Most visitors arrive from Madrid and most of them just for a day trip. Access from Madrid is easy due to the large number of local trains every day. Trains can be caught at either the Atocha or Chamartin stations in Madrid. If you take the train, once you arrive in the town of El Escorial you will most likely want to take the local bus upon exiting the train station to get to the monastery otherwise it is a long, uphill walk. Buses from Madrid leave from the Moncloa station and will drop you directly in front of the monastery. To catch a bus back to Madrid, simply take a short walk to the bus station on Calle Juan de Toledo and wait for the next leaving to Madrid.
