If you've heard of 20th-century composer Joaquín Rodrigo's lovely Concierto de Aranjuez, well, here's its elegant inspiration (pop. around 60,000). Its splendid old core, built in marble and other stone, looks like a stage set, its majesty due to King Felipe II, who first turned a regular old town into a royal redoubt, and Felipe V and Carlos III tarted it up further with a grand palace, gardens, and forests, largely designed by Sicily-born architect Francesco Sabatini. The palace in particular is stuffed with a wealth of Baroque furniture, porcelain, paintings, and clocks. The Parterre Gardens, the English Gardens, and the Island Gardens are a highly pleasing parade of fountains, plazas and trees. Out of the early-20th-century train station, built in the Spain's unique Mudéjar style (by Muslim craftsmen who stayed on after their Muslim rulers were kicked out bu), the Tren de la Fresa (Strawberry Train), a vintage 19th-century steam train, runs to and from Madrid on weekends in spring and early fall.
Read more in our post 4 Delightful Day Trips from Madrid.
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