Collado Mediano

Collado Mediano sits at 1,032 m, high enough for the air to taste different the moment you step off the C-8 train. Madrid’s heat loosens its grip; pine resin replaces diesel. The village strings itself along a ridge in the Sierra de Guadarrama, 48 km north-west of the capital, close enough for commuters yet still wrapped in weekday silence.

Stone houses with terracotta roofs line streets that tilt gently towards the church plaza. Most were built for farmers and railway workers; today roughly half serve as weekend boltholes for madrileños who keep skis in Navacerrada and mountain bikes in the garage. The permanent population hovers around 5,000, but on the first warm Saturday of spring the pavement tables still outnumber diners and nobody minds.

Walking straight from the platform

You don’t need a car. The station sits five minutes above the centre, and every trailhead is reachable on foot. Head north on the signed footpath from Calle Real and within fifteen minutes the roar of the A-6 is replaced by bee-eaters overhead. A circular loop to the Cerro de la Porrera takes ninety minutes, gains 250 m, and gives a raking view back over the village’s uniform roofline towards the seven peaks of La Maliciosa. After rain the granite turns silver; in July the same rock radiates heat like a storage heater, so carry more water than you think necessary.

Mountain bikers share the wider forest tracks. Weekend pelotons spin out along the M-601 towards the Morcuera pass, while families potter on the flat gravel that follows the old railway sleeper works—an industry that once employed half the village and has left nothing more than a loading platform among the poplars.

Church, bakery, bar—repeat

The sixteenth-century Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción keeps watch from the highest point of the old centre. Its bell still marks the quarters; the west door is usually unlocked until 19:00, revealing a single-aisle nave painted the colour of pale tobacco. Nothing is roped off, so you can inspect the gilded altarpiece up close—just drop a euro in the box for the lights.

Opposite, the unnamed bakery (look for the blue awning) opens at 07:00 and sells empanadillas the size of a Cornish pasty, stuffed with tuna and hard-boiled egg. By 11:00 the tray is empty. Take one to Bar Lhumbre on Plaza de la Constitución, order a caña, and you have breakfast for under four euros. Lhumbre’s croqueta tasting plate—ham, wild mushroom, blue cheese—has become a post-hike ritual for the handful of British residents who commute back to Majadahonda offices twice a week.

Evening options are limited and proudly so. The last kitchen closes at 22:30; the single ATM runs out of cash on Sunday nights. Plan accordingly.

Seasons, crowds, and the missing snow

April and May are the sweet months: daylight until 21:00, wild rosemary along the paths, and only the occasional German school group practising Spanish in the plaza. Temperatures reach 20 °C by noon but drop to 8 °C once the sun slips behind La Barranca—pack a fleece even in June.

July and August bring Madrid families who triple the occupancy of the chalets tucked behind Calle del Calvario. The baker queues out of the door, parking near the church becomes a blood sport, and the municipal pool charges non-residents €5. Yet the pinewoods absorb the excess; walk twenty minutes and you’ll still find a granite boulder to yourself.

Winter is quiet. Snow falls three or four times between December and March, rarely more than 10 cm in the streets and usually gone by lunchtime. What lingers is the cold: night temperatures can dip to –8 °C, and the thin mountain air makes it feel lower. Cafés light their wood burners; cocido madrileño appears on Thursday menus at Mesón de la Cerca. Navacerrada’s ski lifts are a 15-minute drive away, but Collado itself stays inexpensive and free of ski-suit posturing.

Getting here without the hire-car queue

From Madrid-Barajas Terminal 4 take the free airport shuttle to Chamartín, then the C-8 cercanías towards Cercedilla. Collado Mediano is the penultimate stop; the journey clocks in at 55 minutes and costs €4.50. Trains run every 30 minutes at peak times, every 60 minutes off-peak. If you land late, the last service leaves Chamartín at 23:05—miss it and a taxi will set you back €90.

Drivers should leave the A-6 at junction 39 and follow the M-601 for 9 km. On summer Fridays the tailback from Madrid starts at Las Rozas; allow an extra 40 minutes or arrive after 21:00 when the traffic evaporates. Free parking exists on the eastern edge of the village near the polideportivo; from there it’s a flat five-minute walk to the centre.

When two hours is enough

Strapped for time? Walk from the station to the church (10 min), loop down Calle Real for an empanadilla, then follow the signed path below the cemetery for panoramic photos. The whole circuit takes 90 minutes, including coffee, and leaves you back on the platform in time for the hourly train to Madrid. You won’t have touched the high trails, but you’ll have breathed air that doesn’t taste of diesel—sometimes that’s all the reset a trip needs.

Collado Mediano doesn’t shout. It offers granite, pine scent, and the occasional eagle drifting over the ridge. If you want flamenco or all-night tapas, stay in the capital. If you want a place where the bakery sells out by mid-morning and the church bell is the loudest sound at dusk, change at Chamartín and head uphill.