Spain and Portugal for Visitors

In fact, El Escorial and San Lorenzo de El Escorial are two different municipalities, though it is a difference not really worth taking into account for visitors. Both are likeable places, with a number of historic buildings and a pleasant atmosphere, but you are unlikely to visit the former unless you are visiting by train, as it is the one with the railway station. This is its Spanish-only municipal website.

Less than 30 miles north-west of Madrid, the Royal Seat of El Escorial is an immense complex, a monastery, palace, museum and library rolled into one. The town in which it lies, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, is a popular day-trip from the capital, not just for the Royal Seat but also for the countryside in which it sits, or simply as somewhere to go for lunch. This is its Spanish-only municipal website.

Architecture, heritage, nature, culture, walks, accommodation, gastronomy and more on this fine municipal tourist information website, available in English.