Escorial Monastery and the Valley of the Fallen from Madrid

Not a positive experience

I would not recommend this half day trip.We did Escorial in one hour, rapidly moved from room to room, without time to digest info or look at things....very very unsatisfactory.Then,at breakneck speed ,we did the Valley of the Fallen....this time, we got small bit of free time, which amounted to the time needed to walk back to the bus.

Must see

The whole tour took the exactly right amount of the time and effort. Their time management was great and the transportation was comfortable and pleasant. The value of the visit was more than any other tours that I ever took. Strongly recommend

Better English

The tour was good, the trip was great. Our guide spoke with such a heavy accent that often the English speakers could not understand her. It would have helped, at minimum, if she had used English names rather than Spanish ones - that contributed to people not understanding her. She was knowledgeable and the day was a good one.

Fabulous Tour

This tour was great. It was very well organised so that I knew what was happening, when we had a toilet break etc. The coach was clean and comfortable. The tour commentary was interesting and just the right amount. Tour guide was very professional and caring. The Monastery and Valley are both beautiful. When travelling the short distance between the two, you drive through a fabulous national forest that is an extra bonus. I loved everything about this tour. Thank you Julia Travel, I had the best day.

Great sites but incomplete visits

Very nice sites Unfortunately not possible to visit the basilica at Escurial : do not plan tour on Sunday morning ! We run late : I don’t know why as we didn’t visite the basilica and also we arrived before 3pm on the ticket it was return before 5pm. The visit of Valle de Los Caidos was done in 30 minutes … very too short

One of the best sites in Spain

One of the best places I’ve ever visited in Spain and Europe. Absolutely stunning architecture, art collection and the tombs on the basement are immaculate. Such a great experience completely worth it.

Impressive

Overall El Escorial majesty. More time should be given to explain the place in history of this monastery.

Good overview

Lovely trip to get an overview of the locations. Would like a bit more time in each place to soak up a bit of the history and artwork- especially in El Escorial. Enjoyed the trip

Horrible

Not happy. English was poor and hard to follow. Guide seemed more natural in Spanish, but spoke English in a chuckling and awkward manner. Tour was advertised in English but it turned out to be bilingual, resulting in a lot of wasted time of repetition and waiting. Very little time was spent at the Valley. We were told there would be free time for pictures, which turned out to be a joke because the free time was only 15 minutes and it takes 10 minutes to comfortably walk back to the bus. Group was way too big. As soon as we got to the Valley we were herded into a Basilica, given obvious descriptions of the statues, and then told we had free time to see the valley where we had to rush out to see the valley for at least 3 minutes before walking back to the bus. Then we got back to Madrid late and totally kissed lunch. We were told we would get back to Madrid at 2pm for lunch before departing for Toledo at 245pm but arrived at Madrid at 230pm and there was no time for lunch and we could not takeaway food into their strict bus. And for a tour that visits a lot of Christ-inspired art the tour seemed nonchalant about the profound Christian symbols and just pointed out mundane historical details. I left not even knowing why San Lorenzo is a Saint or why he was martyred, and yet I heard multiple mundane descriptions of him at the center of various pieces of art. Horrible.

Beautiful views

Trip was nice and interesting . Views are beautiful . We took a lot of pictures. Guide was nice friendly and knowledgeable.

Great!

Was a very nice experience, it was beautiful and rich of history. We enjoy our time, thanks to Rocio and Marisol was a great driver

Valle de los Caidos

The trip was amazing, gourgeous, Suzanna is very kind guide, friendly and we recommend this tour for everyone………………..

Worthwhile day trip from Madrid!

Great way to see both sites. Tour guide was bilingual and knew the subject matter well. Worth the day trip from Madrid. I would recommend this tour.

Nice but..

The visit was nice, everything get according to the timeline. However, I felt some information was missing. The tour was both is Spanish and English. So, I don’t know if some details where not mention in English

Escorial. Yes. Valleybof Fsllet. Meh.

Vast complex built in a time of all-powerful monarchs. Monastery, cloister, cathedral. pantheon (royal burial chambers), Habsburg palace and library. Beautiful El Greco work. Library especially exquisite. Definitely a worthwhile day trip from Madrid. Valley of the Fallen in honor of the Spanish Civil War is touching but the shadow of Franco overpowers and the fascist architecture leaves one cold.

Our guide was excellent....

Our guide was excellent. The sights were beautiful. The bus was comfortable. Would use them again for other tours.

I would prioritize another activity

The trip was English and Spanish combined. I understand Spanish but not fluently. I know enough that the Spanish version from the guide gave way more information. The guide was nice but not a warm person and not easily approachable.

Unexpectedly pleasantly surpised

This trip was amazing, it is essential to have a tour guide, and Maria was the best at this. She was very thorough and explained everything in Spanish, and then in English. She went at our pace, and make sure we understood everything. I did not expect these two monuments (Monastery and Valley of fallen) would be so special and exceptional.

Even during times of ugliness beauty can be created

Provide snacks or a place to buy snack. The tour is fairly long and my friends and I were very hungry at the end of the first part of the tour.

Very nice 👍🏻

Very good the experience beatriz was a terrific guide the only minor thing os the time spend on the valley of the fallen was to rushed we couldn’t see the views .to bad

Memorable Trip. Excellent Guide.

Great and memorable visit to Escorial Monastery, Valley of Fallen and the Basilica. Our Guide Maria superbly explained about these sites, history. Thank yoi Maria.

