is maybe a couple of miles away and is a lot (maybe 2 miles?) lower down the steep mountainside from the actual monument.

If there is a bus service, my guess is that it'd take maybe 1 to 2 hours to get you into Madrid centre from there.

 

Aranjuez is a lovely site.

Much smaller than El Escorial. The town is also brilliant for wandering round...and you can get to the town centre easily. You could easily spend two or three nights there. Takes ACSI.

Again though, it's a LONG way out of Madrid.

 

 

ACSI site on Northern outskirts of Madrid.

As a site, it's a dump frankly. Old and tired. Tiered pitches. Right on the northern part of the sort of "M25" motorway ring road round Madrid.

I think there may be a bus that stops in the service road outside the site and takes you into the city...but that's still a journey of maybe 15kms, and probably half an hour or more by bus.

I'd ONLY ever stay there again in order to have a base camp from which to use our scooter to get into the city, as we've done on two occasions before.

 

Any of these sites will be almost deserted at that time of year.

 

Something else to be aware of is that the centre part of Spain gets VERY cold in the winter.

Really. Very cold.

And the area to the North of Madrid is hill/mountains which are quite high land, so it gets colder up there than in the Madrid plain below

There was a blizzard when we were at El Escorial in January about 3 years ago, and it was minus 5.

 

If it was me, I'd probably try for a couple of nights at the North-of-Madrid site, one at El Escorial, and a couple of nights at Aranjuez.

From memory access into the Palace there in Aranjuez is free to EU citizens on Tuesdays, so long as you show your passports at the ticket office....well worth a visit.

 

 

 

In all cases, I'd strongly advise a close watch on the weather forecast in the days before you're due to go to that Madrid region if going in January, and also a phone call ahead to any of these sites just to double-check that they are open. Take warm clothing!

 

 

[Mike B.]

Hmm Back to the drawing board methinks.

 

Thanks for the replies so far-anyone else want to add their opinion feel free

 

Mike

 

PS I take it the motorways will be clear and I won't need snow chains?

[terryW]

There is a good rail link into Madrid from Aranjuezin and in the summer a steam train runs on this line. The train was originally used to transport strawberries to the palaces but I suspect that it won't be running in the Winter and the Palace gardens won't be planted nor the fountains switched on. Not a place I would visit in Winter.

 

Why not stick to Madrid and visit it on your on your way back on warmer days?

[Mike88]

Another vote here for Aranjuez. Very pleasant walk through the Palace Gardens to the town and Palace from the site. I use the site as a stopping off place on the way south but stayed there for a week in June. I shall be there again next month.

[vindiboy]

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/madrid/   Have a look here ?

[BGD]

vindiboy - 2012-08-18 1:53 PM

 

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/madrid/   Have a look here ?

 

 

Just a note of caution......."Madrid" is a region as well as a city.

 

When the sites in that link are listed as " Madrid", they only mean that they are in that region. None of them are actually in Madrid, or even near Madrid.

 

We've stayed at Aranjuez, El Escorial, and Pico de la Miel and none of them are anywhere near to the actual Madrid city.

Osuna is the nearest - but it's the one I mentioned earlier that is a real dump of a site, right alongside the Northern motorway "ring-road" around Madrid.

[Mike B.]

Thanks all and especially BGD

 

As you live in Spain can you advise me what the roads are like coming down to Madrid area from Valladolid and then across to Valencia area? I intend to overnight at Aranjuez as suggested. As you say I expect it to be cold etc but will it be passable with ordinary tyres on the van? It hadn't occured to me that it was so high on that road and I just want to make sure it's passable in the winter.

I will have a 7m front wheel drive pulling a m/c on a trailer. (as per my pic)

Mike

[derek500]

BGD - 2012-08-16 11:06 PM

ACSI site on Northern outskirts of Madrid.

As a site, it's a dump frankly. Old and tired. Tiered pitches. Right on the northern part of the sort of "M25" motorway ring road round Madrid.

