Madrid Day Trips via public transportation

Seville and Cordoba maybe are too far for a day trip.
I have learned I do not like daytrips when it takes more than 2 hours to get there each way.

Segovia: 5 hours
We had the pleasure of being invited by a native to a wonderful traditional 2 hour lunch at:
Restaurante Narizotas, Plaza Medina del Campo, 2, 40001 Segovia, Spain

and Toledo 4 hours

Seville and Cordoba are too far for a day trip

I'm confused by your response. According to what I saw on the train schedules, they are only 30 and 35 minutes away. What am I missing?

Sorry - My response was for Segovia and Toledo. Cordoba is indeed further away but we would use the day that we need to travel from Seville to Madrid - stopping on the way at Cordoba.

I spent 3 nights in Toledo and was very glad to have two full days there plus a few extra hours. It is a full-day destination as far as I am concerned. Train from Atocha Station. Then you can take a bus up to the historic area. It's walkable (there are escalators to assist), but that takes quite a bit of time, and believe me, there is tons to see in Toledo. On foot; the streets--such as they are--are medieval, twisty and narrow. Most of the historic area is pedestrianized; be warned that parts of it are rather hilly.

Rail fares to Toledo do not increase as your travel date approaches, so there is no financial reason to buy tickets now. There is a theoretical possibility (perhaps not so theoretical on a weekend or holiday) that a train might sell out, and Rick specifically warns about that problem on trains going back to Madrid in the evening. The other potential issue is that Atocha Station is a bit of a zoo; you shouldn't show up 15 minutes before train departure time planning to buy your ticket and run for the platform.

There is some fare variation on the trips to Segovia, so you may save some money by buying that ticket earlier. Otherwise, I don't think there's a rush to buy tickets. I believe there is a bit of a walk from the Segovia train station to the historic area. The latter is not so large as to be an issue for folks with normal mobility, but transportation to the edge of the historic area in the form of a taxi (unless buses are available?) might be worth considering. I liked the walk very much for the introduction it gave to the aqueduct. Allow time to see the rest of the old town; it's quite picturesque. You don't need as much time in Segovia as in Toledo, but it's still worth a full day if you can spare it. I think Segovia is known for suckling pig, so you might want to plan a special lunch there if you eat pork.

Note: In Spain a round-trip ticket (ida y vuelta) is sometimes about the same price as a one-way ticket, so it's worth checking RT fares very carefully before you buy anything. For Toledo, I encourage you to plan a late return to Madrid, because I think you'll be happy to wander around the upper town even after the sights close. There can also be a wait to get into the cathedral; you may need to buy your ticket and return later to go inside.

Cordoba is about two hours away (it's more often suggested as a day-trip from Seville if not as an overnight stop) and may be painfully expensive for a day-trip if you do not pre-purchase your AVE tickets. Go to renfe.com and check fares for tomorrow to see what I mean. BUT I see that round-trip tickets are in some cases cheaper than one way. I do not know that the situation will be the same in May, but it looks good at this point.

Edited to add: I haven't been to Cordoba recently, but in my experience, any European city of reasonable size has transportation from the train station to the historic area if distance is any sort of issue. And if you don't want to wait for a bus, there are nearly always taxis available outside the train station.

All three are great options.

I personally like Toledo better than Madrid. Madrid is more convenient for day trips. Cordoba is a functional day trip using the fast trains. Toledo is very convenient. Seville seems too far, even by fast train, to be considered a day trip. I drove to Segovia so I'm not sure about train options. Bus service is great in Spain and each bus station has an English speaking information booth. The bus companies run day tours too. I'd inquire about what they have available.

DAY
1. am..Train from Seville to Cordoba for the Mezquita - store bags at bus station. pm..Train to Madrid (4N)
2. Madrid Day #1
3. Day to Toledo by train (book ahead)
4. Madrid Day #2
5. DEPART Madrid

Madrid Day #1
am...City Walk

Temple of Debod
Plaza de Espana
Plaza de Oriente
Plaza Mayor (morning coffee)
Puerta del Sol
Metropolis Bldg
Plaza de Cibeles
Puerta del Alcala

Lunch in the Salamanca district before strolling thru Retiro Park.
pm...Prado Museum

Madrid Day #2
am...Royal Palace
Visit Basilica San Francisco el Grande, before exploring the historic La Latina district, with lunch on Plaza Santa Ana.
pm...Reina Sofia Museum

You can store your luggage at the Cordoba bus station. It is across the street from the train station. If you need a toilet, the ones in the bus station are disgusting, the ones in the train station are well-maintained. It's not far from the train station to the old city center, but you may get lost walking. I've only taken taxis because I've only stayed overnight (3 visits). There is lots to see and do in Cordoba so plan in advance.

There's also a lot to see and do in Toledo. I havent been to Segovia. The trains are used by commuters, so on weekends there are no early trains. The trains can sell out in the direction you're going because of lots of other day-tripping tourists. I had to wait an hour (in the train station) for a mid-afternoon train on a Friday (in February) because the train I wanted had sold out. It's easy to get from the train station to the center on foot, by bus, or by taxi. Like Cordoba, there's a lot to see so plan ahead. Also take into account that Toledo is hilly (San FRancisco hilly), you are usually walking up or down. Cordoba and Sevilla are mostly level, as is Madrid.

Toledo and Segovia are walkable, and much too small to need a metro! From the train or bus station, you will probably want a bus or taxi to the center of town (taxis in Spain are pretty cheap, so that's what I usually take on arrival in town - particularly if you are only there for a day, as it's much faster). But once you are in the center, your feet are all you need.

Thanks to all of you for such great advice. I've booked our transportation from Seville to Madrid and have included a stopover in Cordoba. We will store our luggage at the bus station, see the Mezquita, have lunch, and explore a bit on foot before heading back to the train station. I see that our dates align with the Cordoba Festival in May but we really don't have enough time to see much there. I'm hoping that there will be some women in lovely traditional costumes milling about... but who knows!

I love the itinerary from djp_syd. Thanks for that! We will do a walking tour our first full morning in Madrid and then decide what other sites we want to see from there. Do we need advance reservations for either the Prada or Royal Palace? (Both are on my list of places to see.)

As far as our day trip - I don't think we are going to book in advance as we will be at the end of our 2 week trip and we may need some down time... so we will take our chances there.

This forum has been EXTREMELY helpful to me in my planning. Thank you so much!!

Although I didn't encounter significant crowds getting into the Prado or the Palacio Real in May 2016, there's no guarantee that you will not. There were definitely more people at the palace than I expected. Since your time is tight, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pre-purchase tickets.

Train tickets to Toledo are always sold at the same price, so your only risk is that you may encounter some sell-outs (less likely on Tues-Wed-Thurs, I would guess). A bus can be your back-up plan, though it will take longer.

Both Toledo and Segovia are well worth a visit. For both, your general plan is the same, take the AVE train (Madrid Atocha Train Station for Toledo; Madrid Chamartin train station for Segovia) to the town, then bus to city center. Toledo is actually walk-able from the train station, but mostly uphill (though there is an escalator for part of it); no way is Segovia town center walk-able from the train station.

Both are about 45 min. from Madrid, with lunch, you can spend easily most of a day, I would plan on an early start getting there by 9:00 AM, tour in the morning, Lunch from 1:00 to 2:00 tour in the afternoon, then get back to Madrid around 6:00.

There is plenty to see, maybe more in Toledo, but both are worth a nice meal with some local specialties in addition to the main sights. The only drawback is that both are popular with daytrippers, so you will be there with everyone else, I did find both towns much more pleasant in the evening hours after the crowds left.