El Escorial And Valley Of The Fallen Private Tour

Wonderful tour guide and amazing palace and church made up for snow and gail-force winds on the walk up that hill. In late April!

<p>Incredibly educational the Madrid portion! The Escorial is simply awe inspiring!</p>

<p>I highly recommend this tour. Elena was our tour guide and she was great. Very informative and great attitude to answer and help in anyway. Make sure you dedicate a few minutes to work around the town. To make this tour perfect it would have been nice to have a guide inside the Escorial.</p>

<p>Our guide, Elena of Amigo Tours, was very knowledgeable of each historical landmark she brought us to. The tour description, however, did not specify that half of the day would be spent walking. We assumed and would have preferred a panoramic coach tour as we had a 2-year-old in tow. Had we known, we would have picked a different tour. </p> <p>El Escorial was worth the long ride. The painted ceilings of the monastery were very impressive actually beats the Sistine Chapel ceilings in my opinion. When I entered the basilica, I was in awe of the beautiful Church one of the best I have seen!. Would have been better, though, if a guide accompanied us inside the monastery or at least a pre-recorded audio guide to explain the artifacts/art works. That would've made the experience richer.</p>

It's a must-see while in Madrid. It is advisable to travel by bus, those departing from Moncloa metro station. The trip takes about 55 minutes and costs just over 4 euros. The bus station is a five-minute walk from the Monastery.