The Twelve Streets walk
An 18.3 km circular walk through the groves and avenues of Aranjuez: Picotajo, the Twelve Streets, the old racecourse and the Real Cortijo de San Isidro.
The other side of the Royal Site: kilometres of tree-lined avenues, riverside groves and orchards that 18th-century kings turned into a geometric landscape. This is the official Twelve Streets route published by the Madrid regional government, and it covers the part of the Cultural Landscape almost nobody sees.
Route sheet and track at visitmadrid. The Town Council also publishes a shorter version, the Picotajo and Twelve Streets route, at rutas.aranjuez.es.
The plan
Km 0
Puente de Barcas
Start and finish, by the palace.
Stage 1
Plaza de las Doce Calles
The heart of the geometric layout over the Picotajo orchards, north of the Island Garden: twelve tree-lined avenues leading out from one roundabout.
Stage 2
Puerta de Legamarejo and the old racecourse
Avenues of century-old trees and traces of court life in the countryside.
Stage 3
The English Section stables and the Azuda
Rural buildings of the Royal Site and an old waterwheel for raising water from the river.
Stage 4
Real Cortijo de San Isidro
Charles III's model farm and its cellar.
Stage 5
Puente de la Reina and Calle de la Reina
Back along the great tree-lined avenue beside the Prince's Garden.
Before you go
- Download the official GPX or KMZ from the visitmadrid route page before you set off: some junctions aren't signposted.
- There are no fountains or bars along much of the route: bring water and food.
- In summer, start at dawn. In autumn, it's one of the most beautiful walks in the Madrid region.
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