I'm leaving for Madrid this Friday (3 days and counting...!!!) and finally drafted my final itinerary last night. I read Maribel's guide, guidebooks, took notes from this board. Now I'd like to hear your opinions and input on this draft. A little background, my boyfriend is going there for work, so he'll be working 3 days next week, while I have the entire time off. We're trying to squeeze in the day trips on the weekends so he gets to come along!

Day 1 (Sat) - Madrid - city tour with an acquitance
Day 2 - Avila (bullfight), Salamanca (also with an acquitance)
Day 3 - Salamenca, Madrid in the evening.
Day 4 - Madrid (Bf is working day 4-6). Plan is to see the Flamenco this evening.
Day 5 - Segovia
Day 6 - Madrid
Day 7 (Friday)- Toledo, Avila, and El Escoral (we know this might be a bit hectic, but we'd really like to visit those three places).
Day 8 - Madrid
Day 9 - Flying home

Thanks everyone! Looking forward for your feedback.

I can fully appreciate your desire to see all these places, but I must admit that your itinerary seems a bit full to me. I travel at a fairly fast pace, but would find this schedule frustrating. You'll be spending a fair chunk of time traveling, and you won't have much time to see these delightful places.

What works for you will depend on what you want to see and do and what pace you find comfortable. But for what it's worth, there is a great deal to enjoy in each of these locations, and you might want to think about cutting back a bit.

I really can't imagine trying to visit Toledo, Avila, and El Escorial all in the same day. At the very least, given that you plan to be in Avila on Day 2, you might want to consider skipping it on day 7.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your comment, and as matter of fact, thanks for catching the glitch. We werent going to go back to Avila (during the Toledo trip). I am debating whether I should just do EITHER Toledo or Segovia - instead of both in one trips. Any other thoughts?

Hola

Between the two Segovia is lovely but Toledo is not to be missed. Easy day trip from Madrid.

h2, Generally okay except day 2, and 7. Consider Salamanca on Day 2. On day 7, I would pick Toledo. Consider reviewing

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34954915 for input on my itinerary and a report (last post in that thread) on the trip.

In Madrid, museums are a NOT-to-miss. I think. Prado, Thyssen and others should be on your must-do. Prado, specially, has one of the most extensive collections in the world.

Thanks again for the inputs. Our idea is to start day 2 heading to Avila, and then after the bullfight, instead of heading back to our base in Madrid, we're going to Salamanca. We'll spend the day in Salamanca on Mon, and come back to Madrid in the eve (because of my bf's work dinner). So technically, we won't actually do both Avila and Salamanca in the same day. But for Day 7, we were thinking of doing a tour that consists of Toledo, El Escoral, and the Valley of the Fallen. We are still undecided, but welcome more comments.

Comfy, I saw your post and reviewed all of the posts ;-)

So I am tempted to call you "babe" but let's stick with "h2", and that too if you don't object

For day two, at least you are heading out of Madrid in the same direction. I won't do Avila/Salamanca the same day but I could do it if needed.

For day seven, (I didn't go to El Escorial or Valley of the Fallen this time around but I have been to both before), I really advice you keep a whole day for Toledo. Too many things to see, and rather unique.

And the diploma for laboring through my lo....ng report is in the mail (I am glad to be done!). Have fun over there.

p.s.: bf, when you read it in a hurry, sounds like "beef" to me.

Comfy- I loved your report because you highlighted the culinary experience in your trip! Bf and I are big foodies! I was drooling all the way through and your pics are fabulous! We cant wait to get to Madrid. We definitely didnt plan this trip as much as we would have liked to since this was a last-minute decision. One question for you, I was thinking of not buying the transportation pass, because I'd figure that we'll walk everywhere and purchase tickets as we need to. Any downside to this decision that you can think of?

h2, Yes, the Abono tickets were dirt cheap. Let me put it this way, the trip to Toledo alone would have cost us more than the Abono tickets (Eighteen or nineteen euros each person, for three entire days). I really suggest buying them. The metro tickets were all included, obviously. If you buy separately, you will send roughly an euro a ride. Here is a midway solution: buy multi-day tickets for days 6, 7, and 8, and may be do the individual days as you were planning to?

Same for multi-museum passes: Buy'em.

Just get a good guide. We had fodors' madrid region guide (several walks in it), and DK's (very colorful) guide for Spain. Worked wonderfully (along with all the advice I got here that specially nailed the restaurants down).

Just be flexible. I feel people either get Spain or don't. Fortunately for Spain, a vast majority are the former.

When in doubt about Spain, order a pulpo (octopus) dish in a good restaurant I can still taste it

hi h2,
I was in Madrid in April so I could give you suggestions for there or you can click on my name for a trip report. I didn't travel to those other cities, so can't give any advice.

One thing I wanted to mention to you was to be prepared at the bullfight. I saw one in Seville & while of course I knew the outcome would be the death of the bull, it was still extremely difficult to watch. It was an experience to see that part of Spanish culture & I'm glad I went, but once was enough! I just wanted to warn you ahead of time.

I hope you have a wonderful time! Have you ever been to Spain? It is wonderful!

Thanks for the advice Comfy, I will definitely buy the Abono tickets for my mid-week transportation.

Lolly- this would be my first time in Spain and to see a bullfight, but I understand that this probably would be my first and last time, because I've heard mixed comments about them, and yes I heard that they kill the bull at the end of the fight. So I am not real excited about it, but decided to go ahead and do it this once. Thanks for the warning