My family and I will be traveling in Spain this summer and will end up in or around Madrid our last night before a 10:00 a.m. flight out the next morning. We will be coming from the direction of Granada and had thought about staying in Aranjuez because it looked like an interesting town and we could avoid going all the way into Madrid. However I've had trouble finding anything on the web that looks like a good place to stay in Aranjuez. If we have to, we can just stay in a place near the airport, but I usually hate those parts of town. Any hints?

We've stayed at the Sofitel at Madrid Airport. It doesn't matter what the surroundings are like because there's a metro stop outside the hotel, so you could be staying in any part of the city for that matter.

Also there's a courtesy bus to the airport, which is probably true for most of the hotels in this area. We've also camped at a site near Barajas before (I'm not saying that's what you should do! ) and took a bus into the Barajas district, where we had a good meal and took in a couple of good bars. Eddie can tell you quite a bit about this area. He's very knowledgeable about this neck of the woods, so send him a private message if he doen't see this?

If you can, try and see Aranjuez on your way up from Granada, even if it's just to drive through the town. If you do, carry on to Chinchon and maybe have lunch there before heading on to Madrid. You won't be disappointed.

Anchovy Front writes: We usually stay with relatives in the Alameda de Osuna an upscale residential neighborhood near Barajas. The only hotel I've stayed at in that area is the Osuna; I wouldn't stay there again. We have dined at el Pato Mudo Restaurant in the Hotel Diana (excellent!) and I looked into staying at the Best Western Barajas (not the 5-star lujo Hotel Barajas). If you can fit it in, I do recommend a morning stop at Toribio's Churreria on the Square in Barajas Pueblo. They open around 5:00 AM so all the air crews can get their Churros o Porras con Café o Chocolate.

With a 10:00 AM flight you'll probably want to be at the Airport check-in between 07:00 and 08:00. That might be a little 'tight' if you are coming all the way up from Aranjuez.