The 14 Essentials

The Sierra de Guadarrama, just 45 minutes from Madrid, is a region of great natural, cultural, and scenic value, boasting a high biodiversity and ecological richness—a unique setting for enjoying nature through sports, observation, or simply relaxation.

You can enjoy, among many other routes, the “14 Must-See Places of the Sierra de Guadarrama,” awarded as the Best Route of 2018 in the competition organized by Turinea, Spain’s largest portal for thematic routes. This route helps showcase an essential, distinctive, and special tourist resource from each of the 13 municipalities that make up the destination (museums, archaeological sites, nature trails, civil and religious architecture with references to intangible cultural heritage, and more).

The region has various forms of protection in place to ensure the preservation of its natural values. A significant part of its territory is included in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park and the Upper Manzanares River Basin Biosphere Reserve, home to species such as the black vulture, Spanish ibex, Iberian imperial eagle, and Isabelina butterfly, among others.