The beautiful city of Segovia is a great day trip from Madrid. It’s easy to reach by train, and has some amazing sights. Here’s everything you need to know to take a day trip from Madrid to Segovia.
Segovia is a really beautiful small city. It has some great things to do, with a historical Aqueduct and also the absolutely amazing Alcazar. Segovia is one of the best day trips you can take if you’re staying in the nearby capital city of Spain, Madrid. Taking a day trip from Madrid to Segovia is really easy. Good train connections make Segovia one of the best day trips from Madrid.
Segovia is a beautiful place to visit all year round. So no matter when you’re in Madrid, you can spend a day in Segovia. Segovia has some amazing sights but it is quite small, so you’ll easily be able to see the top sights and explore the historical city centre in a day. Of course, it’s a lovely city at night as well, so if you have time you could consider staying overnight in Segovia as well. But if you don’t have time, you can also explore all that Segovia has to offer on a day trip from Madrid to Segovia.
Keep reading for the key details about how to get from Madrid to Segovia by train, and also all of the top sights and things to do in Segovia.
How to get to from Madrid to Segovia by train
Taking a day trip from Madrid to Segovia is easy due to the direct train link between Madrid and Segovia. The train only takes about 30 minutes from Madrid to Segovia. However, both the train station in Madrid and the train station in Segovia are a little way away from the centre, so you’ll need to use additional public transport as well as the main, fast train.
Getting from central Madrid to Madrid Chamartin station
The train from Madrid to Segovia goes from a big train station in Madrid called Madrid Chamartin station. It’s in the North of the city. If you’re staying in the centre of Madrid, such as the area around Plaza Mayor or Puerta del Sol, you’ll need to get a train from central Madrid to Madird Chamartin train station.
To get from central Madrid to Madrid Chamartin train station, the best option is to take one of Madrid’s commuter trains. These train stop at stations all over central Madrid, including the central station called Sol. I took the train from Sol to Chamartin, but you can look at a map of the commuter train lines to work out which central Madrid train station is the closest to your hotel.
To get the commuter train from Sol to Chamartin, enter Sol station at the Commuter train entrance. You’ll be looking for signs to the ‘Cercanias’ trains, with the backwards ‘c’ symbol in red. Once you’re inside Sol station, you can buy a ticket for the ‘Cercanias’ trains. Make sure you find a Renfe ticket machine – the Metro ticket machines won’t work. It only costs a few euros per person.
The Cercanias commuter train from Sol to Chamartin takes 10 minutes. You can get either the Line C3, Line C4a or C4b. The screen in the station will tell you which of these lines has a train departing next. All of these lines have a direct train from Sol to Chamartin, and it only takes about 10 minutes with 2 stops.
Madrid Chamartin to Segovia Guiomar station
When you get to Madrid Chamartin station on the Commuter train, follow signs within the station to the high speed trains. It can take a while to walk through Chamartin station, so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to find the area with the high speed trains. It’s all well signposted, it can just take a while to walk.
You can buy tickets for the Renfe high speed trains online in advance, or at the train station. I bought my train tickets online in advance, and I’d recommend doing this option. It meant I was guaranteed a reserved seat on the train, and also meant I didn’t need to figure out another ticket machine. If you have bought your train ticket in advance, check the digital boards in Chamartin station for the platform number of that train and then head over to that platform.
One more thing to be aware of – in Spain, there are luggage security checks at train stations. So before going onto the platform, you’ll need to join a queue and put your luggage through an airport-style scanner. It doesn’t take too long, but there can sometimes be a queue. So just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get onto the platform and onto the train.
Segovia Guiomar station to central Segovia
The train from Madrid only takes about 30 minutes to get to Segovia Guiomar station. However, this station is several kilometres from central Segovia. So you’ll need to take a bus or a taxi to get from Segovia Guiomar train station to central Segovia.
If you’re one of the first people off the train, you’ll find some taxis waiting outside the front of the station. The taxi costs about 10 euros to the centre, and it’s definitely the quickest option.
However, when I visited in March, there weren’t many taxis there. And a lot of people got off the train. So the taxis disappeared very quickly. Some people decided to wait in the taxi queue, hoping more would turn up. But I decided to cross over the road to the bus stop and take the bus instead.
Bus numbers 11 or 12 both go from Segovia Guiomar train station to central Segovia. It doesn’t matter which bus you take – they both follow the same route, and go at almost the same time. When I was there, I had to wait about 20 minutes for the bus, and then both the 11 and the 12 arrived together. It took a while for everyone to get on the bus. It only cost a few euros each, but make sure you have cash as the card reader on one of the buses was broken.
