Our daughter(21) is in Alcala for the semester and we are going to see her in March. We will be traveling with our other daughter(18). I would love suggestions on what airline to fly, what airline to avoid, what not to miss while there, where to stay...could 3 of us have one room?,etc.. Would 6 nights in Madrid be too much? COuld Toledo be a day trip? THanks in advance.

Hi, a lot of information could be found in this forum. Use the search engine. I do not think that six nights are too much, but I also feel that you should take some day trips out of Madrid. To star with I would go to Toledo, and to the Escorial. May having lunch in the town of Escorial a short walk from the Monasterio del Escorial. It is amazing to visit it. A little refreshment in History regarding Phillip II and his father Charles I would come in order. The monastery can be visited only with a guide and they give a lot of information. You should check when English speaking tours are offered.
Toledo can be reached either by bus or train, forget the tours they are expensive and a lot of time is lost picking up passangers. For me a waist of money, again to enjoy it you need to do some homework. Also if you like you could stay overnight in Toledo and then you will have a look at the city without the tourists. I happpen to know a very good hostal in the center of town called
Hostal Santo Tome, it is like a small hotel. Not expensive and great location. this way you will save money because for sure it is going to be less expensive than your hotel in Madrid.
I feel this is a good idea that you and your daughters will enjoy. Do not get carried away and try to visit a lot of places near Madrid. There many of them all very interesting but too many will drive you crazy .Madrid merits on its own right sometime too.
Hotels there are many I noticed that the chain high tech hotels have rooms for more than two persons. They are located all over Madrid and offer good rates

sorry for my spelling mistakes, like a waist of money...you know what I mean, a waste....

Thanks , Graziella, you made me happy !! Now I know I don't make mistakes just because I'm not an english-speaking person

Wvgirl, sorry for the hijack of the post Regarding to your questions, I agree with Graziella, Toledo and El Escorial are great day trips, also Segovia and don't forget visiting Alcala as your daughter is there

3 of you can have one room, but as you are three adults maybe one of you won't be as confortable. Sometimes they put a smaller extra bed in a double bedroom due to the size of the room
You just have to ask and tell them you are 3 adults (your younger daughter is an adult here too).
I would stay in a hotel at the museums/atocha area, so you are rather near the Atocha station if your daughter in Alcala wants to join you (or you want to join her there and also it's handy if you go to Toledo.

I cannot tell you about airlines because I'm from Spain and I have never gone to the States

I hope you all have a great time in Madrid !

I agree with what Grazilla said -- I really liked Madrid a lot and was only there 5 days, but easily could have spent more. I'd suggest a couple possible day trips in that time frame, just see how you feel. I went to Segovia for a day trip from Madrid and highly recommend that, as it is a really nice town and has interesting things to see.

Maybe someone can have some airline recommendations if you say where you are flying from. I always go for the best price and schedule, myself, that's all.

Some hotels in a central location with rooms for 3 are: Hotel Plaza del Carmen, Hotel Quo Puerta del Sol and Hotel Emperador.
I'd recommend a day trip to Segovia, the huge Roman aqueduct (2000 years old!) is amazing and the Alcazar (castle) and cathedral too.

Alcalá de Henares (Miguel de Cervantes' birthplace) and the University Complutense there are not to be missed. Too many Madrid tourists skip Alcalá, with its large population of Storks. If you stay in Madrid, you can get a bus to Alcalá at Avda. de America Transportation Center.

As for what airline to fly, it depends on where you're coming from. You could connect US Airways thru Philadelphia or Continental Airlines thru Newark. Either should be pretty painless compared to New York's JFK airport.

Spring break is pretty busy but airfares normally don't go up until Summer tourist season.

Yes, Toledo is a great daytrip from Madrid (as is Segovia) but don't miss out on Madrid itself with all its attractions. Enjoy!!

You may think about renting an apt.
in Madrid.
There is so much to see in Madrid and around , six nights is hardly too long.
Toledo can be reached by AVE in only 1/2 hour.

Thank you danon for reminding me that now there is the Ave to Toledo, this of course is the way to go now.
There are usually so many day tours coming in and out of Toledo that I would really consider staying over night in this city.

THanks to all of you for your help! I think we will stay in Madrid the entire time with the exception of one night in TOledo...is there a day of the week that we should avoid in Toledo? SOrry if this was already mentioned.....I am a bit overwhelmed in being the travel agent!

I would suggest buying tickets to Toledo a day before going - we could not get them for the same day ( very popular destination).