We'll be driving from Madrid to Granada in mid-May, What should we stop and see on the way? Thank you! Just short stops, lunch etc. Not overnight.
I suppose the answer would depend on whether you mean stops of an hour or two, or stops of a night or too. A number of the later, but I don’t know about the former.
A direct drive is about 4.5 hours. I’ll suggest the 42 minutes drive (from the airport) to Chinchón. It has a nice plaza mayor and views from the clock tower (Torre Del reloj). From it consider stopping at Belmonte Castle (1.5 hours drive from Chinchón). Very nice castle and easy to reach. The castle was used in the 1960s movie El Cid. Forty minutes west, back towards the highway heading south, and along the same road (N-420), is Campo de Criptana with its windmills made famous in Cervantes’ Don Quixote. If you still wanted to kill more time, just past the E5 highway, along the CM-42, is Consuegra with its castle and windmills.
If you had a couple days, then take a look at Úbeda and Baeza, UNESCO heritage sites. I haven’t been to either.
Thank you! We are ok meandering on the way to Granada.