Royal Palace of Aranjuez

The highlight of the town of Aranjuez and no doubt the motivation behind the majority of visits is the Royal Palace, a sprawling complex of ornate hallways, ballrooms, and absolutely stunning gardens. It was built by King Phillip II in the 17th century. You can get there easily on Cercanias (line C-3) from the Atocha, Sol, and Nuevos Ministerios stations in downtown Madrid. If you're going to visit on the weekend or a holiday, I'd recommend getting there bright and early as the access is somewhat slow and the lines can get lengthy quite fast.

The best parts of the interior are due to renovations by Queen Isabel II. My favorite parts were the Arabian Study, a truly overwhelming smoking room that's reminiscent of the most ornate parts of the Alhambra, but while the latter's ornate cupolas are only relics of what they once were, the Arabian Study is a technicolor psychedelic room which invites you to spend an hour contemplating the details (and that's taking into account that it's only large enough to fit 5-10 people. The other highlight was the Porcelain Study, a room whose walls are covered in porcelain vines and oriental motifs typical of Spanish Rococo design. These two rooms alone make the trip worth it, but the various antechambers, dancing rooms, chapels, and throne rooms are also wonderful in their own right.

Our visit to Aranjuez took us through the chambers of the palace, walking through the large, elegant rooms, discovering the artistic details in each one of the rooms, seeing the paintings covering the walls, the sculptures of Luis IV, María Teresa de Austria, Isabel II’s furniture, the paintings covering the ceilings, and a huge “ETC.” to cover everything else you’ll find in this majestic palace.

Out of all the chambers, I liked the Arabic style one the best. It’s a small room inspired by the Alhambra in Granada that was used as a smoking room. The reduced dimensions and striking decoration

This palace was the primary spring and fall residence of the Spanish monarchs during the reign of Felipe II.

It was started by Juan de Herrera in 1561. Through the years and through different reigns it has been renovated and rebuilt.

Today, it’s a grand palace next to the shores of the Tajo river with spectacularly extensive and beautiful gardens.

I’ll take you to one of the many palaces in Spain, Aranjuez’s palace. A precious palace both from the outside and inside.

Crossing the Tajo river and with a spectacular “fountain” decorating the palace.

A great place to spend the day, to see the elegant architecture, the gardens, and for bird watching as well. There’s a bird observatory.

An improvised part of our trip that turned out to be one of the highlights. The palace and its majestic gardens take you back to the age when the kings lived there as you stroll through the gardens feeling like a prince or princess.

It’s marvelous, truly royal. The building begs you to photography it, as do the inside rooms, chambers, paintings, etc.

This should be an obligatory stop for anyone interested in Spain’s history. It’s also worth visiting its large gardens where Alfonso XII used to go for walks.