The bus takes about 20 minutes to get from Segovia train station to central Segovia. It’s really easy to work out where you need to get off, as the main bus stop in the centre of Segovia is right next to the famous Aqueduct. So get off the bus when you see that you’re next to the Aqueduct. It will probably be the stop where nearly everyone else gets off the bus as well. And then you’ll be in central Segovia, ready to start exploring the top things to do in Segovia.
Top things to do in Segovia
Segovia is a really pretty, small city. There are two must-see things in Segovia: the Aqueduct, and the Alcazar. You can easily visit both of these places on your day trip from Madrid to Segovia. And make sure you give yourself time to visit the stunning Cathedral as well, and also take some time to walk around the shops and cute streets. And of course, try some Spanish food for lunch. Here are the top things to do in Segovia on a day trip from Madrid to Segovia.
Segovia Aqueduct
The Aqueduct of Segovia is one of the top sights in Segovia. If you get the bus from the train station to the centre of Segovia, the Aqueduct will be one of the first things you see in Segovia.
Segovia Aqueduct dates back to the Roman times. It was built around the 1st century AD, as a way of channelling water from the springs in the mountains, to the city. Segovia city dates back to the Roman times, with a Roman settlement with public baths here.
Today, the Segovia Aqueduct is remarkably well preserved. It’s a huge structure, dominating the edge of the city. You can get great views and photos of the Segovia Aqueduct from the large square just beneath the huge structure.
Segovia Alcazar
After admiring Segovia Aqueduct, I recommend heading straight over to the other major sight in Segovia: The Segovia Alcazar. It’s about a 20 minute walk from the Aqueduct, and was one of my favourite places in this region of Spain.
Segovia Alcazar from the outside
Segovia Alcazar is a medieval castle. It dates back to the 12th century. It’s a stunning building, with tall turrets. It looks like a Disney castle. Even on a cloudy day, the building looked beautiful.
I loved walking around the outside of Segovia Alcazar, taking photos and enjoying the impressive castle. The square outside the Alcazar also has some great views over the city of Segovia as well.
Segovia Alcazar – the inside
It’s definitely worth going inside Segovia Alcazar as well as admiring it from the outside. You can book tickets online, which give you a guaranteed entry time without needing to queue.
Inside Segovia Alcazar, you can see how the royal family once lived in this castle. The inside of the castle has lots of decorated rooms, with impressive ceilings and stained glass windows.
There are rooms which showcase some of the military history as well, showing how important this medieval castle was, hundreds of years ago.
You can also get views from some of the windows out to the surrounding countryside.
The visitor route around the inside of the Alcazar also takes you to a viewing area, where you can stand just behind the crenulations and get more great views of all of the turrets of the castle.
I spent several hours at the Segovia Alcazar and it was definitely a highlight of my day in Segovia.
Lunch in Segovia – local tapas
After visiting the Segovia Alcazar, head back down into the centre of the city for lunch. There are plenty of food opportunities in Segovia, so you can enjoy a great lunch on your day trip from Madrid to Segovia.
There are several tapas restaurants in Segovia, which are perfect for a lighter lunch. At any tapas bar, you have to try the Jamón Ibérico – Iberian Ham. This region of Spain is famous for this ham, and it’s delicious. You can try other tapas dishes such as chorizo, local Manchego cheese, olives, and more.
Segovia Cathedral
After lunch, head into Segovia Cathedral. The Cathedral in Segovia dates back to the 16th century. It’s a really impressive building from the outside.
And inside Segovia Cathedral is just as impressive. It’s a huge Cathedral, with tall vaulted ceilings and lots of gold decorations and paintings.
Walk the pretty streets and explore the shops
Finish your day in Segovia by just wandering around the pretty streets and exploring the shops. Segovia is small, so you can just walk around the whole of the historic centre. It’s easy to find your way around and not get lost. Most of the shops are on one main street, but you can walk down the narrower streets on each side and enjoy the peace and quiet.
There are lots of interesting shops in Segovia. There’s a huge sweet shop, where you can get pick n mix sweets from pirate-themed barrels.
There are also some sword shops, selling impressive looking swords and replicas of swords from famous films such as Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.
Some of the streets towards the edge of the historic centre have lovely views over Segovia as well. I really enjoyed taking time to just walk around the streets and shops and take in the atmosphere. Then it was time to get the bus from the Aqueduct bus stop back to the train station to get the train back to Madrid.
Enjoy your visit day trip from Madrid to Segovia! Make sure you also check out my guide to a day trip from Madrid to Toledo, another pretty town near Madrid. You can also check out my guides to the top things to do in Madrid in 3 days, the best things to do in Madrid when it rains, and the famous food in Madrid and where to eat. There are lots of other great cities to visit in Spain as well. Check out my guides to Seville, Cordoba, Granada, and the Andalusia’s white villages and mountains. Or check out my guide to Barcelona and the Montserrat monastery in the mountains.
