Post It from Camping International Aranjuez, Aranjuez, Castilla La Mancha, Spain. Tuesday 10th June,

We drove around Toledo on our way here and I must say the buildings in the centre of the city looked very impressive from afar; we shall have to definitely make a visit there on another occasion. Aranjuez was equally impressive as we arrived in the centre of this city with its Royal Palace and gardens which we drove through to get to our campsite. The campsite is located just 10 minutes’ walk from the centre of the city and is located on the bank of the River Tajo with the Royal gardens on the opposite bank accessed via a foot bridge close to the campsite. It was generally a good site with full, albeit expensive Wi-Fi access,  and the weekend saw many Madridians come and stay on their permanent pitches which created a typically Spanish atmosphere.

The only thing I would have preferred was if the grass pitches were better maintained as the autumn leaves were plentiful in the cypress hedging and the bare soil where the grass had worn away created lots of dust as you walked on and off the pitch. Most of the well shaded pitches had been taken by the Spanish seasonal pitches so it was quite hot in the low 30’s each day but we all managed, even Smokee.

The Royal Gardens provided lots of shade in the heat of the day but they also came with many rules like no cycling and no eating, we were even stopped by the gardens Police who thought we were going to eat our purchases in the gardens until I told him we were going to the campsite, he could see our baguette sticking out of the bag.

We met up here with our friends, Pauline and John from Poole, who we had met last year in Alicante. They had driven up from the Mediterranean coast in Alicante to join us for a few days. We had a most enjoyable time with them, especially on an evening eating and chatting on the campsite, and spent a day in Madrid with them as well.

Madrid was not a planned visit so we were not prepared with a list of things to see or do so we just settled for a stroll around the City streets and taking in the sights like the Royal Palace, Cathedral, Plaza Mayor etc. and doing a little shopping. I managed to purchase a camping book I had been searching for at the Corte Ingles book shop in the Puerta del Sol only to find the map showing the locations of the actual campsites was missing! Not like Corte Ingles really but perhaps I should have paid more attention myself to the cover and I would have seen it included a map.

The Capital itself was very easy to reach from Aranjuez by a frequent train service, approximately every 20/30 minutes, and it only cost 8 Euros for a return ticket. The journey time was only around 50 minutes on very clean trains similar to the London underground tubes. Getting off at Puerta del Sol brought you right up into the centre and within easy reach of the sights. It did not seem to be as busy as I had anticipated but I was expecting it to be as busy as London and it clearly was not. A very pleasant lunch at a street restaurant/café was enjoyed by all, at a good price compared to the well over priced and poor quality coffee in the Plaza Mayor we had in the morning.

Aranjuez was also a good place to visit and the Royal Palace was a large tourist attraction. The City had been built by King Philip II and the Bourbons to hold their spring Court, which they did up until 1890.

One of the other reasons for our stopping here was to catch up with our friends Joan and Alan who live in Murcia on their way home after a holiday in Asturias. We managed to arrange to meet up for a meal on our final night as they were stopping, in a posh hotel opposite the Palace, for the night to break their journey home. We had hoped to spend a few days with them in Asturias but the poor forecasted weather made us change our plans and head south rather than north from Casfreires in Portugal almost 4 weeks ago now. Still it was good to see them again.

By the time we leave here on Thursday we shall have had a very enjoyable stay of seven nights and we hope to keep the good weather as we head off towards France. The site is great for visiting Madrid and Aranjuez is also worth a visit but normally we would not have spent the full week here. Had Toledo been accessible by train then we would say a week would have been fine.

The first photo is the Royal Palace at Aranjuez, then the site, Royal Palace at Madrid & finally the Cathedral at Madrid.

Regards, Roy