Hi everyone!
We're heading to Madrid from April 19 to 27. It's me, my partner, and our 7-year-old—she's a pro at travel. While Madrid is our base, we think 6-7 days might be too long. We'd love to explore other cities, like Toledo, Ávila, maybe Sevilla? We adore history, museums, and real local food, not tourist traps. We’re open to trains or renting a car, even ending in Seville before heading back to the airport. What would you recommend?
Segovia is a good day trip from Madrid.
We definitely enjoyed our day-trip to Toledo. It's a fascinating place, where Jews, Muslim, and Christians lived in harmony, and El Greco painted.
If you go, don't miss the cute little tourist train that takes you outside the city for lovely views. https://turismotoledo.es/en/tren-turistico/
I particularly loved Cordoba—the Cathedral/ Mesquite and also the bridge over the water with views of birds below, walking the narrow streets of town, etc. I think it is an hour’s train ride from Madrid but I am not sure.
Toledo and Segovia are the most popular day trips from Madrid and easily reachable by train. Ávila only takes a couple hours to see so it would be possible to visit both it and Salamanca on the same day since they are along the same train line.
A place closer to Madrid that not many visit is Alcalá de Henares, the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes.
If you wanted to rent a car for a day, you could visit any number of the following places, Chinchón, Belmonte castle, Cuenca (hanging houses and gorge), Consuegra (windmills and castle), and Campo de Criptana (windmills that were Cervantes’ inspiration for the giants in Don Quixote). They are all within 1.5 hours of the airport and it would be fairly easy to see any two or three on a long day.
For a nature site, north of Cuenca is La Ciudad Encantada with unique rock formations.
If you really enjoy castles there are nice ones in Medina de Campo, Coca, Portillo, Cuellar, and Peñafiel if you want to go castle hopping.
That's wonderful! Thank you so much!
With so many interesting places and only one week, do you think 3 days in Madrid is enough or too much?
How much time you need in Madrid depends on what you want to see while there. I think three days would be sufficient to get a feel for the city. Visiting sites like the Royal Palace and the Prado can take some time. Sites like the Plaza Mayor, Retiro Park, and Puerta del Sol can be seen just walking by or through.
We always get a rental car and only spend the last night or two in Madrid. Of the places I mentioned, (Chinchön, Cuenca, Consuegra, Campo de Criptana, and the castles) most would be difficult to reach without a rental car. Cuenca and Chinchón can be reached using public transportation, but scheduling could be an issue.
Definitely see other places. Staying in Madrid that long would be a bit boring.
We loved El Escorial, Toledo, and Avila, and traveled by public transportation only.
Cordoba is great, but the train takes close to two hours each way. Fast trains covering that distance aren't cheap (weekends may be less expensive than weekdays). How much you're willing to spend on day trip transportation to a city that really deserves more time than you'd have available on a day trip is a personal decision.
Madrid is blessed with a large number of attractive, practical day trips:
Toledo: historic capital. Very interesting but also rather hilly. Fixed rail fare of 11.10 euros each way for the 34-minute trip. You'd want to take a local bus or a taxi up to the historic part of town. The train station is down below and some distance away, so the 34-minute trip will take somewhat longer. Trains to Toledo have assigned seats and do sometimes sell out, so this isn't necessarily a trip you can be sure of taking after a last-minute decision. Be especially careful about the train back to Madrid; you don't want to be marooned in Toledo; buses exist but are much slower. Trains depart from Atocha Station.
Segovia: another interesting, historic city. The big deal here is the magnificent aqueduct, which I think might be a "wow" for your daughter. Trains have assigned seats but variable fares. They can be quite costly on some departures, much more costly than fares to Toledo. Prices are likely to be lower if you commit to a specific departure day and time and buy the ticket early. Trains depart from Chamartin Station.
Cuenca: hill town with hanging houses over a ravine. Only practical if you take one of the fast trains on the line to Valencia. Those trains take about 1 hour, but they serve a station that is a bus or taxi ride from the town itself. Cost varies as it does for Segovia. Those trains have assigned seats.
Alcala de Henares: historic university town on the outskirts of Madrid. Easily reached via commuter trains that are cheap and run frequently. No assigned seats, no worry about sellouts. This is an easy side trip to have in your back pocket in case you run out of things to see in Madrid.
Avila: historic walled town. To me it doesn't have much beyond the wall to recommend it. Trains are fixed-fare (just over 10 euros, one way) and take about 90 minutes. No reserved seats on the trains, so this can be a last-minute decision.
Trains to Salamanca are not very frequent and some take a very long time. Without a car, I'm not sure Avila and Salamanca combine well. In addition, Salamanca is pretty large and to me worth more time than part of a day.
Seville is really way too far from Madrid to be a day trip. It's farther than Cordoba. If you want to see those places, you really should split your trip and spend some of your nights in Seville or some in Seville and one (in transit) in Cordoba.
You can check train schedules here: https://www.renfe.com/es/en
Right in Madrid there's a free-entry actual Egyptian temple (Temple of Debod) your daughter might like.
Agree that there are a number of interesting day trips to areas of historical importance. In addition to the ones mentioned I would add El Escorial https://el-escorial.com.
Madrid is a big city with plenty to do but a week feels like a lot. It’s more than enough to see all the major sights and many smaller sights too.
If I had a week, I’d definitely do a day trip to Segovia AND to Toledo. Perhaps an overnight. We did a guided tour of Segovia + Avila. It was wonderful but I kinda wish we just went on our own by train and spent more time exploring either city.
No idea if it’s practical but I’d love to do a day trip to see los molinos de consuegra (the picturesque windmills ostensibly from Don Quixote).
I would also consider a long day hike in the mountains surrounding Madrid.
Madrid is a stone's throw from 4 Unesco World Heritage cities:
Alcala de Henares, Segovia, Avila and Toledo.
If I had to choose one it would be Toledo.
@rmazor - Consuegra’s windmills and castle might be difficult to reach using public transportation. If a bus does go to town there would still be a walk to reach the windmills. However, they are still very nice to visit. I’ve always had a vehicle when I visited them.
The town is on the route of Don Quixote, however, the windmills that were Cervantes’ inspiration and the giants in Don Quixote and about 40 minutes away in Campo de Criptana. They are worth stopping at if you are in the area.
The castle in Consuegra was little more than a ruin when I first visited it in 1978. From then until about 2010 the town did an outstanding job of restoring it. It took such a long time because the town didn’t accept any government assistance to restore it.
There are tours that go to Consuegra, but I have no idea where else they stop. One can see the windmills and leisurely visit the castle in a couple hours.
