Hello. My husband and I both speak Spanish and want to take advantage of our grandson being at a semester abroad program next spring in Madrid. We are not young and my husband is blind. We want to go to one smaller town for 2 or 3 weeks and stay put hopefully interacting with locals and being part of the daily life of the town. Our fun will be meeting people, speaking Spanish, eating and imbibing, both the coffee and later hours scene plus music. . We would prefer to take the train and stop only once. ((Not a lot of changes). Our grandson will come visit us.
Can anyone out there suggest a smallish town that would fit the bill here? As a help, our favorite spot in France is Collioure so something similar would be great. Thank you!
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7146 posts
Maybe Alcalá de Henares. It isn’t that large, is close to Madrid, and easily accessible to Madrid.. It has a nice central plaza where events take place and a decent pedestrian area lined with shops and restaurants. The streets are pretty level, meaning not hilly, so there wouldn’t be many stairways to be concerned about.
Posted by
8242 posts
Consider Toledo or Segovia near Madrid.
Another choice is Girona near Barcelona.
Posted by
48 posts
I vote Sevilla! It’s not a small town, but is super walkable. I have heard spring is the best time to be there, with the scent from the blossoming orange trees. The evening paseo in Sevilla is supposed to be excellent. If you pick a neighborhood — like Triana — to settle in, I think it would feel like a small town but still have plenty of options.
Both are an easy train from Madrid.
Posted by
4961 posts
I would look up some train maps, does not have to be just high speed lines, but here are some examples:
https://maps-spain.com/maps-spain-rails/spain-train-map-renfe#&gid=1&pid=1
https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/spain/map
Because the transport is an important aspect, I'd narrow down exactly where you want to be in terms of travel time, then scope out the specific options. See Renfe for specific train details.
I noticed Cuenca is on a high speed line, and that is a fantastic town, very artistic, with a dramatic gorge setting.
In the other direction, I passed through Talavera de la Reina, and despite it being a sleepy Sunday, it seemed like a neat place to live, with a nice river walk path right there.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2006 posts
**Buitrago de Lozoya.—
Small town of 2K. although only buses go there from Madrid.
**El Escorial— town of 15K w/ Royal palace and monastery. 50 minutes by train from Madrid.
*Aranjuez— another town with Royal Palace and gardens. . 40 minutes from Madrid by train
** Chinchon— charming town w/ a castle and only 5K residents. 1 hour by bus from Madrid. Accommodations include a Parador in a former monastery..
**Alcala de Henares— birthplace of Cervantes, a beautiful city 45 minutes from Madrid by train.
Population 190K.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. I am checking them out!
Posted by
Washington DC
28065 posts
Chinchon is cute but I'd find it very small for such a long stay. I'd prefer Alcala de Henares, which seemed to have a lot more going on and has the additional advantage of being an easy, cheap, commuter-train ride from Madrid. I remember the town as being relatively flat.
Cuenca is charming, but the historic center is built on the side of a rather steep hill, and it's a reasonable base for day trips to Madrid (and probably also Valencia) only if you take one of the fast trains; the trip would be far too long by one of the slower/cheaper trains. The express-train tickets are likely to be quite pricey if bought on the spur of the moment, so you'd probably need to plan such day trips well in advance..