Aranjuez Royal Site

Aranjuez was a royal spring residence from the sixteenth century, and its layout is the reason UNESCO listed it in 2001: an unusually complete example of a designed cultural landscape, where a palace, formal gardens, irrigated plantations, a planned town on a grid and a river system were conceived together. The palace, largely eighteenth century, holds a porcelain room with walls entirely covered in Buen Retiro porcelain and a smoking room in the Alhambra style. The Jardin del Principe stretches for a kilometre and a half along the Tagus with a boat house museum and the Casa del Labrador, a small pavilion of extravagant interiors. Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez was written about these gardens.

What you actually see

• The palace state rooms - including a porcelain room and Arab smoking room.
• The Jardin del Principe - a long riverside garden along the Tagus.
• The Casa del Labrador - a small pavilion with lavish interiors.
• The planned town - an eighteenth-century grid around the royal site.

When to go

April to June and September to October, when the gardens are at their best; the strawberries the town is known for come in spring. Summer is very hot on the plain, and the palace closes on Mondays.

Honest expectations

The Casa del Labrador requires a separate ticket and timed entry, and has been closed for restoration at times. The gardens are large and involve long walks. Palace interiors are seen on a fixed route with photography restricted.

Nearby

Chinchon lies northeast; Toledo is forty kilometres west.