I think there may be a bus that stops in the service road outside the site and takes you into the city...but that's still a journey of maybe 15kms, and probably half an hour or more by bus.

 

 

I assume that's Osuna? We stayed there a couple of nights when visiting Madrid. Bit run down, but only a 5-10 minute walk to the Metro station, Canillejas and then a few minutes to the city centre.

 

Great base for visiting city.

[BGD]

derek500 - 2012-08-19 7:22 PM

 

BGD - 2012-08-16 11:06 PM

ACSI site on Northern outskirts of Madrid.

As a site, it's a dump frankly. Old and tired. Tiered pitches. Right on the northern part of the sort of "M25" motorway ring road round Madrid.

I think there may be a bus that stops in the service road outside the site and takes you into the city...but that's still a journey of maybe 15kms, and probably half an hour or more by bus.

 

 

I assume that's Osuna? We stayed there a couple of nights when visiting Madrid. Bit run down, but only a 5-10 minute walk to the Metro station, Canillejas and then a few minutes to the city centre.

 

Great base for visiting city.

 

 

 

Each to their own.

We've been there twice now, last time was last summer; and we found it to be a pretty rubbish site: way overpriced, motorway-noisy, with ancient facilities; and way out of the city.

 

 

[BGD]

Mike B. - 2012-08-18 6:12 PM

 

Thanks all and especially BGD

 

As you live in Spain can you advise me what the roads are like coming down to Madrid area from Valladolid and then across to Valencia area? I intend to overnight at Aranjuez as suggested. As you say I expect it to be cold etc but will it be passable with ordinary tyres on the van? It hadn't occured to me that it was so high on that road and I just want to make sure it's passable in the winter.

I will have a 7m front wheel drive pulling a m/c on a trailer. (as per my pic)

Mike

 

 

Mike - you'll be fine.

You'll be on motorways, and January ain't the worst part of winter.

It'd be VERY rare that you'd have any problems with snow on the motorways on those routes in January.

And there are gazillions of Snow-plough-equipped gritting lorries that come out if/when any snow does fall, and they do motorways first.

But it WILL be cold driving through the centre of Spain then, until you get to maybe 100kms of the Eastern coast.

[Mike B.]

BGD - 2012-08-19 10:31 PM

 

Mike B. - 2012-08-18 6:12 PM

 

Thanks all and especially BGD

 

As you live in Spain can you advise me what the roads are like coming down to Madrid area from Valladolid and then across to Valencia area? I intend to overnight at Aranjuez as suggested. As you say I expect it to be cold etc but will it be passable with ordinary tyres on the van? It hadn't occured to me that it was so high on that road and I just want to make sure it's passable in the winter.

I will have a 7m front wheel drive pulling a m/c on a trailer. (as per my pic)

Mike

 

 

Mike - you'll be fine.

You'll be on motorways, and January ain't the worst part of winter.

It'd be VERY rare that you'd have any problems with snow on the motorways on those routes in January.

And there are gazillions of Snow-plough-equipped gritting lorries that come out if/when any snow does fall, and they do motorways first.

But it WILL be cold driving through the centre of Spain then, until you get to maybe 100kms of the Eastern coast.

 

Thanks for that-will stick with original route then and put my thermals on! I'm virtually certain to have them under my leathers in Valladolid for the rally so just leave them on and sleep in them!! At least by the time I get to the East coast they'll know I'm coming! :-D

 

Mike

[derek500]

BGD - 2012-08-19 11:27 PM

 

 

 

Each to their own.

We've been there twice now, last time was last summer; and we found it to be a pretty rubbish site: way overpriced, motorway-noisy, with ancient facilities; and way out of the city.

 

 

I wouldn't go on holiday there, but for getting into the city cheaply and quickly by metro, I don't think there's an alternative. Must admit didn't use the facilities apart from water, electric and dumping.