El Escorial Monastery & The Valley of the Fallen Tour from 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.

This time we took part in a half-day tour to El Escorial Monastery and the Valley of the Fallen. I originally planned to take the bus by myself, because the bus ticket plus the entrance fee to the monastery should cost about 25-30 euros. However, if you want to visit the Leshi Valley by yourself, it will take a whole day and transportation is inconvenient. Since I want to save time, I joined this tour. The activity started at 8:15am when we arrived at Julia Travel in the city center. We waited until 8:30am to board the tour bus at the nearby underground parking lot. There weren't many participants that day, and the three of us could each sit comfortably in a row of double seats. During the drive, the tour guide will introduce the attractions in both English and Spanish to give everyone some background knowledge. After about 45 minutes, we arrived at the bus station in the town of El Escorial. Because there are no other large parking lots nearby, it takes about five minutes to walk to the monastery after getting off the bus. Inside the monastery, the tour guide took us to visit the corridors of the monastery and the palace, the tombs of royal members, the king's tomb (no photography allowed), the king's living room, and the library. The tour guide will use a wireless handset to explain the tour. Although the explanation is detailed, the sound quality of the handset is poor and it will be unclear if you are a little far away from the tour guide. After visiting the monastery, we returned to the bus station to board the tour bus, so we didn’t have time to take pictures outside the monastery. We could only take a few pictures on the way back to the station. The drive to Leshi Valley takes about 10-15 minutes. The scenic spot is located in a deep valley. You can only drive there or take a bus which only runs once a day in the afternoon. That day was Easter Sunday, and there happened to be a mass at the church in the valley, but fortunately it had just ended when we arrived, so we could go in and visit. However, the tour guide also said that sometimes it may not be possible to enter. After staying in the Leeds Valley for about 45 minutes, we left at about 13:00 (after the guided tour, there is 20 minutes of free time, but you must reserve about five minutes to return to the parking lot from the church). We encountered a traffic jam that day and it took us about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get back to Madrid at 14:15. The drop-off point is near the Imperial Palace, where you can then visit the area nearby. Overall, this activity is worthwhile for travelers who are interested in history and architecture but lack time, because they can visit the stories and architecture of two historical periods of Spain in just one morning. The tour guide was also very professional and happy to answer questions from group members (it would be better if the wireless explanation system could be clearer). Although this tour is more expensive than going on your own, it saves time, does not require you to arrange your own transportation, and has a professional guide. However, if you want to take photos, you may not have much time to take photos.

This trip was incredibly moving! The monastery's interior is unbelievably exquisite, and the library is stunning! The world's largest cross was also a delightful surprise, and the church in the valley is well worth a visit.

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.

I went to the El Escorial Monastery and the Valley of the Fallen Heroes. Both places are very interesting to see. I especially liked the El Escorial Monastery. The buildings inside are very beautiful. The tour guide was great and arranged the time accordingly. It was appropriate and the tour members were all on time. The day tour was cheaper than booking tickets by yourself. It was worth taking part.

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