I've budgeted a day for a side trip from Madrid near the end of our 2-week trip (starting in Lisbon, ending in Madrid) in early-mid October. Rick suggests 4 worthwhile possible destinations north of Madrid: El Escorial, Valley of the Fallen, Segovia and Avila. We won't have time for all of them. From the book descriptions, seeing each in the shows, and from my own (admiddetly vague) recollection of a trip to the area 20 years ago, I'm thinkiing that we'd most enjoy Segovia and Avila, and we'd skip El Escorial and Vally of the Fallen. First of all, anyone disagree strongly on those priorities (if so, why?)?
Assuming we do decide to go and do those two, what makes sense? Avila sounds like it's worth a brief stop for a few hours (I'm equating it with Carcasonne, which we both loved) but not much more. Segovia seems worth a day, or potentially part of a day and an evening. Would it be most efficient to drive? We will be short on time so I'm looking for the best way to get to both with minimal transport hassle or lost time, but with enough time to sample each a bit.
We could potentially rent a car in Madrid in the morning (our second-to-last day in Spain), drive to Avila in the morning, spend a couple hours there, then drive to Segovia, and drop the car there. We could spend the rest of the afternoon and sleep there in Segovia, getting up the next morning and linger for a few hours, then early in the afternoon take the train back to Madrid. Our flight out leaves around 6 pm from Madrid's airport.
Does this seem reasonable?