Getting there
The C-3 Cercanías runs from Atocha to Aranjuez in about 45 minutes, and the station itself — a neo-Mudéjar pavilion — is the first exhibit. In spring and autumn weekends there is a slower, better way: the Tren de la Fresa, the 1851-route heritage train from the Railway Museum, with costumed hostesses handing out strawberries.
Time it for the gardens: mid-April to early June is the explosion, when the parterre bulbs, the roses and the asparagus-and-strawberry menus all land at once.
The day itself
The Palacio Real is the Bourbons’ spring residence, and its porcelain room alone justifies the ticket — an entire salon wallpapered in sculpted china. Then surrender the afternoon to the Jardín del Príncipe: 150 riverside hectares along the Tagus, ending at the Casa del Labrador, the most extravagant neoclassical pavilion in Spain (book its interior ahead).
The town grid between palace and Plaza de la Constitución was plotted like a French garden and takes twenty minutes to love: arcaded corners, the Mercado de Abastos for provisions, terrazas under plane trees.
Lunch, and whether to stay
Order by season without shame: asparagus in April and May, strawberries with everything, Tagus-side menús around the market corner. Sunday lunch fills with madrileños doing exactly what you are doing — book, or eat at 13:30 sharp.
Overnighting is cheap and strange in the best way — hotels from around €52 in 18th-century courtier houses, and the gardens at 9:00 belong to you and the gardeners. It also unlocks the two-town day: Chinchón is 25 minutes east.
Questions, answered
Where to sleep: Aranjuez
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