It looks like Toledo, Avila, and Segovia are all about 1-1.5 hours from Madrid. I was wondering if its a good idea to use Madrid as a homebase and then take day trips to each of these areas either by car or train. Wondering if 1 day is sufficient to see these cities or if I need more time and should spend overnights in any of these areas.
Thanks in Advance for your input
I have done what you are contemplating. It worked for me - no hotel change, easy to change day trip plans if I was tired or weather a concern. I used train and bus.
The time was adequate (for me) to enjoy the day trips. I could have used more time in Toledo where I felt I needed to rush a bit. There was a lot I wanted to see, others may have more limited “must-dos”. I would not disagree with any advice about spending an overnight there if the logistics fit in with a broader itinerary.
They each work as a day trip from Madrid. Whether you should stay overnight is a personal choice. To me, Toledo is definitely worth an overnight. Ávila can be seen in a few hours while Segovia deserves the better part of a day.
Thanks I am still in the beginning of my research. I am thinking Avila and Segovia as day trips from Madrid and then move on to Toledo for an overnight or two. Any other suggestions on day trips from Madrid are welcome. I like seeing historic sites and landscapes some museums.
It is a longer day trip, but Córdoba is possible from Madrid if not included in other plans. The Mosque-Cathedral is unique. The old town is fun to wander, Roman Bridge, and there are some small museums for specific interests. Not as obvious a day trip as those you've identified, but a possibility.
Salamanca is nice, but it’s a couple hours from Madrid. If planned correctly it might be possible to visit Ávila and Salamanca on the same day. Believe they’re on the same train line. Another possibility is Alcalá de Henares. It’s just east of the airport. It has a couple nice pedestrian only streets and main plaza. It’s the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes.
Since I'm considering daytrips most likely by train from Madrid to some of these towns do I need to book train tickets in advance or can I purchase them the day before I intend to go. I'll most likely be in Spain in April.
It's only the express trains whose tickets vary in cost. Alcala de Henares is served by Cercanias trains from Atocha Station; some also stop at Chamartin. No assigned seats, no sell-outs, so you can just buy the ticket when you want to travel. These trains are heavily used by commuters, so I imagine the schedule is less frequent on Saturdays and especially on Sundays. There are two stations in Alcala. I think perhaps the University Station may be more convenient to the historic center.
Note: I don't know whether the rule applies to Cercanias trains, but regular train tickets cannot be sold less than 5 minutes before departure. Don't cut it too close.
Toledo is an exception to the varying-prices-on-express-trains rule; the fare to Toledo doesn't vary. But trains to and from Toledo can sell out, so it's not a good idea to plan to buy that ticket right before you hop on the train. At the very least, you should monitor ticket availability on the Renfe website (or I guess use the app--but I've never done that). The website, at least, doesn't tell you how many tickets remain, but trains that are full will be so labeled, so when the first trains is marked "Full", that's a warning that you may not be safe to wait. In a pinch, there is also bus service, but it is a lot slower. I love Toledo and think spending a night or two there is a fine idea.
For Segovia and Salamanca, there are potentially really substantial savings from buying tickets early for the fast trains. Alternatively, one can take a slower train, but it will take much, much longer. Take a look at the schedules and fares to Segovia on Renfe.com to see what I mean.
Do not under any circumstances get yourself in the position of having to use the staffed counters selling long-distance tickets at Atocha Station. The lines always seem to be horrendous--as in hours long, and a lot of the people in those long lines have tricky purchases to make that will be very time-consuming. Buy your tickets on the website, in the app, or from a ticket machine. I assume they still have different machines for different types of tickets/destinations, but once you find the right machine, it's not hard to buy the ticket. There may be uniformed Renfe employees floating around the ticket lobby; they can point you to the right machine for your trip.
We will be in Spain for 5 weeks in April, flying in and out of Madrid. After a bit more research I am thinking of spending about 6-7 full days in Madrid. Besides seeing the sites in Madrid I am considering visiting the following towns for day trips out of Madrid (listed in alphabetical order) :
It looked like I can reach most of these by public transportation. I probably need to pare the list down but having a hard time deciding what to cut out. Any input is appreciated
I didn't include Toledo because after Madrid I thought we would go to Toledo for 1 or 2 nights then rent a car and head towards Caceres and some of the places around there.
If your Madrid days include those day trips, then yes, there are too many day trips.
As you plan to rent a car, if you don’t mind changing hotels, maybe pick up the rental in the morning, drive to San Lorenzo de El Escorial to see the monastery then continue to Ávila for a night. You need to pass El Escorial en route to Ávila anyway. Ávila can be seen in a few hours. After spending the night you could drive to Toledo for that night or two before continuing on to Extremadura.
We recently returned from that area and can suggest amounts of time it might take to visit certain places.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/spain-mostly-extremadura
@jaimeelsabio thanks for the suggestions. If you were to prioritize my list what would be your top 3 day trips. Another option would be to visit Aranjuez on our way out of Madrid to Toledo. Also as we are flying out of Madrid we could stay an extra night of two in the area to see anything we missed.
Strictly my personal preferences, but my top three day trips would be Segovia, Alcalá de Henares, and Cuenca.
When selecting your day trips look at all the sites you want to visit in each town and how long you expect it would take to see them. Then compare that to the amount of time it will take to get there and back to determine if it’s a good use of time.
To me, Ávila and El Escorial are places to visit en route to other places or to use to get over jet lag. In all my trips to Spain I’ve never felt a draw to visit Aranjuez so can’t comment on it.
