Spain Destinations: Castilla-La Mancha Windmills Route

Castilla-La Mancha Windmills Route

Castilla-La Mancha is a region in the heart of Spain, famous for being the setting of Miguel de Cervantes’ worldwide known “Don Quixote de La Mancha”. The novel tells the adventures and misfortunes of a madman who wanted to be a knight by fighting giants that are actually windmills and try to win Dulcinea’s heart.

The actual Don Quixote Windmills that inspired this incredible piece of literature are still standing, some are even still functioning and can be visited. There are three main routes you can take from Madrid to visit this iconic windmills: Consuegra, located about an hour and a half drive in the province of Toledo, Campo de Criptana in Ciudad Real about two hours south of Madrid and Mota del Cuervo in Cuenca about an hour from Madrid.

Consuegra has the best preserved windmills in Spain. There are 11 of them on a hill outside the town, with one still functioning and used for showing tourists how they work. There are 10 windmills in Campo de Criptana which claim to be the ones that inspired Cervantes for his masterpiece novel. Mota del Cuervo is a small village with seven well-preserved windmills that still keep the original tools used at the time. So, if you want to be a modern Don Quixote, don’t miss these amazing routes that will make you feel like a knight.