(*) that'll give me 5 full days in Madrid plus another day to day trip to the Escorial.

The train from madrid to Segovia is 30 minutes, I think. You have the AVE and tickets are very often only 10E each way.

Salamanca would be about 2 hours on the bus, if I recall. Too tiring IMO for a summer day trip.

By the way, Thanks Kimhe for that very detailed recommendation! Thanks Cruiseluv for sharing your thoughts and the link to Maribel's guidebooks!

Really? 30 minutes? I must've checked a wrong page or, most probably, gotten confused with names.

If that's the case, I'd rather visit Segovia as a day trip than El Escorial.

Thanks Lincasanova!

28 minutes or sometimes a bit longer. I thought the train was called AVE but it is called ALVIA.

The regional train to Segovia takes two hours. Make sure you take the Alvia/ Avant from Chamartin station which is approx 30 mins.

I've just checked and noticed there are two kinds. There's one that takes 30 minutes and another one that takes 2 hours.

Thanks!

I agree with some recomendations given

Use madrid as a bse for daytrips.
Salamanca may require overnight, specially when done with public transport. I have done it as daytrip several times, but with my own car.

Now you can add also Cuenca as daytrip since it's linke by highspeed trains now.

I would do
Segovia, Toledo Avila as daytrips, also El Escorial, Aranjuez...
Salamanca if you may stay overnight
Cuenca ig you need more.

Check the weather if it's too warm in Madrid, then Toledo is worse, much worse, choose toledo for the day with lower temperatures, head to Segovia, El Escorial or Cuenca for the warmest days.

Do you think allocating 7 nights in Madrid is too much? With hit weather, I "function" at a slower pace.

Seven nights in Madrid will allow the city to get under your skin.

It's not too much given all the day trips you're planning. Frankly, given the time of year I would have balanced Madrid with a stay somewhere in the north, like Bilbao or San Sebastian.

Hey everybody,

So I paid for my ticket today. I have a total of 9 nights to spend. However, I'm still having a dilemma about my itinerary. I mean, the places that I'm interested in visiting are Madrid, Toledo & Segovia, but I can't seem to figure out whether:

1. It's worth spending nights in all three of them.
2. Basing in Madrid and daytripping.
3. Spend the night in two places and day trip to the other.

My plan seems to be 2 nights in Toledo, 7 in Madrid and a day trip to Segovia but...

Would you do 5 in Madrid, 2 in Toledo and 2 in Segovia or am I planning a hectic itinerary that, considering the weather in early July, will end up being crazy?

I swear this is my last dilemma (hopefully) and thank you so much again because, you have all been nothing but wonderful.

Castellanese.

Reading your posts again, Viajero leans for the 5 nights in Madrid, 2 in Toledo & 2 in Segovia.

However, Skja thinks Toledo deserves 2 full days and Segovia can be a day trip from Madrid.

How are you planning to travel between the cities? By train?

Yes, I'll be traveling by train. However, I've decided to stop giving this so much thought.

I'll spend 2 nights in Toledo, 7 in Madrid and day trip to Segovia mainly to see the Cathedral and the Alcázar. July's going to be hot and I want to take my time in Madrid. Besides, moving around too much in hot weather is exhausting (I learned that the hard way in Southern Italy).

Thank you, thank you, thank you everybody! I couldn't have done this without your always wonderful advice and opinions!

Castellanese.

Sounds good, good luck!

> However, kja thinks ... Segovia can be a day trip from Madrid.

Just to be clear, I did not visit Segovia as a day trip - I was glad to spend a night and day there. But I think it can be visited as a day trip if people prefer day trips to relocating.

Enjoy!

Wow... You guys are amazing with information! I'm visiting Madrid in April for 9 days and want to do all these things mentioned but I have two kids with me.. How donI get the train or bus from Sanchinarro 15.. I bumbed out and chose a hotel in the middle of nowhere...