7 most beautiful towns on a route through the Sierra Norte of Madrid

The enormous attractions of Madrid As a tourist destination they are well known, not only in the capital with its great cultural and leisure environment.

Also from surrounding towns that contain great heritage wealth, such as El Escorial, Aranjuez o Alcalá de Henares.

But when it comes to considering a getaway through the Community of Madrid you also have the possibility to see pretty towns, As is the case Chinchón, with its famous large Plaza Mayor.

Now, the Region of Madrid It also offers you the opportunity to discover charming towns, where the stone architecture takes center stage.

Some of them are very little known even by the people of Madrid themselves, and which we are going to talk to you about in this article.

Most beautiful towns in the Sierra Norte of Madrid

In the Sierra Norte of Madrid You find pretty towns They are well worth a getaway to get to know them.

Specifically, in the area closest to the provinces of Segovia and Guadalajara, and having as its axis the motorway A1 that from the capital takes you through the port of Somosierra towards the north of Spain.

In order to plan your getaway, below we are going to talk to you about these towns, differentiating the three that make up a more uniform architectural group with stone houses, and others that are worth knowing for specific heritage or architectural corners.

Puebla de la Sierra, mountain town in the Sierra del Rincón

It may be difficult to imagine that the Region of Madrid enclose a landscape and architectural corner like the one that configures Puebla de la Sierra.

It is located in the area known as Sierra del Rincóndeclared Nature Reserve awarded by the Unesco, just over 100 kilometers from the capital.

But for get to Puebla de la Sierra by car you will need almost two hours due to its location in one of the most mountainous landscapes that you can find in the Region of Madrid, which is one of its attractions.

Indeed, for get to Puebla de la Sierra You have to overcome the mountain pass of the same name, which is 1.638 meters high.

After descending the northern slope you arrive at this very small town, with barely 60 registered inhabitants, an ideal place to get lost in a weekend to enjoy nature, its lush pine and oak forests.

The origins of Puebla de la Sierra They date back to the 12th century, and since then it has been a place that is distinguished by its dark stone houses.

On your walk through Puebla de la Sierra you will see beautiful corners of this type of architecture, as well as its beautiful Concepción church from the 17th century, which also combines dark stone with wood, with an entrance through a porch and a bell tower with a terrace.

Also noteworthy is its sculpture park The Valley of Dreams, a fusion of art and nature that you can see on a hiking tour around the town.

La Hiruela, the most visited in the Sierra del Rincón

Also in the Sierra del Rincón, and next to the limit with the Guadalajara province, The Hiruela It is perhaps the most visited town in this area of ​​the Region of Madrid, and is located an hour and a half from Madrid.

And a good example of this is the vehicle parking at its entrances, with a barrier to limit access only to residents during weekends.

The Hiruela is a very nice town of barely 50 inhabitants that is configured by two parallel streets that lead to its main square, where the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel.

In addition to seeing her very pretty architecture with stone houses dark and visit the Ethnological museum, visitors who come to The Hiruela Above all, they will travel the various paths that extend through its surroundings.

On these walks you can see rural corners as a old laundry on the path that leads you through a lush forest of birch and hazel trees, or the one that takes you to an ancient flour mill or apiary that has been recovered.

Patones de Arriba, popular gastronomic town in the Sierra Norte

The best example of stone architecture in the Sierra Norte of Madrid You find it closer to the capital, specifically in Patones de Arriba, where you arrive in an hour by car.

This small village that in the 70s was practically a ghost town, with an architectural group of black stone houses, all of them abandoned, began a recovery process and is currently the most touristic place in this area of ​​the city. Region of Madrid.

Patones de Arriba, with its now well-kept stone houses, has become a very popular place on weekends to go to eat in one of its various restaurants, being the so-called The King of Patones the precursor.

It is very worth visiting Patones de Arriba, but if you can, it is better not to go on the weekend, because especially in spring or autumn with good weather, access to the town by car is closed and you will have to walk up a path, which will take you more than half an hour .

Other towns you should visit in the Sierra Norte of Madrid

As we have mentioned, there are other towns in this area of Region of Madrid that have corners that are worth knowing.

Buitrago de Lozoya, with the largest wall in Madrid

In this regard, an essential visit must be Buitrago de Lozoya, a population already of a certain size, with about 2.000 inhabitants, with the largest and best preserved walled enclosure in the Community of Madrid.

Bliss Wall which dates back to the time of the Muslims, in the 800th century, of which about XNUMX meters are preserved, is completed with the remains of the Mendoza castle, from the XNUMXth century, with up to seven towers, and in which the Marquis of Santillana.

Horcajuelo de la Sierra and its traditional shoeing foals

About The Hiruela, also in the Sierra del Rincón, you can also see some corners of stone architecture in Horcajuelo de la Sierra, specifically, in the square that opens next to its 15th century church.

There you can also visit a Ethnological museum situated in a traditional stone house, and see one of the various Stone and wood horseshoes that are preserved in several towns in the Community, which were used to shoe cattle.

The Berrueco and the Picota 

About Patones de Arriba and almost on the banks of the Atazar Reservoir You find El Berrueco, another of the towns with traditional sites in Madrid.

In this regard, it stands out The Picota, a stone column that dates back to the year 1.000, the only one preserved in the Region of Madrid among those that were used to mock criminals.

En El Berrueco you can also see your church of Santo Tomás Apostol, from the 13th century, with a simple cover of Mudejar Romanesque style.

Near the church you can see another Horse Shoe.

Garganta de los Montes in the Sierra Norte of Madrid

En Garganta de los Montes, a town located just 15 kilometers south from Buitrago de Lozoya, you can also see some heritage corners, such as the parish church of San Pedro Apóstol, from the 15th century, and with a combination of architectural styles.

Located in the main square, there you can see a bronze sculpture dedicated to the women who, following tradition, make the altars for the festival of the Corpus Christi, and another sculptural group dedicated to the grandfather and granddaughter.

En The Squad, town belonging to the same municipality of Garganta de los Montes, you can see another Horse Shoe, as well as the flirt church of the pillar, of very recent construction (1925) in stone and brick.

Map: Route through the Sierra Norte of Madrid, how to get there

Here you have a map that shows you how to get main towns what you should know in a route through the Sierra Norte of Madrid.