What was actually a last minute decision turned into a really fun day of hiking in Cercedilla with some incredible views!

Kristen, her friend De and I took the 10:00 Cercanias train from Atocha station and rode for an hour and 20 minutes to Cercedilla, a northern town with amazing hiking trails!

We found the visitor center (walk up, up, up the hill for about a half hour) where we picked up a map and talked to the kind lady, and then we were on our way!  We opted to do a 3 hour trail (from the trail head, but about 3.5 hours in reality) so that we could challenge ourselves and take in the views from the lookout points.  

The trail continues upppppppppp for quite awhile, but then you are rewarded with all of this.

We stopped here and had some lunch and then took photos.

Then we found a nice road that took us all the way back down, but somehow ended up back on the trail that we had been on.  It was fine, but a little bit steep and slippery!  We found a herd of children…

And some horses!  I think they were wild?!

We got back into the town with about 3 minutes to spare before the train pulled in to head back to Madrid.  Perfect timing!!

It was a super fun day with two good friends!  I’m so happy we went because we always talk about hiking in Cercedilla, but this is the first time we have walked the walk.

Hiking in Cercedilla is a highly recommended quick trip out of Madrid if you’re looking for some intermediate hiking.  Definitely wear appropriate clothes, you should be in reasonable shape, bring enough food, and bring water.  Your options are very limited once you leave the train station!