The 11 Best El Escorial Day Trips

1.Escorial Monastery and the Valley of the Fallen Tour from Madrid

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2,494 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $74Our pick

A guided day trip from Madrid to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, with skip-the-line tickets and a Wi-Fi bus.

“Well worth seeing. Wish our tour leader didn’t swallow her English words so much. Also wish she gave a bit more historical explanations”

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2.Escorial Monastery and the Valley of the Fallen

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 1,434 reviews · 5 hours · from $73

Madrid day trip to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen with skip-the-line entry, expert guides, and a tight 5-hour history tour.

“Amazing experience and highly recommend :) was a good surprise as the last day of our trip - extremely beautiful better than the pictures.”

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3.Escorial Monastery and the Valley of the Fallen from Madrid

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 1,023 reviews · 5 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $79

Half-day guided trip from Madrid to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, with tickets included, royal tombs, and mountain crypt views.

“Tour guide really gave the tour in Spanish and not much in English. There were only a few English only speaking on the tour so we missed a lot of the history. Trip is very fast and as two seniors we could not keep up even though the guide said the trip was for everyone. I would recommend a different trip to see Escorial.”

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4.El Escorial and Valley’s Basilica Half Day Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 638 reviews · 5 hours · from $78

Half-day bus tour from Madrid to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, with a guided monastery, basilica interior, and audio headset.

“It was long enough, informative enough and the price was ok for the service.”

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5.Escorial Monastery & Valley of the Fallen Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 389 reviews · 5 - 5.5 hours · from $78

Half-day trip from Madrid to UNESCO El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, with the underground basilica and the 152-meter cross.

“Guide was excellent; gave thorough explanations for our tour sites and their histories.”

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6.Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial Entrance Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 239 reviews · 1 day · from $21Best value

Self-guided entry to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, with Renaissance rooms, gardens, and key Philip II-era stops near Madrid.

“Pas trouve le guide. Adresse pas proche de l entree.avons fait la queue pour repayer l entree”

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7.El Escorial, Valley and Segovia Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 134 reviews · 11 hours · from $105

Madrid day trip to El Escorial, Valley of the Fallen, and Segovia with guided walks, skip-the-line entry, and an efficient full day schedule.

“Very well organised and very good and knowledgeable guide.”

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8.San Lorenzo de El Escorial: Monastery and Site Guided Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 127 reviews · 2 hours · from $47

A 2-hour guided tour of El Escorial, a UNESCO Renaissance palace monastery near Madrid, including the Royal Library and royal tombs.

“Alejandro was the perfect guide. Knowledgeable, witty, friendly and professional. The best guide that I have had in many tours.”

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9.Escorial Monastery and Toledo Afternoon Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 109 reviews · 10 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $128

A single long day from Madrid covering El Escorial, the Valley of the Fallen, and Toledo, with guided visits and great art stops.

“Both locations are fantastic but in future I would do the tours separately. Toledo is a gorgeous BUT it is a quite a challenge to climb it especially when you are trying to keep up with the guide. I was really impressed with the way the local ground operator, Julia Travel, handled all the people meeting at the office at the same time for various tours. Lunch was included in our tour, in-between the two tours. It was a nice little restaurant and the food was good, only wish we had had enough to time to enjoy it. We had to rush through it and constantly remind our servers that…”

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10.Avila, Segovia and El Escorial Private Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 106 reviews · 11 hours · from $2,038

Private day tour from Madrid to Ávila, Segovia, and El Escorial, with UNESCO sights, Roman aqueduct context, and a guided monastery visit.

“Enjoyable tour, but perhaps not enough time in Avila and Segovia. Got to eat a great lunch in Segovia, but was watching the time so carefully that it felt a bit less than enjoyable. And in Avila you can't really stray too far away from where the bus is parked either. I would have preferred just a two city tour with more time to really see each of the cities. On the other hand El Escorial was pretty special - incredible art and lots of interesting information so I am very glad I went there. The guide had a wonderful, warm personality and a lot of enthusiasm for the subject.”

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11.Escorial & Valley Half-Day Morning Tour from Madrid

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 104 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $79

Half-day Madrid tour to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, with entry tickets, an air-conditioned bus, and audio guides.

“Overall great experience, fabulous and knowlodge guide, nice bus ride, everything on time, good pace.”

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