le escorial
 

This town that is west of Madrid has been highly recommended even over Sergovia and Avila. Please give us your imput

It is not a town; it is a huge palace built by Philip II. It includes a church, an art gallery, and the palace rooms, including the one Philip II died in. Rooms furnished by later Spanish monarchs include tapestries based on cartoons by Goya.

You can easily combine El Escorial and Avila; they are on the same line and not very far apart. The tourist office in the Plaza Mayor can give you the schedule of trains.

Yes, it is a town, the main part of it build in stones. Of course the must in the town is the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial build by Philip II, being his dependencies very austere.
It includes the thumbs of all the Spanish Kings since then, very impresive.

From the train station to the monastery you shold take city bus.

Make that "tombs" of Spanish kings...
They're in the crypt of the church.

Yes, "tombs", sorry. Probably I'll become bilingual with this forum :). At least, that's what I hope.

Of course, they are in the crypt. The church is the basilica of the monastery, and the visit of it is available in the same ticket used for the rest of the monument. I think it's about 6 EUR.

Message: josemacall writes: "Of course the must in the town is the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial build by Philip II, being his dependencies very austere. ..."
I don't understand the latter: From my studies of Spain's history, the Monastery was named for St. Laurence (San Lorenzo) to commemorate a victory in battle by Spain on the date that Saint's Feast Day is celebrated by the Church.

As for the Tombs of all Spanish Kings since then: Aren't several interred in the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela?

Franco el Caudillo couldn't be entombed there so he built his own Tomb nearby: el Valle de los Caidos

I was there last year, and I'd say Segovia is much more interesting than El Escorial. Segovia is a real city with many sights to see. Beautiful place.

I've been to the town of El Escorial, where I had the chance to visit the monastery. Interesting visit, but I would not recommend it over Segovia or Avila. I drove from Madrid to this town in a nice morning, visited the Monastery of San Lorenzo, and continue on to Avila. Makes a good day trip, because the town of El Escorial is located on a mountain setting, a nice respite from the city of Madrid. It is closed on Mondays.

Your post makes me remember an experience we had in our 20's. We went on the tour of the Escorial and somehow while in the "basement" where all the tombs are, we got separated from the tour group. We wandered around among all the dead kings of Spain looking for a way out. The fact that this did not freak me out more than it did speaks to the wonders of being young!!

BTW, altho we did not see Avila, the acqueducts in Segovia are amazing!

You're right NEDSIRELAND:

The battle won by Philip II, well, by his army, in the day of St. Laurence was San Quintin, and that was the reason for the construction of the Monastery. Philip was a very religious person so he decided to keep his own depedencies inside austere. That is not the case of the tombs that have rich decoration (the next one to be interred there will be King Juan Carlos father, who resigned to her rights in Juan Carlos). During the next centuries, the town grew up around the monastery.

St. Lawrence was burn alive and that is why the plant of the building is like a grill.

In Santiago is placed St. James's tomb, not the kings ones.

El Valle de los Caídos isn't just Franco's tomb. There is interred José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Spanish "Falange", a movement very closed to Italian fascists. And it is supposed that it is also a tribute to the fallen during the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939). Franco was interred there in 1975.

Hope this will help you.

I agree with those who prefered Segovia or Avila as they offered much more, but San Lorenzo is also wonderful.

thanks for all the great help, Now do you think If we come out from Madrid and stay at the parador in Sergovia we can do all 3 towns.?

wylie-- if you plan to stay in Segovia you can drive on your way down from madrid in the morning stop in El Escorial, continue on to Avila and then proceed to Segovia for the overnight. Segovia is one of my favorite cities in Europe, definitely worth a whole day, if not more. Fabulous restaurants, incredible history, fascinating sights. The Aqueduct in Segovia took my breath away.