Strapping on my camera and backpack I did my duty and after a short hop on the commuter train from Madrid I landed at yet another European Royal Palace complex.

First stop the palace; fortunately I was able to whizz around in about 20 minutes. There are so many palaces like this on the list it is tough to find things that differentiate them, fortunately the interior here was so ghastly it left an impression. The Arabian Room did a fantastic job of mimicking the heights of mudejar design and then ruining it by colouring them in like an 8 year old and the Porcelain room was so horrifically over the top you couldn’t help but be impressed. The whole time I was walking around I kept on being reminded of the taste of Hyacinth Bucket (sorry that may be a slightly niche reference).

Happy to escape the interior I ventured to the gardens, and I must admit I was pretty impressed. The Island Garden was actually a really pleasant place to wander around. The carpet of autumn leaves did add to the joy of strolling around, crunching from one little fountain to the next. In fact I would say it was one of the nicest palace gardens I have been to.

The advisory body report states that the historic centre of the town may “well have been considered for World Heritage status in its own right”. I think that is a little generous, I would probably award it the accolade of “third most interesting terminus of Madrid’s commuter trains (of those that I have so far visited, of which there are currently 3)”. It was pleasant enough but rather lacking in life, though I did enjoy watching two priests play football on one of the squares.

Despite my slightly disparaging remarks Aranjuez was actually a nice break from Madrid, the regular trains made it an easy hop from the tapas bars and galleries of the Spanish capital and the planned gardens were actually some of the nicest I have visited. I would put it as the lowest priority of all the sites around Madrid, though if you want a quiet half day strolling around some lovely gardens then join the madrileños in heading to Aranjuez.

[Site 4: Experience 4]