Vía Verde del Tajuña

The stage runs 49 km: Arganda del Rey (Metro L9) ❯ the old railway grade ❯ Morata de Tajuña ❯ the Chinchón detour ❯ Perales and Tielmes ❯ the vega orchards ❯ Ambite railhead.

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The Vía Verde del Tajuña covers 49 km from Arganda del Rey to Ambite in a single stage. It is designed as one committed day — start early and let the terminus town absorb the evening. You ride it in the order written, but every stage town works as an entry or exit point, so the route sections cleanly for shorter trips.

Overnights run Chinchón — each bookable from the stage cards above. Book the smallest stops first: a village with a handful of guesthouses sells out weeks before a resort with fifty.

Three different sports share this section: the Anillo Verde is a signed urban greenway any hybrid can ride, the Tajuña vía verde is flat family tarmac, and the Escorial loop is a road ride with a real climb. Match the bike and the ambition — and note the greenways are far more pleasant midweek.

Distances are modest by touring standards, which is deliberate: each stage ends somewhere worth stopping. Riders who want more simply chain stages — Anillo Verde in a day, or Tajuña plus the Chinchón overnight plus the ride back.

April–June is perfect — the vega runs green and poppy-lined in May. September–October matches it with softer light. July–August demand dawn starts; the vega is shadeless and the city ring bakes after noon.

Winter riding here is genuinely good: clear, cold mornings, empty greenways, and the sierra climbs stay open more days than not. Navacerrada above 1,500 m can hold ice November–April — check before committing to the pass.

Standard kit plus real sun protection — the meseta ultraviolet is fierce even when the air is cool. Two bottles on the vega and the climbs; the greenway villages have fountains but they space out.

Repair basics matter more than usual: the vías verdes are smooth but remote, and Sunday-evening bike shops don’t exist in the pueblos. A spare tube and a multitool cover almost everything.

Bikes travel free on Cercanías outside weekday rush hours and on the Metro at weekends — which makes one-way rides trivial: ride to Aranjuez, train back; train to Cercedilla, descend by bike. Arganda (Tajuña trailhead) is on Metro L9.

Rental: the city’s public e-bikes cover the Anillo Verde casually; proper hybrids and road bikes rent from shops around Chamberí and in the sierra towns, ~€15–30/day. Book road bikes ahead for spring weekends.

Cycling here comes with mandatory stops: the mid-vía-verde village bars (Morata, Tielmes), Chinchón’s plaza 4 km off the trail, and San Lorenzo’s cafés where half of Madrid’s club riders refuel on Sunday mornings. Carry a bidon of water and buy everything else en route.

The Anillo Verde’s food logic is urban — plan the loop to hit Madrid Río’s terrazas or Casa de Campo’s lakeside kiosks at lunch, and the ride organises itself.

Spanish law mandates 1.5 m passing distance and drivers on the classic climbs genuinely observe it — the sierra roads feel safer than most city streets. Helmets are compulsory outside towns (and sensible inside them).

The greenways’ hazards are gentler: walkers, loose gravel at road crossings, and tunnel sections on the Tajuña that want lights. Summer heat is the real adversary — dawn starts and double water from June to September.