The Anillo Verde Ciclista

The stage runs 32 km: Casa de Campo ❯ the western forest sector ❯ Colonia Manzanares ❯ Madrid Río southbound ❯ the southern parks to Entrevías.

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The Anillo Verde Ciclista covers 64 km from Casa de Campo to Casa de Campo in 2 stages averaging 32 km. The longest day is stage 1 (32 km, ending in Palacio & Ópera). 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 Palacio & Ópera, Salamanca — 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.