Religious art must see

Very religious to see the religious paintings and statues. The guide was very knowledgeable. It’s a must see for those interested in Catholic religious art..bus ride was great as well.

Amazing Experience and Maria the guide was excellent

The sites we visited were incredible, and the guide, Maria, that gave us the tour was very good. All in all it was an amazing experience.

The cross was breathtaking! Unforgettable!. ❤️

Amazing experience. Jorge was great! Definitely recommend. Had an amazing time. Just long enough without being too much. 😊

Recommended

Very good experience. Awesome places to visit and comfortable trip. We went to El Escorial and then Valle de los Caidos.

Overal great but more time is needed.

El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen is a must for anyone visiting Madrid. The process was efficient. The driver (Ramon) was excellent. The Valley of the Fallen was fantastic and our guide and the amount of time were great. Ou one complaint was at the El Escorial it was too rushed, the Palace ws amazing but too little time to enjoy.

El Escorial

Such sobering sites. María was very knowledgable with excellent English. The pickup point was easy to find. This is not always the case. A great experience.

Walking group tour

Great tour. Maria did an excellent job even switching back and forth to interpret. She was very knowledgeable. Both sights were wonderful and a must see.

Fabuloso!

Maria was fantastic! She was entertaining and educational, in two languages, throughout our tours of El Escorial and The Valley of the Fallen. Bravo! We would want her again!

Must see!

Loved it! Originally we were going to skip this tour but when we saw it paired with Toledo we decided to add it on. Definitely glad we did!! The Montessori was quite the experience and the Valley of the Fallen was unbelievable!

Amazing views

The views were amazing, just unreal. A memorable experience. Susanna was a great guide as well. She was very knowledgeable and funny.

Great experience

The guide, Susana was very personable and knowledgeable. Enjoyed the time spent in each destination. The bus left and returned on time.

Great

Susanna snd Elena were wonderful guides. They were very considerate and well informed. Excellent tour!

Fast paced Escorial trip

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.

Perfect for half a day outside Madrid

Tour was well organized and we could see all important things effectively! Susanna was a very competent guide! A comfortable big bus!

Best tour of any time I’ve visited Madrid.

The tour was absolutely breathtaking. So much history in Spain. The monastery was just majestic. I could just sit outside of the valley of the fallen all day. The views I can’t even describe. I just thoroughly enjoyed myself today. Thank you again!

Worst tour ever

We signed up for the bilingual tour, however the tour guide spoke mostly in Spanish. When she did speak in English, she hardly gave us any details of what we were seeing. I opted to read the information plaques throughout the Monastery so I could get some information on the artwork and rooms we were visiting. We also waited a good 20 minutes for her to make a phone call which meant our time at the Valley of the Fallen Cathedral was cut to about 25 minutes.

Seniors try to take a trip to Escorial

It was not appropriate for English speaking visitors. Elena the guide spent most of the time speaking Spanish and we do not. The dialog we heard was location of toilets and what time to be at the bus. The trip is very rushed and not appropriate for strollers or people that walk slowly. Many, many stairs! The pace was very fast and she said she accommodated everyone but this was not true. A few other members of the tour kept an eye on us so we were not totally lost.

Amazing trip!

The trip was amazing! The monastery was so beautiful and the valley memorial was very impressive. Definitely worth a visit! Thank you to our driver Pedro and our tour guide Helena! They were amazing, and Helena did a great job telling us about the places and answering questions 😍🥰❤️

Escorial y valledelos caidos excellent

She described El escorial y el valle De los caidos with details. Good experience , enough time for sightseeing. Good driver

Too Spanish !!!

The tour group was geared towards Spanish people. There was only 2 English speaking people in the group imncluding myself. Would have liked to have been told beforehand that it was a joint group tour.

Interesting and spiritually sensible.

Elena appeared very knowledgeable about this tour. She was also very gentle and answered our questions with good attitude and kindness. It was noticed her good personal interaction with others such as driver, and personnel of the temple and monument Thanks

Loved it!

Great guide Susana , we really liked the trip It was well organized and she was very detailed on all things we saw Thank you Susana!

Would have liked a bit...

Would have liked a bit more explanations of the places we went to especially in el escorial tour regards

Great Experience

Excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable of sites. She was very patience and took the time to answer question and engage with the tourist.

Excellent tour for time and money

Great tour for half a day and for your money. Our guide gave us an exceptional explanation of everything and answered our questions. Thank Susana, Maria and Elena.

Stepping back in time

It’s always interesting to step back in time to see how people lived in a community & the dominance of kings & the role of the church/ monastery. Guide was good, but there was an extreme amount of stairs during this tour. The monument to the Fallen was emotion in an amazing building w/ great views beyond the large plaza.

Great visit with Amanda to the historic sites

This was a great place to visit. The bus ride was comfortable. Amanda was great. I was a bit concerned about being on a Tour when the guide was going back and forth from Spanish to English but it worked out fine. It was interesting and a lovely visit. I am glad we went to the memorial site as well. The valley of the fallen was a very moving site to visit.

El Escorial / Valley of the Fallen

Christina our guide made it that much more wonderful to enjoy El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos. She displayed extensive knowledge of royal and modern history.

Lovely tour

This is a great tour and nice to get out of the city. Both places are so beautiful and have such rich history. The bus was clean and comfortable and the tour guide was great.