Must See Sights in Madrid Not Covered on RS Best of Barcelona & Madrid Tour

Hi tessstu -

There are two easy day trips from Madrid - Toledo and Segovia. You can do each of them with a 30 minute train trip. You go to Toledo out of Madrid's Atocha station and to Segovia from Chamartin station. I don't know where your Madrid hotel is located, but both of these train stations can be reached by Metro from the Puerta del Sol Metro station. Rick does a good job of describing the sites in each of these cities in his Spain guide book.

There is tons to see in Spain. I highly recommend adding as many days as you can. You don't even have to go beyond Madrid and Barcelona; extra time in either of those cities would be very useful.

Two additional sights in Madrid that come to mind are the Thyssen Museum and the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales (English-language web site not currently working). Rick covers both in his book. The Monasterio (a convent) is tricky because there's no fixed schedule for English-language tours. There is no English-language audio guide. When I visited Madrid in mid-May of this year, you needed to show up before the opening time (so you'd be right at the front of the line) and ask about an English tour. They seemed to run them only when they'd had a tour-group inquiry and the information wasn't available even one day ahead of time. The two days I checked, the English tours started at 10:15 AM.

The number of spaces available for walk-ups depended on the size of the tour group. Overall group size seemed limited to about 20 people, so I'd be doubtful about squeezing 8 people in. Since you are a group of 8 (if all want to visit the convent), they might be willing to base a tour on your interest, allowing walk-ups to join in. I ended up settling for a Spanish tour, which wasn't ideal but was better than nothing. (Re-reading Rick's guidebook info ahead of time is highly advised.)

Although it's really east of Madrid rather than south, I can't resist mentioning Cuenca, which is on the fast-train line to Valencia. Hanging houses, several modern-are museums, and a totally different feel from Madrid and Barcelona. Highly recommended for either a day-trip or (better) overnight.

For Barcelona, I'd check with the RS office shortly before departure to see what is being substituted for the (currently closed) Lleo Morera modernista site. You wouldn't want to use your free time to see something else that ended up replacing the LM slot in your tour itinerary.

Since your tour already includes a day in Toledo, I'll agree with Jack's suggestion of Segovia (north of Madrid), which I liked a lot. If you're looking for a single place worth three full days, I guess Sevilla might be a better choice than Segovia or Cuenca, though. Other major southern destinations are Cordoba and Granada.

In addition to the Thyssen, I loved the Museo Sorolla. It's Joaquin Sorolla's home and has lots of his works displayed throughout. In addition, the exterior has an Andalusian style courtyard.

Consider going back to the Prado for a second visit. With so many outstanding masterpieces, you won't regret another chance to see them.

If you don't get to see the Parque Retiro while in Madrid on your tour, be sure to see it after.

I also enjoyed seeing various Madrid neighborhoods. La Latina is covered in Rick's book (South Asians and hipsters), and Chueca (gay) and Salamanca (purring with wealth) are not, but all were fun and interesting to walk around.

When you've OD'ed on art museums, consider the Naval Museum (it's between the Prado and the Thyssen) - wonderful and mainly about the centuries of Spanish exploration. You need to bring your passports for admission.

In the past 3 years, I've spent over 5 weeks in Andalucia, all of it wonderful. If you can extend your trip, Palm Sunday is April 9 is the beginning of Semana Santa and a great time to be in Malaga. Visit Sevilla before that - hotel prices during Holy Week are sky-high. I found that the processions in Malaga were more interesting and more moving that those in Sevilla, which had a party atmosphere.

There is plenty to do in Madrid, but after a city tour you may be ready for a smaller city or town. Toledo and Segovia are the obvious choices close to Madrid. Both can be day trips, or you could pick one and stay the night.

I love Andalucia, so that would be my choice. Cordoba and Sevilla are both on the high speed train - less than 3 hours. Both are nice, but I would go with Sevilla. It is the capital of Andalucia and kind of emblematic of that region. It has the best flamenco, for example. Also has a good view into the Moorish period in Spanish history - the Alcazar palace is amazing. It's a very different experience than anywhere in the center or north of Spain and I would highly recommend it if you can swing a couple of days.

Mira's right about Sevilla vs. Cordoba - but don't skip the Mezquita in Cordoba. It is a wow and unique.