Alcalá de Henares is a university city 35 kilometres east of Madrid, and one of the best day trips from the capital. Founded as the Roman city of Complutum and later a medieval Moorish town, it reached its golden age when Cardinal Cisneros established the Complutense University here in 1499 — making it one of the first planned university cities in the world. The entire historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The city is famous as the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. His family home on Calle Mayor, now the Casa Natal de Cervantes, has been turned into a museum that reconstructs a 16th-century household with period furniture and explanatory exhibits. Nearby, the Renaissance university building itself is worth visiting for its ornate Plateresque facade and the Paraninfo auditorium where the Cervantes Prize — Spain's most prestigious literary award — is handed out each year by the King.
The Archbishop's Palace is where Catherine of Aragon was born and where Columbus met Ferdinand and Isabella to plan his second voyage. The Magistral Cathedral and the Corral de Comedias — the oldest documented theatre in Spain — complete the historic centre's highlights. Alcalá is compact and easily walkable; trains from Madrid Atocha run every 15–20 minutes and take about 45 minutes.