Excursió al Monestir de l'Escorial i la Vall dels Caiguts des de Madrid

I really enjoyed the tour. I almost canceled it because I wanted to see things in Madrid and I'm glad I didn't. The monastery was amazing! Definitely one of the best sights around Madrid. I could have done without the Valley. It had sime pretty views but the church wasn't all that interesting. Maybe if you were more interested in the history it would be better. There also wasn't time to see the whole of the church and take pictures of the valley. I really enjoyed that they had 2 tour guides and broke the group up into English and Spanish speakers. It helped speed the tour up a bit, not having to listen to the explanations twice.

It’s a bilingual trip so if you don’t speak Spanish, the amount of information you will get is much less. overall a good trip.

Cristina is a great guide, I am the only one for English tour but she always look after me. She managed all of us in the monastery and Valle.

是次參加了埃斯科里亞爾修道院及烈士谷之旅的半天團。本來打算自己乘車，因為若只去修道院的車票加上門票應約25-30歐元。但是若想要自行一併參觀列士谷的話，便要花上一整天時間，而且交通不便，由於想節省時間，便參加此團。 活動早上8:15便到達在市中心的Julia Travel，到達後等到08:30便出發到附近的地下停車場登上旅遊車。當天的參加者不算多，我們一行三人也能舒適地每人坐一排雙人座。開車期間，導遊會以英西雙語介紹景點，讓大家有一些背景知識。約45分鐘左右，便到達埃斯科里亞爾小鎮的公車站。因為附近沒有其它大型的停車場，故下車後還要走大約五分鐘的路程才到達修道院。在修道院內，導遊帶領我們參觀了修道院及皇宮的回廊、皇室成員的墓穴、國王的墓穴（不能拍照）、國王的起居室，以及藏書閣。導遊參觀時會利用無線導覽聽筒來講解，雖然講解詳細，但聽筒音質較差，距離導遊稍遠便會有模糊不清。參觀完修道院，便折返公車站登上旅遊車，因此未有時間能在修道院外拍照，只能趁著回車站的路上抓緊時間拍下幾張圖片。前往列士谷的車程約10-15分鐘，景點為於深谷之中，自己去只能駕車或乘一天只在下午有一班次的公車。當天是復活節星期天，碰巧谷中的教堂有彌撒，但幸好我們到達時剛好結束，可以入內參觀。不過，導遊也有表示有時未必能進入。在列士谷逗留約45分鐘後，便約在13:00離開（導賞完畢後，有20分鐘的自由時間，不過要預留約五分鐘時間從教堂回到停車場）。當天遇上塞車，花了約1小時15分鐘在14:15才回到馬德里。下車處在皇宮附近，隨後可在附近參觀。 整體來說，此活動對歷史以及建築有興趣，但缺乏時間的旅客來說十分值得參加，因為能只花一個上午便能參觀西班牙兩個歷史時期的故事和建築。導遊也十分專業，樂於解答團友的問題（若無線講解系統能更清晰的話更佳）。此團價格雖然比自行前往昂貴，但勝在能節省時間、不用自行安排交通和有專業導覽。然而，若對想要拍照的人或未會有太多時間拍照。

此趟行程非常震撼人心！修道院內部無與倫比的精緻，圖書館太美了！全世界最大的十字架也是讓人驚喜，山谷中的教堂值得一看

El Escorial’s grandeur amazes; Valley of the Fallen is solemn, vast, and haunting—contrasting Spain’s spiritual, political, and historical legacy.

great monastery which intergrated a basilica and the royal family residency together! good views from the top of the mountain!

Overall the experience is average for me. I have to say the tour guide plays an important role in keeping the trip interesting. For most of the time we were on earpiece listening to the guide's explanation. The radio gets buzzy sometimes and the guide's voice is relatively hoarse, which make it hard to understand what was being explained. As the trip involves a lot of history, the guide could improve on the skills of piquing our interest with more lively explanation of the artifacts or historical buildings. Nevertheless the buildings and architectures are awesome and majestic, especially the Valley of Fallen. Good for those who have studied their background in advance and this trip will let you see it in person.

去了埃斯科里亞爾修道院與英士烈谷，兩個地方都非常具由可看性，我尤其喜歡埃斯科里亞爾修道院，裡頭的建築物非常漂亮，導遊很棒，把時間安排得宜，團員們也都很準時，day tour 比自己訂車票還便宜，值得參加。

Amazing castle with beautiful library and history, stunning surroundings. Must not miss the largest cross in the world.