Hello. We are spending 9 days in Madrid in mid June, staying at the same apartment for the entire trip but hoping to make day trips to neighboring towns. One exception is that we are going to be in Toledo for one night. We also plan to go to Segovia for a day trip via bus. (Both those plans are based on multiple posts I have read on this board!) I have done some research and am wondering if anyone has any thoughts about the following places. Thank you!
Alcalá de Henares
Aranjuez
Chinchón
Riaber - Try to include Salamanca, Avila, and Cuenca as possible places to visit for day trips during your 9 days stay in Madrid.
Don't forget also to look into exploring sights like San Lorenzo de El Escorial palace , and Royal Palace of Aranjuez which can be combine with a visit to Aranjuez. No need to visit Alcalá de Henares and Chinchón.
I've been to Aranjuez, Avila, Alcala de Henares, Cuenca, Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca and Chinchon. I would definitely put Avila at the bottom of the list, and I feel no burning desire to return to Aranjuez--but I am not a palace person. Chinchon is a cute small town, but I 'd consider it a more minor destination than the remaining places. It requires taking a bus, and you'd almost certainly need to take the metro to reach the bus stop, at which point you'd need to figure out in which direction to walk a few blocks.
I'm pretty sure Salamanca is more than 2 hours from Madrid.
Edited to add: Nope. I was wrong. The train can take as little as 2 hr. 6 min. However, Salamanca has a large historic area, plus the university to explore. It might be a rather rushed day-trip.
Cuenca has a couple of nice modern-art museums. For art-lovers it should probably be quite high on the list. For other folks it's about the medieval district on the hill and the hanging houses along the ravine. Cost is an issue here; you really need to buy the AVE tickets early enough to get the promo fare, or the price will be somewhat painful.
Thank you everyone!
