Day trip from Madrid to Segovia - rent a car?

I believe you are underestimating the impact of driving in and out of one of the third largest city in Europe (London and Berlin are larger) and over emphasizing the efficiency of time. Use public transport and leave the driving to them while relaxing and enjoying the scenery.
Btw.... Add in the time to pick up and drop off the car, cost of fuel, parking, navigating hassles and three back seat drivers while your miss the scenery..............

Hi David,

I agree whole heartedly with marbleskies. The trains much more efficient. You can get to either of this cities in 30 minutes from Madrid by train. Don't forget that you go to Toledo from Atoche station and to Segovia from Chamartin station. Both of these cities are great day trips - enjoy!

We took the train and it was painless. The train station (as I recall) was not all the close to the city plaza in Segovia so I believe we took a cab to and from station/plaza....with 4 that should not cost much. As I also recall, there is more than one train station in Segovia and the cab initially took us to the wrong station even though we showed him the tickets, but he rectified the situation at no cost when we said it was the wrong one. Toledo is also a very easy train ride from Madrid.

Check closing days before pinning down the timing of your day-trips. I have Rick's "Spain" book in front of me, and Monday is a rather common closing day. I see that Segovia's Alcazar and Cathedral are both open on Monday, but La Granja Palace and a couple of the small churches Rick lists are not.

In Toledo, the following are closed on Monday: Army Museum, El Greco Museum, Visigothic Museum, and Sinagoga del Transito. Those are just from the list of sights Rick highlights on his scheduling page; there may be other, less prominent, places that close on Monday.

Of course, the same thing is going on in Madrid, and you have to be somewhere on Monday.

There is also a very convenient bus that goes to Segovia - leaves from the bus station attached to the moncloa metro stop. The line is la sepulvadana. Buy a round trip ticket and make sure you are there with time to spare as you need to purchase the ticket at the ticket counter and then go to the gate. You arrive at a convenient bus station in Segovia. When you arrive in Segovia you need to reserve your seat for the return trip at the ticket counter.
The advantage to the car however is that you can easily get to la granja which is outside of the main town. La granja is similar to Versailles and has not only the palace but gardens with fountains. If you do rent a car I would do the pickup from the plaza de espana area - there is a rental agency in that area although I don't recall which one - it would make the exit from Madrid very easy. Segovia is a wonderful town and definetly worth the visit - I was lucky enough to live there during my college days and have been back many times

Liz's info about the departure point (Moncloa) for the bus to Segovia is very important. It seems to be a pretty recent change. It's not reflected in the RS 2016 "Spain" guidebook, but it is listed among the updates on this web site.

Thank you for all the information, it seems like the train or bus is the better option.