Escorial Monastery and Toledo Afternoon Tour
Description
Pay less and get more on this Madrid Super Saver tour, which combines a visit to El Escorial Monastery with a half-day tour of Toledo. Marvel at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. See the Hapsburg’s Palace, the King’s Mausoleum and the Basilica. Visit the Valley of the Fallen, with its underground basilica and impressive 152-meter cross that dominates the landscape of the Madrid mountains. Dive into a fascinating mix of cultures in Toledo. Walk through the Old Town part of the city following your guide and see the famous painting by el Greco, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Did you know Toledo was once Spain’s capital?
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will start our visit at El Escorial, symbol of the Spanish power in the XVI century that commemorates the battle of St. Quentin. It is also mausoleum for Charles V. Due to the symmetry and balance of its construction, according to the humanist Renaissance style, for years it had been considered for years the eighth wonder of the world. The visit includes the Habsburg Palace, the Kings and Princes Mausoleum, the Chapter House and the Basilica.
Located 9 km away from El Escorial, this enormous monument was built between 1940 and 1959 to honor the fallen during the Spanish Civil War. The basilica is carved into the mountain at 1350 meters of altitude, where an impressive 150 meters high cross places itself over the magnificent landscape of Madrid’s mountain range.
Regístrate en nuestra oficina en el centro de Madrid quince minutos antes de la salida de tu tour y dirígete a Toledo con tu guía local. Sigue a tu guía local en un recorrido a pie por la ciudad histórica de Toledo, ciudad Patrimonio Mundial de la Humanidad desde 1986. Una vez capital de España, es una mezcla espectacular de culturas árabe, judía y cristiana. Conoce su fantástico patrimonio y descubre cómo la coexistencia de culturas a través de los siglos influyó en su estilo arquitectónico actual. Admira el edificio patrocinado por la Reina Isabel de Castilla para convertirse en un mausoleo real, la construcción más importante edificada por los Reyes Católicos, el Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Infants aged 5 years and under are free of charge, provided they do not occupy a seat
- The duration of the tour includes the round trip to the destination
- Please, note that guiding inside the Basilica of the Valley is not allowed
- Please note this is a walking tour on arrival at the site. Wear appropriate attire
- Not recommended for people with walking difficulties or reduced mobility, as the interior of the monument has a large number of stairs and full accessibility cannot be guaranteed due to its architectural features.
Reviews(112)
We purchased a tour in English, that is not what it was. This was a Spanish tour, with few words in English. That is not right to advertise it as an English tour.
Beautiful excursion with lots of history and Cristina guide super attentive to the group. All very careful. Highly recommended
Great learning experience. Comfortable and safe transportation. The guide was very knowledgeable and kind. Would use Viator again for Madrid based tours.
One of our worst tours ever! The monastery visit was five hours long (3 1/2 driving) which left no time to purchase food, water or gifts. The last tour stop at Valley of the fallen was so rushed that we only had a half an hour to see it and use the restroom. The afternoon Toledo portion was even worse. the trip was advertised as English speaking, but was the combined Spanish English tour with a tour guide.(Nat) that spoke 85% of the time in Spanish and only 15% of the time in English, his English pronunciation was so poor that we could barely understand him. We learned absolutely nothing about Toledo. If you want quality tour in English, I would avoid this tour group.
Disappointed that the tour was bilingual vs English only. Tour guide had a heavy accent and difficult to understand especially thru the headsets. Was long with no refreshment break. Ended up paying to postpone the Toledo portion to another day.
Best use of time to get to El Escorial and tour Toledo, both in the same day. We were picked up at our Hotel and had a pleasant family day!
This tour was exceptional, Manuel was the driver and did a good job. Robert was the tour guide and he was fantastic, full of knowledge and very helpful. Again dual language was needed and he did a great job. Well done.
Beautiful doesn’t do it justice! We had amazing tour guides Robert, Andrea, & Fernando made that easy. Robert was our English tour guide. There are no photo’s allowed to be taken inside the buildings. This is a must see your! There are stairs in the monastery. So people who have trouble walking will be directed a different way. We had one lady with a cane that couldn’t do the up & down of stairs. The tour guides are very knowledgeable of the area & History. The bus we ride in was very comfy.
We really were impressed with the monetary! Well worth the visit and tour. Toledo was decent but the highlight that was shown was a visit to the sword factory, which they no longer do.
If you love culture and history this trip is for you! The sites are beautiful, and you learn so much. There were 2 guides in the morning which was great because the group split (English and Spanish) for the visit of the Monastery. As it was Sunday morning, we weren't able to access the Basilica unfortunately. Toledo in the afternoon was very well structured and we saw a lot in half a day. The group in the afternoon was quite big (38 people) so be prepared for moving with a crowd. Wear comfortable shoes - there is quite a bit of walking (and free time to do some shopping).
