The Sierra Guadarrama is a chain of peaks covering some 60 miles.  It follows a line roughy from the south west, El Escorial, to the north east,  Somosierra.  The range lies some 30 miles north of Madrid and is well connected to the capital by both road and public transport.    A range of mountains many of them over 2000 metres, the highest in the sierra is Pañalara at 2438 metres. How to get there The Sierra de Guadarrama is about 40 kilometres north of Madrid and is well connected to the capital.  There are regular bus and train services (cercanias)  to many key towns (colmenar viejo, navacerrada etc.)  You can find timetables and information here from the site “Consorcio Transportes Madrid”.   Most buses leave from Plaza Castilla in Madrid and the Trains from either Atocha or Charmartin. By Road: There are three main roads that pass north into the Sierra de Guadarrama, • The A1 that goes due north from Madrid towards Burgos and on to the far North of Spain which passes on the east side of the Sierra. • The A6 which passes to the west side and eventually heads towards A Coruña in Galicia • The M607 which heads towards the centre of the Sierra de Guadarrama and one of the largest towns and main administrative centre Colmenar Viejo. Climate Being some 200 miles from the nearest coastline, the sierra Guadarrama has a largely continental climate.  In brief this means cold winters and hot, dry summers. Spring Spring is perhaps the best time for the first time visitor to the Sierra Guadarrama.  By early-mid May the area is carpeted with wild flowers and the temperatures are not yet excessively hot (expect around 20ºC- 25ºC daytime max.).  Snow is usually present on the highest peaks until mid-May. Summer Perhaps not the best time for a visit as July temperatures are regularly in the 30ºCs and in Madrid itself reach 40ºC.  If you do decide to come at this time, the best thing is to rise early and start walking before 8am and plan to return before 12pm by which time the temperatures are high. Autumn Autumn is another ideal time for a visit to the Guadarrama.  Autumn tends to be quite dry with warm sunny days making exploring pleasant.  November is normally drier than October. Winter Heavy snow falls do not normally arrive until after Christmas along with much lower temperatures.  February is the coldest month along with the heaviest snowfalls.  In general roads are kept clear of snow and the passes open although during severe weather conditions, the use of snow chains is made obligatory on the highest mountain passes such as Navacerrada.  Winter is a good time for a visit as the scenery is transformed and, as long as you avoid the highest peaks and keep to well marked routes, it is safe. Where to stay In general, the southern side of the Guadarrama range has more walking options than the northern side (Segovia) therefore most of the walking bases listed are on the Madrid side of the range. General Information about the Sierra de Guadarrama Sierra de Guadarrama In and around the mountains of Madrid Sierra de Guadarrama © Copyright “name”, 2010. All Rights Reserved Created by Stephen Fernandez Osmunda Consulting    Made with Xara Web Designer General Information