A monastery with a resident community is not a museum, and El Paular runs on that difference. The Benedictine Order has lived here since 1954, in a charterhouse founded in 1390, so the doors follow the liturgy: lauds at 8am, vespers at 7.30pm and a sung mass at midday on Sundays.
The house keeps monastic hours, and according to Santa María de El Paular Monastery it closes on Mondays and Tuesdays all year, with visitor reception open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm, on 91 869 19 58. Across the M-604 road at kilometre 27.600 stands a second door, the regional visitor centre for the valley, on 91 869 17 57, and it keeps a different calendar entirely.
Which days does El Paular monastery open? Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm. It closes Mondays and Tuesdays. The visitor centre across the road follows another calendar and from November to March opens only at weekends and public holidays, 9am to 4.30pm, so on a winter Monday neither of them opens.
Which door opens on the day you can travel
Different bodies run them, which is why no single page carries both timetables.
The monastery is run by the Benedictine community and closes Mondays and Tuesdays twelve months a year. The Valle de El Paular visitor centre is run by the Comunidad de Madrid and closes Monday to Friday for five months, from November to March, while opening daily in summer.
| When | El Paular monastery | Valley visitor centre |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday to Sunday, April to October | Open, 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm | Open, 9am to 7pm |
| Monday and Tuesday, April to October | Closed | Open, 9am to 7pm |
| Saturday and Sunday, November to March | Open, 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm | Open, 9am to 4.30pm |
| Wednesday to Friday, November to March | Open, 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm | Closed |
| Monday and Tuesday, November to March | Closed | Closed |
Two conclusions come out of that. Winter Mondays and Tuesdays offer nothing at that point on the road. And the only time both doors are open with room to spare is a weekend between April and October.
What to ask when you call
Calling is part of the plan here rather than an optional step, because one thing is missing from the site.
Published, per Santa María de El Paular Monastery, are the visitor reception hours, 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm Wednesday to Sunday, the 91 869 19 58 number and the fact that booking goes through the monastery’s own page rather than the door.
Not published is the price. No tariff appears anywhere, so the amount is asked when booking. That is the difference from the Patrimonio Nacional sites, which carry fixed prices and a shared calendar, set out in the royal sites of the region.
Booking it in three steps
Nothing here is arranged at the door, which is the part that catches visitors out.
- Pick a day between Wednesday and Sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays are closed all year.
- Book through the monastery’s own page, not by turning up, and ask the price on the same call to 91 869 19 58.
- Choose the slot, either 11am to 2pm or 4pm to 6pm, and allow for the sung mass at midday on Sundays.
What time the masses are
Even for a visitor with no interest in the liturgy, these hours shape the day.
Masses run Monday to Friday at 7.30pm, Saturdays at 8am and 7pm, and Sundays and holidays of obligation at midday, the last one sung. The liturgy of the hours includes lauds at 8am on weekdays and vespers with the eucharist at 7.30pm.
The sung Sunday mass at midday falls inside the morning reception window of 11am to 2pm, so anyone wanting both has to fit them into the same slot.
What else you can do the same day
The valley packs several things into a short stretch, and each runs by its own rules.
Las Presillas, in the same municipality of Rascafría, is an authorised bathing area open 15 May to 15 September, covered in where you can swim in the region. It is also a picnic area, which brings the rule that surprises everyone, since lighting a fire to cook or keep warm is banned all year.
The valley visitor centre belongs to the regional network of 12 centres whose timetables do not match, in Madrid’s nature centres, and the valley sits inside the national park, with its vehicle counters, in access to the Sierra de Guadarrama.
The wider map of what needs booking is in how access to nature works here.
Picking the day
The date follows the overlap of the two calendars first and the weather second.
For both doors, a weekend between April and October is the only combination that opens everything. For the monastery alone, any day Wednesday to Sunday works. Avoid Mondays and Tuesdays from November to March, when neither opens.
On weather, September is the most balanced month of the year in the region at 26.4 degrees average high, in when to visit Madrid. Getting here needs a car or a regional coach rather than the metro, since fare zone A ends at the city boundary, and lunch in the valley does not start before about 2pm, which sits neatly after the morning slot. This is a different sort of day trip from the four with ticket desks, compared in day trips from Madrid, and very different from the castle of Manzanares el Real, which does not open at all.
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Across the road, closed weekdays.
The same clash of calendars between two administrations shows up in Nuevo Baztán, with two doors and two timetables, where the interpretation centre is regional and the guided tour municipal.
Two administrations on two calendars is one of the five kinds of access condition around Madrid, sorted in which Madrid villages are open and on which days.
Frequently asked questions about El Paular monastery
Which days does El Paular monastery open?
Wednesday to Sunday. It closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. The visitor reception runs 11am to 2pm in the morning and 4pm to 6pm in the afternoon, and the number to call is 91 869 19 58.
How much does it cost to visit El Paular monastery?
The monastery publishes no price on its site, so the amount is asked when booking, on 91 869 19 58 or through its own page. What it does publish is the timetable and the schedule of masses.
Is there a day when nothing at all is open at El Paular?
Mondays and Tuesdays from November to March. The monastery closes those two days all year, and the valley visitor centre closes on weekdays during those five months, so both doors are shut at once.
What time are masses at El Paular monastery?
Monday to Friday at 7.30pm, Saturdays at 8am and 7pm, and Sundays and holidays of obligation at midday, the last one sung. Lauds are at 8am from Monday to Friday.