Getaways for exploring Castile-La Mancha with children
A mill can be the setting for a giant's adventure; and a castle, the starting point from which to follow in the footsteps of a knight. In Castile-La Mancha, traveling as a family takes on a spirit of discovery thanks to a getaway guide that familiarizes the little ones with the territory through characters and games. Don Quixote and Dulcinea accompany some of the concepts in which heritage comes to life and nature becomes fertile ground for exploration. In Albacete, nature and mountain villages provide settings for this family exploration. Bandit for a day leads to Riópar and the Cueva de los Chorros, linking the Mundo River landscape with the figure of El Pernales. A very different experience is offered by Choose your costume, in Villarrobledo, where the carnival opens the door to masks, costumes and characters capable of transforming the streets into a grand stage for the imagination. Two ways to discover the province through play. Ciudad Real fully embraces these games with I choose Don Quixote, in Campo de Criptana, where the windmills act as “giants” moving their sails to scare Don Quixote, and All aboard!, in the Ruidera Lakes Natural Park, spread between Ciudad Real and Albacete, offering a water landscape that invites onlookers to imagine battles between pirates. In Almagro, Among fairies adds princes, princesses, fairies and wizards to the mix in order to get to know the Corral de Comedias and its theatrical tradition.
Cuenca continues this adventure in the spirit of science and nature. To infinity and beyond leads to the Castile-La Mancha Science Museum and its Planetarium, where an extraterrestrial journalist steers an adventure through the solar system. Your friend the bear brings families closer to El Hosquillo Park, while Discover the character encourages visitors to recognize figures like the Nun, Beethoven, the Elves, or the Shaman on the Route of the Faces in Buendía. In Guadalajara, the story jumps to a different era: I knight you takes you to Jadraque and the famous Cid’s Castle, while the Tejera Negra Beech Forest presents itself as a fairytale forest perfect for hide and seek. Sigüenza adds its time tunnel, with the Doncel and the routes of El Cid Campeador and Don Quixote as companions on an escapade that links history and fantasy. Toledo completes the itinerary with Let’s play Romans, in the Carranque Archaeological Park, where the remains of the Roman world turn this visit into a gateway to another era, and The secrets of Dulcinea, in El Toboso, inviting those who take part to enter Cervantes’ universe in the footsteps one of his characters. There is also room to discover olive oil in Mora or get up close and personal with the water in Cazalegas to feel like a ship’s captain. When travelling with children, Castile-La Mancha can also be discovered through characters who invite the little ones to look at castles, museums, forests and landscapes from a different perspective, turning each day into a shared story where adults rediscover the destination while children construct their own travel narrative. Location Castile-La Mancha is located in the south-central part of Spain, in the vicinity of Madrid. It has high-speed train stations in Toledo, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Cuenca, Albacete and Guadalajara–Yebes. Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas is the main air access point.