Is Chinchón Worth Visiting? An Honest Answer

The verdict

Yes — if "the plaza in the round" sounds like your kind of Madrid. Spain's most theatrical plaza — three storeys of green balconies, garlic ropes and anís.

Chinchón owns one of the most extraordinary squares in Spain: an irregular oval of three-storey houses laced with 234 wooden balconies, which has served as bullring, open-air theatre, film set and royal court since the 15th century — and still converts to all of them. Around it, a hill town of whitewash and garlic ropes distills the anís that carries its name across every Spanish bar shelf.

What you would actually come for

Plaza Mayor from a balcony. Order lunch at a mesón's first-floor balcony table and watch the square perform below — the theatre hasn't changed in four centuries.

Anís tasting at the Alcoholera. Chinchón's aniseed spirit, dry or sweet, tasted where it's made — the copper stills date to 1911.

Iglesia de la Asunción's Goya. The parish church above the plaza keeps a Goya altarpiece — his brother was the priest here.

The practical case

Bus 337 from Madrid's Conde de Casal every 30–60 minutes (50 min). Drivers take the A-3 then M-404 (50 min) — combine with Aranjuez, 25 minutes west, for the classic vega day. No rail; that's the moat that keeps it quiet.