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 day trippers from Madrid fill the restaurants around the square.
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 of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, just above the square, holds an Assumption of the Virgin by Goya himself on its main altarpiece (his brother was the local chaplain), and it is worth the few minutes it takes to step inside. It is a short climb from the Plaza Mayor, and opening times vary, so check locally.
Weekend or weekday
Chinchón is a favourite weekend lunch run for people from Madrid, and that shapes the day more than anything else. On a Saturday or Sunday the square is full and noisy in the best sense, but restaurant tables are hardest to get without booking ahead. A weekday visit is quieter and easier for a spontaneous lunch, with the square closer to its everyday rhythm.
The one big exception to the everyday rhythm is the town’s annual medieval market, held over a weekend in late winter (February or early March in recent years), when the Plaza Mayor and the streets around it fill with stalls, costumed performers and crowds. It is a lively time to come and a poor one for a quiet lunch, so check the dates on the town hall’s events page either way.
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. Expect parking near the centre to be harder at weekend lunchtimes than on a weekday.
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, go on a weekday if you want the square quiet and at the weekend if you want it lively, 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.
