Day trips from Madrid. Segovia?

Segovia is a cute little town with the Alcazar (palace), cathedral, and intact Roman aqueduct. It is well worth a day trip.

Avila, hands down. It's a small, medieval town that has very well-preserved historic walls that you can walk on. You could look into stopping by El Escorial on the way back from Avila to Madrid.

If you rent a car for the day, you could do both. See Avila's wall from the "four post" viewpoint, have a quick look around or walk on the wall, then drive to Segovia. Park near the aquaduct and work your way to the Castle. After touring the Castle consider a quick stop at the old church just outside of town (dates back to the Templars) before driving back to Madrid. It's pretty tiny so doesn't take long to see. Because it's just outside of walking distance from town, many skip it.

Thank you for all your advice. We wont have a car so will think about which one to go to. Train or bus?

I have day tripped to both Avila and Segovia from Madrid. If you only have time to see one of these I would recommend Segovia simply because the travel time (less than 30 minutes from Chamartin station) is significantly shorter. You cannot go wrong by visiting either of these towns.

If I could do only one, I'd also pick Segovia. The combination of Aquaduct, Cathedral and Castle within walking distance is hard to duplicate.

If you won't have a car, my second choice would be a bus. Check at the TI or information desk at a bus station, there is likely a bus that will take you there, give you half a day to look around, then bring you back for a really good price.

You can't go wrong with either Segovia or Avila, but if I had to choose just one, I'd choose Segovia. You can get there by train or bus. The AVE train is fastest (30 min.) Avoid the slower Cercanias trains, which arrive at a different station in Segovia, further out. See the "Connections" section at the end of the Madrid chapter in Rick's Spain book for details.

Took the bus yesterday, i little complicated but a 1hr bus ride. 14 euros return with open ticket to return. The bus is at the maclova metro station which on line 6. Get tickets on line if possible. As you get out of the station turn left and a 15 minute walk awaits you.

Just a quick note that most shops in Segovia are closed on Sundays, which does impact a day trip a bit. As long as your day trip is not on a Sunday, you should be totally fine. And, you'll be a little surprised to see how a suckling pig is cut up! And if you end up taking a bus to Segovia, note that the kiosk to buy tickets is directly downstairs from where you board the bus, next to the stairs facing the food court. It took us longer than it should have to find.

Just got back from Spain. We did a day trip from Madrid to Toledo. I am not sure if we hit it at the wrong time of year or the wrong day of the week but it was probably the only disappointing part of the trip. A lot of places were closed. What was open was one tacky tourist shop after another. Overall, it was just ok. The church was beautiful thou.

I have been to and enjoyed all three of the above mentioned suggestions of Avila, Sevilla and El Escorial. I am going to throw in a few other places to research that would be good daytrips from Madrid: la Granja de San Idefonso, Alacala de Henares, or Aranjuez. Look at images and the map and read about all of the suggested places to see what appeals most to your interests. If you are a Quijote fan, about an hour or so outside of Toledo is the small town of Consuegra that I liked a lot. These suggested places offer castles, palaces, gardens, windmills, walled cities, religious sites, or aqueducts. What appeals the most to you or possibly what will be somewhat different from what you will see on your tour? Bus and train transportation in Spain is good and fairly easy to manage. Toledo is a great city, quite the mix of cultures. Hopefully you will get to see it at night and roam its winding alleyways. The cathedral there is stunning.

Let us know what you decide. You can' t go wrong with any of these!