El Escorial - This was a great tour. The bus was comfortable and the guide easy to understand. The cathedral was beautiful and I felt such a sense of worship there. The valley was interesting and I liked all the information the guide gave.

Don’t miss this trip - El Escorial is one of the most historic and beautiful places in Spain, and our guide really made it come alive. Her English was very clear.

Great side trip! - Highly recommend this tour if your are interested in Spanish history! Our tour guide Carlos was fantastic and quick witted.

Silvia was a very... - Silvia was a very efficient and knowledgeable guide. The Escorial was amazing and the Valley of the Fallen is a must see. We enjoyed the trip and would do it again.

Great Option for ending Madrid Visit - This is a must when visiting Madrid. Is an easy walking and short tour, half day and you will enjoy the wonderful views!

Loved it - Both destinations are lovely. the guide was very nice, helpful and informative. a half day tour with enough time to enjoy both places It is recommended

Nice Attractions - It was a nice excursion, We really enjoyed it. The thing that we dislike is that the tour leader didn't gave us enough time to buy souvenir

Very good tour and great way to have... - <p>Very good tour and great way to have to visit two different places. Only wish that the tour company had suggestions for lunch while you wait for the 2nd part of the tour. We found a nice little bar after some searching.</p>

Shortened tour - We got 4 hours of a 5 hour tour. We were rushed through El Escorial so the guide could go home an hour early, I guess.

Buyer Be Where of VPT!<br/> The... - <p>Buyer Be Where of VPT!<br/> The company VPT offering the tour service of El Escorial and Valley of the Fallen was terrible!!! We had called in advance twice - once from the US and once from Madrid to confirm our reservation and details of the pick up at our hotel. We were told to be in the lobby of our hotel before 8:15 AM for pick up by VPT. VPT was a no show, at 8:25 AM I called the local number. VPT said they were sorry but they would not be able to pick us up as scheduled and that we would have to take a cab and arrive at their local office by 9:00 AM or forfeit the trip and of course no refund and not to mention screwing up our plans!!!!! We notified the desk and they immediately called for a taxi. We arrived barely in time, the VPT representatives did not seem to really care that we were not picked up as originally arranged. I asked to speak with a supervisor and they said no supervisor was available. The VPT guide was not great either, she mostly spoke in Spanish and her English was marginal. She rattled off her English version of what she had just said in Spanish so quickly that we missed about 50 of what she said!! We have generally had pretty good experiences with Viator but this really is a horrible operator. We are now questioning Viator's due diligence regarding service providers they rely on.</p> <p>The very positive part of this was El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, they were both excellent site seeing experiences and should be considered must see!</p>