South of Madrid, past the fields that feed Aranjuez’s strawberry stalls, sits a small town built around one of the strangest and best looking squares in Spain. Chinchón is a half day trip rather than a full one, and it earns that half day almost entirely through its Plaza Mayor, its wine and anís, and a lunch of roast lamb that locals from Madrid drive out for on a Sunday. If you are weighing it against the region’s other short trips, our guide to day trips from Madrid sets out where it sits against Aranjuez, Toledo and the rest.
The Plaza Mayor
Most Spanish towns build their main square as a rectangle. Chinchón built its as a circle, or close enough to one, ringed by three storey houses whose upper floors carry tiered wooden balconies that were originally private viewing galleries for the families who owned them. The effect, walking in from any of the narrow streets that feed into it, is somewhere between a village square and an amphitheatre, and it is unlike anything else near Madrid.
That amphitheatre feeling is not an accident. Several times a year the whole square is boarded up at ground level and turned into a temporary bullring, with the wooden balconies above serving as box seats for a use that goes back centuries and still continues today. Even without an event on, the shape and the tiers of balconies make the square worth simply sitting in with a coffee or a glass of the local wine for half an hour, which is exactly what most visitors end up doing.
Anís, wine and a lunch worth planning around
Chinchón has been one of Spain’s traditional centres for anís, an aniseed flavoured spirit, for generations, distilled locally and sold in the shops that line the streets near the square in bottles ranging from clear and dry to sweeter styles. The surrounding countryside also produces wine and, in season, the same strawberries and garlic that Aranjuez and its neighbouring towns are known for.
Food here means Castilian roast: lamb and suckling pig cooked slowly in wood fired ovens, served in the restaurants ringing the Plaza Mayor and the streets just off it. It is honest, unfussy cooking rather than anything showy, and it is the reason many visitors from Madrid make the trip in the first place. Booking ahead is worth doing at weekends and is close to essential on a Sunday, when the market brings the biggest crowds of the week.
The castle and the walk above town
Above the town, a short uphill walk leads to the ruins of Chinchón’s castle, a Habsburg era fortress that was never fully rebuilt after damage in the nineteenth century and now stands as a roofless shell rather than a restored monument. There is not much to see structurally, but the walk up gives the best view over the town’s rooftops and the surrounding farmland, and it is a pleasant way to work off lunch rather than heading straight back to the bus.
The parish church on the square, with a ceiling painting attributed to Goya’s brother in law, is worth the few minutes it takes to step inside, and it sits directly on the Plaza Mayor so it costs nothing extra in walking to add.
Sunday market
On Sundays, a market fills the streets around the Plaza Mayor with local produce, household goods and the general noise and colour that a weekly market brings to a small Spanish town. It is not aimed at tourists in the way some more famous markets are, which is part of the appeal, though it does mean the town is at its busiest and restaurant tables are hardest to get without booking ahead. Weigh the market against the crowds: a weekday visit is quieter and easier for a spontaneous lunch, a Sunday visit is livelier and comes with genuine local trade rather than a staged version of it.
Getting there
There is no train to Chinchón, direct or otherwise, which sets it apart from Aranjuez and El Escorial on the day trip circuit. The La Veloz bus company runs a regular service from the Conde de Casal bus station in Madrid, taking roughly an hour, and it is the straightforward option if you are travelling without a car. Check the current timetable before you go rather than relying on a schedule from a previous visit, since bus timetables here do shift.
Driving takes about the same time on the A-4 motorway followed by local roads, and it opens up the option of combining Chinchón with Aranjuez in a single day, since the two towns sit reasonably close together south of the capital. Parking near the centre is straightforward outside the busiest Sunday market hours.
The short version
Chinchón is a half day built around one exceptional square, a glass of local anís, and a proper Castilian lunch of roast lamb or suckling pig. Take the La Veloz bus from Conde de Casal if you are without a car, since there is no train option at all, and budget an hour each way. Climb to the castle ruin for the view if you have the time, time your visit for Sunday if you want the market and can live with the crowds, and book a table on the Plaza Mayor if lunch is the main reason you are coming, because for a lot of visitors, it is.
Choosing between the day trips
Chinchon is the small and unhurried option: a circular arcaded square, a long lunch and very little else, which is precisely its appeal after several days of museums.
If you want scale and significance instead, El Escorial is the opposite kind of day out, a vast royal monastery in the hills that takes a morning to walk and rather longer to absorb. Between the two, Chinchon is the one to choose when you want to eat well and do nothing.
