To Segovia or Not?

It's doable. Why just Segovia? Are you driving or what? On the way to Segovia you can stop at El Escorial and the Valle de los Cahidos (Valley of the Fallen), where Franco buried all the dead of he Spanish Civil War. It's a national park on the road to El Escorial. Segovia is about an hour and a half from Madrid by car and half an hour by AVERAIL. So what we did was just made a whole day of it and came back in the evening by car. If you just want to do Segovia by train you can go to the RENFE web-site and go by train. By train is very doable. Madrid-Chamartin Station to Segovia AV (click on the train # and will give you the station it leaves). Plan what you want to see in Madrid and try to figure out how much time you will have for Segovia. http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/index.html

How important is seeing the city/aquaduct to you? And does your time in Madrid include a trip to Toledo? If not, most people would recommend Toledo over Segovia. You can experience Segovia in about 3/4 a day including transport there and back.

It's enough time, but I would consider whether it's worth spending a day that you could be spending in Madrid or Toledo. Segovia is great, but so are El Escorial and Toledo. I would place Segovia third with the other two in a tie for first. This is only relatively there is so, so much that's great in Spain that if I went back a third time, it would be hard to choose what not to do again to allow time for something new! And Madrid is worth three full days on it's own and for me, four or five. As Rick will tell you, bus is much better than train to Segovia. It's a little faster and drops you closer to the center. It's easy, really. That said, I have done it both ways and train works, but you will want to take a bus in to town from the train station (easy to do). The aqueduct is great in Segovia, also there is a story around the towers around the town walls and you can tour some of them. The Alcazar was just o.k., not the best fanciful resonstruction I have seen. The idea of a car, to me seems way to complicated. El Escorial alone is probably worth three hours or more. Segovia, I would want to spend at least four hours there. You could do a cab ride between the two but if I recall correctly it was about $140 back in 2005. We concluded it was a real hassle to do both in one day if even possible, or to combine either with Toledo. It could theortetically be done but not very enjoyable unless you already had a car for several days and were staying overnight in Toledo, for example.

Thanks for your feedback. At the moment, Toledo does not figure in my plans. I want enough time to see some of the key highlights of Madrid (this being my first time in the city although I realize that I won't see everything in 35 days let alone 3.5). While doing my research, Segovia piqued my interest but only if I have enough time to include it without shortchanging myself in Madrid.

I agree with Douglas. I didn't want to go there, but I thought Toledo was a much more beautiful and interesting town to visit. Outside of the Roman Aqueduct, there wasn't much more to do there. I guess the name has some romantic connotations to it and that's part of what draws travelers to it. When we went to Spain with our kid the second time, he wanted to see the aqueduct. He saw it and asked us "what else there was to do here"? That's why I recommended to visit El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen on the same day. Now Toledo: just check out that painting that El Greco did a few centuries ago over looking the town. I bet the town hasn't changed much since he did it. I love Toledo ! You can lost in those tiny alley streets, hang out and eat in their small Plaza Mayor, people watch and lets not mention that Cathedral. Outside of St. Pete's Basilica or the size of Seville's Cathedral, Toledo's cathedral is the beautiful jewel and well worth visiting. Did I mention that I love Toledo?

You can actually make a pretty good dent in Madrid in two and a half days if you approach it logically. In addition to the 'pig and aquaduct', Segovia has a great set of walls, an excellent cathedral, and a remarkable alcazar. Best of all, except for down under the aquaduct, it's not thronged with gawkers. If it rings you bell, go for it. You've got the time. If you think you'll ever get back, you might want to hold off and include it with a swing through Avila.

Thanks Miguel. Toledo sounds beautiful, but will one day be enough? I will be in the area for a short period of time and am planning to devote at least 2.5 days for Madrid itself, unless if folks here think that is too much time. I should also mention that I will be there towards the end of the year. Would that make a difference?

Thanks Ed. I am sure I will be back in Spain at some point but unsure when. I spent a few days in Barcelona a few years back, but never made it to Madrid.

with 3.5 days you should just stay in madrid + toledo. segovia is cool, but it deserves an overnight. i really enjoyed a big dinner with roasted little pig and then a walk around the town under the moon, if you rush you don't get to fully enjoy everything.

Segovia had an austere, quiet quality that I liked. But Toledo has a lot going for it (the synagogue stands out in my mind). I don't think you can go wrong either way. If you're going in the late fall, central Spain should be pretty chilly and substantially less crowded than the warmer months.

Yes, one day is enough. One more thing about Toledo is that you get the Catholic Spain and the Moorish Spain. Where else are you going?

Miguel, that is it! I will be in London on business and want to visit the Madrid area for a few days on the way back home.

Regarding how much time is needed in Madrid: it depends a lot on how much you like art museums. The Prado alone is worth the better part of a day, definitely a full day when combined with the Thiessen, which is nearby. I have spent about 10 night in Madrid in my life on two different trips and have always left wanting more.

Agree with others who say Segovia's very worthwhile, but I'd take a day (and a night) in Toledo instead. And let's be honest with ourselves: how exactly do you figure you have "three and a half days" when you arrive wednesday afternoon, and depart on sunday morning? Not to split hairs, but that looks like three days to me.

Actually, I would say that you could soak up a good bit of Madrid in that first evening. As I recall Madrid is a lot more "alive" at 10 or 11 pm. than most cities (maybe midnight or 1 for that matter).

I liked Segovia (particularly the pig, and I'm not a meat eater). The latest NYT Frugal Traveler article is about Segovia day trip: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/day-tripping-in-segovia-and-counting-euro-pennies/#more-9261

CL, C'on you can eat pig anywhere in Spain. It seems that's all they eat there. Did you try the pig ears in Madrid's Tapas crawl? Hell they eat the whole pig, nose to tail.