My husband and I (both 28) will be heading to Spain over the Easter holiday. We will be in Madrid from March 29th to April 2nd and would like to incorporate 1 day trip in our itinerary. We are both active and outgoing and would love to hear some good half or full day trip suggestions that would be a great fit. Thanks!

IMO, Segovia -- but only because I thought Toledo worth FAR more time than a day trip would permit. But many people visit Toledo as a day trip....

Toledo is obvious.

But you might take a look at Cuenca, a modern art enclave famous for its hanging houses. A short train ride from Madrid and a different experience.

Toledo..see what you can.

The Escorial. Take the Cercanía #8 from Atocha or Chamartin railway station.

I did Segovia, toledo and Escorial as day trips from Madrid and really enjoyed them all. I don't agree that one shouldn't go some place as a day trip (like Toledo) because you should only go if you can spend more time. That doesn't make sense to me, some time seeing a great city like Toledo is better than never seeing it at all. It's not that big, you can see plenty in one day. Presuming you don't intend to be visiting Spain frequently.

El Escorial is breathtaking - and unique. It can be done in half a day. Certainly spectacular.

Toledo is in fact doable in a daytrip (although you cannot see everything in a single day). It is a historic town with lots of Moorish and Jewish heritage.

I would choose between these two. A hard choice - it is up to your tastes.

Our daughter (14) and I just spent the long New Year's weekend in Madrid, and took day trips to Segovia and Toledo as part of our city break. Each day we left Madrid around 0830; on the Segovia day we returned around 1700, and for Toledo, 1400 because we wanted to spend the afternoon at the Prado. On each day trip we averaged 15km of walking, so we saw quite a bit.

We knew full well that this would be just a "sample" tour of the two cities, and we planned in advance not to visit any museums. Both cities were worth seeing, if only for a day, was our conclusion. (We also have the advantage of living in Europe and can make return visits to favorite places with a little less pocketbook discomfort than others flying from afar.) If anything, our time in Segovia was about right (including lunch), whereas we could have used a couple extra hours in Toledo to more fully appreciate the architecture.

Hope this is helpful.

Another vote for El Escorial, speaks tons about the powerful and tragic Spanish nation that grew out of the 15th century, the "discovery" of the new world/the Americas, the expulsion of Muslims and Jews, etc. http://el-escorial.com/

Toledo - "the city of the three cultures" - tells about an earlier and brighter history ;-)
http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres...os/toledo.html

We did Toledo as a day trip from Madrid. It is a short train ride. The train station in Toledo is a 15 minute walk to the city center. Very doable. You can see plenty in a day.

Another possibility is Salamanca, which I just visited and loved. Like Toledo, it really deserves at least two or three days, but it is only an hour and a half each way on the fast trains.

Salamnca is 1:30 from Madrid ?
What train?

o.k I got it!

Danon - yes, big difference between ALVIA and the regular trains! There are speed readouts on the ALVIA trains, interesting to watch.

Thanks for mentioning it...I was looking at trains later in the morning and did not even notice ALIVIA.
Going to Madrid ( again) at the end of April for nine days. I will plan a night or two
in Salamanca.

Madrid is so well connected..to other parts of Spain.
In the fall , a friend and I took an early train to Valencia ( 1:40 min) spent a day
in the city ( it was not my first visit ) and returned to Madrid on the last train.
It was a long day, but we visited the Market , the Cathedral, , The City of A&S and even
had an early dinner by the beach.
Saragossa is about an hour from Madrid and Cordoba 1:45.

@ danon -- If you can give Salamanca 2 nights, I don't think you would regret it.

To whet your appetite for Salamanca:

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ely-salamanca/

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...rky-salamanca/

thanks.... I'll see how my time goes ...
Even after six visits to Madrid I always find so much to do in the city.
Would also like to revisit Toledo, finally visit Escorial , and there is also
Saragossa, Cuenca.....

Let's throw in Aranjuez and Chinchon for those tired of the usuals.

And Avila, too.