Day trips from Madrid
Toledo, Segovia and El Escorial, a full day each, and a calendar that decides the order: Monday, Sunday and winter change what is open.
- Toledo
- Avant from Atocha, 33 min
- Segovia
- Train from Chamartín
- El Escorial
- Cercanías about 60 min from Atocha
Madrid has three day trips, and each one takes a whole day: to Toledo by fast train from Atocha, to Segovia by high-speed train from Chamartín, and to El Escorial by suburban train or coach. The calendar decides the order before taste does: El Escorial is closed on Mondays, Toledo's cathedral opens only at 2pm on Sundays, and in winter the Alcázar in Segovia and the monastery close at 6pm.
The old town, with the cathedral on a clock
The fast train from Atocha reaches Toledo in 33 minutes, but the station is across the Tagus, about two kilometres from the cathedral, so the rest of the way is a city bus or a taxi. The coach from Plaza Elíptica takes about an hour. The cathedral is the one fixed point of the day. It is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6.30pm and on Sundays only from 2pm to 6.30pm, with entry closing half an hour before. The basic ticket is €12 and includes the chapter house, the sacristy with the El Greco paintings and the picture gallery.
Around it the day is walking: El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz in the church of Santo Tomé, the synagogues of Santa María la Blanca and El Tránsito, the Mirador del Valle viewpoint across the river and the Alcántara and San Martín bridges for the sunset. Spain's tourist portal advises more than a day, so a day trip is a selection. On a Sunday it runs the other way round: the town in the morning, the cathedral at two.
An organised visit with a guide.
The aqueduct, the Alcázar and a station outside town
The fast trains leave from Chamartín and reach Segovia-Guiomar in about 30 minutes. The station is six kilometres from the centre, so the journey has one more leg: bus 12 goes to the centre and bus 11 to the aqueduct. The alternative is the coach, run by Avanza and Linecar, to a station about ten minutes' walk from the old town.
The aqueduct, with 167 arches, you see on the way, and the ticket is for the Alcázar: the palace, the museum and the Tower of Juan II together are €10, and without the tower €7. The tower is reached by a narrow spiral staircase of 152 steps, and the Alcázar asks anyone with health problems not to go up. It is open from 10am to 7.30pm from April to October and from 10am to 6pm from November to March, with sales and entry stopping half an hour earlier. On Tuesdays from 2pm to 4pm the palace and museum are free, but only for EU citizens buying at the box office, so on any other passport that hour changes nothing.
An organised visit with a guide.
The longest ride, and Monday is out
The Cercanías suburban train takes about 60 minutes from Atocha and about 45 from Chamartín–Clara Campoamor; the coach from Moncloa takes about 50. The monastery is closed on Mondays. From Tuesday to Sunday it is open from 10am to 7pm from April to September and from 10am to 6pm from October to March. The last entry is an hour and a quarter before closing, so 5.45pm in summer and 4.45pm in winter. The ticket is €14 and can be bought in advance, online.
Inside are the basilica with its 43 altars and chapels, the royal vaults, the Habsburg palace with its Battle Room, the library and the museums of architecture and painting. The basilica needs no ticket but is closed during services. On Wednesdays and Sundays from 3pm entry is free, but only for EU citizens, EU residents with the right to work and Latin American citizens, with ID and at the box office only, so every other passport pays the full price.
An organised visit with a guide.
What can share a day
None of them. Toledo and Segovia leave from different stations, Atocha and Chamartín, and El Escorial has its own train and its own coach; each has its own opening hours and its own last entry. Segovia and Toledo cost almost the same time on the road, 30 and 33 minutes, and El Escorial the most, 45 to 60.
Three more places, shorter or longer
Alcalá de Henares is 36 km from Madrid, on lines C-2 and C-7, and bus 223 leaves from Avenida de América. Aranjuez is 49 km away, on line C-3, and in season, usually April to June and September to October, the Strawberry Train also runs from Príncipe Pío. Ávila is 111 km, by train from Chamartín. For these three this page gives only the way there.
Where to next
Where to stay in Madrid
→Sol and Las Letras keep the palace and the museums on foot, Malasaña and La Latina put dinner under the window, and Salamanca and Chamberí trade the walk for quiet.
Cuenca · 139 km
→Houses hanging over a gorge, an hour by train from Madrid
How well does Madrid suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Madrid
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which day trip from Madrid works on a Monday?
Toledo or Segovia. El Escorial is closed on Mondays, while the cathedral in Toledo and the Alcázar in Segovia are open.
How do you get from Madrid to Segovia?
By fast train from Chamartín, about 30 minutes to Segovia-Guiomar station, which is six kilometres from the centre: bus 12 goes to the centre and bus 11 to the aqueduct.
Is the Toledo cathedral open on a Sunday morning?
No. On Sundays it is open only from 2pm to 6.30pm, with entry until half an hour before closing, so the town comes first and the cathedral at two.
Ready for Madrid?
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