I'm taking my mother to Madrid for 6 days in March. I've gotten the impression that one can see the major sites in Madrid in a couple of days. I'd also like to see some of the smaller cities outside of Madrid (i.e. Toledo, Segovia, Avila, El Escorial). Can someone who's been before, help me decide which of these is best? Can any of these been seen in the same day trip or is that a bit ambitious? Thanks in advance.

Last July, we also spent 6 nights in Madrid (6+ days). We decided to stay 4 days in Madrid and used 2 for daytrips. We ended up going to Toledo and Salamanca (though I personally would have preferred to have visited Segovia and though my wife had been before to to both cities + Avila and El Escorial, she had the upper hand: "you haven't been to Spain if you haven't been to Toledo" cliche, and she prefereed to return to Salamanca instead of trying something new.<BR><BR>Regarding a transportation scheme for the side trips, the following was cut from an older post of mine:<BR><BR>We managed to leave the hotel at 8:30am (somewhat out of shape because of the previous night dining experience at the Borin, well past midnight) and took the circular metro to Mendez Alvaro and Estacion Sur de Autobuses. No trouble identifiying Autobuses Galiano Continental ticket boot. Service to Toledo is held every 30 minutes, on :00 and :30 and fare costs 590ptas. The trip takes 1:20 hours with some stops along the way (the driver told me that outside August there's a direct service that takes 1 hour). The bus arrives outside Toledo's walls and a local bus (110ptas) takes you to Plaza Zocodover (once there was a major work being undertaken in the Plaza, the bus actually dropped us at the Alcazar). <BR><BR>Direct bus service to Salamanca is operated by Auto Res (info 91 551 7200; reservations 902 192939) every hour (on the hour) departing from the Auto Res sation (to get there, take circular metro #6 to Conde de Casal). The one way fare costs 2,250 ptas (there is a small discount ??? for the round trip). Metro ride from the old center takes 25-30 min and the bus ride to Salamanca 2:30 hrs. A taxi (350 ptas) is very convenient to get to the old center (at the bus station we were informed that there was no bus service to the center ... which is hard to believe!). On the return to Madrid the bus crosses the city from west to east, so one doesn't have to go all the way to the bus station. We stepped off at the first stop, right in front of our hotel on Paseo de la Florida; no idea on the other schedulled stops and itinerary.<BR><BR>To make the most out of it, I strongly recommend you leave your hotel in time to catch the 9am bus and use the 7:30pm bus on your way back. We managed to leave our hotel shortly after 8am (metro station close to the hotel was served by line #6 with no need to change) and we barely made it, getting the last 5 available seats on the 9am bus. The ride was very confortable, with a movie being displayed both ways. Once past the El Escorial/Valle de los Caidos area, one crosses a long tunnel. It was amazing how the temperature dropped from one side to the other (some 6 degrees Celsius). Salamanca is situated at about 800 mts above sea level and the temperatures there were surprisingly low for mid summer ... it was very fresh for a change and nice. <BR><BR>Should you opt for Segovia, buses depart at Paseo della Florida, some 100mts from the Pricipe Pio metro station.<BR><BR>Paulo

You can also get to Toledo by train. It is 1 hour and 15 minute, and the first train leaves at 8:30 AM.

I strongly recommend Toledo. While there you can visit the Catedral, the Casa del Greco and Church of Santo Tome. It's a great day trip. <BR> <BR>Second, I would suggest Segovia. It's a beautiful town. You should be able to combine this with a visit to Valle de los Caidos and El Escorial. You might check our the Pullmantours and Julia tour companies. Your hotel concierge may be able to arrange this for you. See frommers.com / organized tours for phone numbers and such.

I agree completely with Julie. We stayed in Madrid for a week and then rented a car for another week and went to all the cities Paulo mentioned. We were free to spend as much or as little time in each city and I preferred Toledo and then a visit to El Escorial. I'd certainly skip Avila. <BR>I thought Montserrat was lovely, although a bit farther out. We went for the noon concert with the Boy's choir. Very nice! <BR> If you pick up a car at the airport, and are willing to drive(and I must say the scenery in Spain is beautiful), it is very easy to drive in Spain. If you book your car from the States, you will find it very reasonably priced and you will be able to see a great deal in a few days. Email us directly if you like. We had a great time and were there last March for three weeks.

If I had to choose between among those no doubt my vote would be for Segovia+La Granja and Toledo, they are good day trips. A bit further but still within reasonable distance are two of my favourite places in Spain: Salamanca and Cuenca.

Don't miss Toledo. It is strictly a tourist zone, but for good reason. It's one of the major centers of Spanish history (it was the capitol until the 16 century). Also, since RENFE (the Spanish train service) now runs super-fast AVE trains, you can now get to Cordoba and Sevilla in just a few hours. I'll be in Madrid in March as well, and will be doing a day trip to Cordoba via AVE. Ten years ago, before the AVE, Cordoba wasn't a day trip.