El Escorial, Ávila, and Segovia from Madrid by Car
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This easy one-day road trip from Madrid packs in three great stops including ancient Roman aqueducts, castles, and palaces.
El Escorial, Ávila, and Segovia From Madrid Itinerary: (Jump To)
This road trip is part of our 4 Days in Madrid itinerary.
Our one-day Spanish road trip took us to three amazing destinations in the rolling hills northwest of Madrid. The destinations were spaced about 45 minutes apart from one another so the day would be broken up nicely with casual driving and city walking. This route can be similarly attained using trains and buses.
Renting a Car in Spain
From our hotel, Hotel Meninas, near Plaza de Isabel II in Madrid’s Centro region we walked to our local Hertz rental car center. This was our first time renting a car or driving in Europe. We were apprehensive about the process and the varying driving norms that we may not be familiar with.
Before leaving home we got an international driver’s license from our local AAA office. It is not required but recommended. I sort of felt like it was a waste of twenty dollars. I wouldn’t bother doing it again, no one asked about it. We also checked into driving insurance for Spain. It turns out that our Chase Sapphire Visa card had coverage included as one of the card benefits.
Once we hit the road driving became less stressful (noting that we’re used to the infamous traffic in Los Angeles). The biggest challenge ended up being able to quickly read and understand the signs as we passed. Navigating through Madrid was difficult, once we left the city things were pretty laid back.
Stop 1: Monasterio del Escorial
We set the GPS and headed 45 minutes to Monasterio del Escorial. This is a Spanish royal site built in the sixteenth century that includes a palace, basilica, and royal library. Construction took just over 20 years. The project took so long to complete that, La Obra de El Escorial (the work of El Escorial), is a Spanish colloquialism for things that take a long time.
Inside the palace, we bought a ticket for €10 that allowed us to tour parts of the palace, the library, and the basilica. You enter through the courtyard of the kings forcing you to be overwhelmed and impressed by the size of the basilica.
We stepped inside the giant gothic-inspired cathedral. The high stone walls and pillars guide your eyes to the painted ceiling and the enormous painted and sculpted high altar. I’m consistently hesitant to step in every church we see, but this one was a beauty.
Upon exiting the basilica we took our guided tour of the palace. The palace, as you may expect, is filled with priceless art and antique furniture. The most impressive areas were the painted wall frescos in the Hall of Battles and the Library of El Escorial. The tour also took a walk through the Pantheon of the Kings, an underground crypt filled with royals.
Stop 2: Ávila
We took a peek at the formal royal gardens surrounding the palace before heading to Ávila. A convenient parking garage is available just outside the town walls. Search for Empark El Grande on Google Maps.
We visited the walled medieval central historic district of Ávila. Locals claim that the town is home to the highest number of Gothic churches per capita in Spain. The initial construction of the stone wall that surrounds the historic district was started in 1090. For a few euros, you can walk on much of the ancient wall.
Built around the same time was the town’s famous Cathedral of Ávila. We spent the majority of our time in the Plaza Mercado Chico. For lunch we picked up a pair of sandwiches from one of the numerous delis; for dessert a spiced nun cookie from Pastelería Iselma.
There’s something magical about walking the streets of Ávila. In an interview filmmaker, Orson Welles said that Ávila was the place he would most want to live, calling it a “strange, tragic place.”
On the way out of town, we pulled into the roadside viewpoint Vista Desde Las 4 Postes to take in the entirety of the town walls.
Stop 3: Segovia
From there we drove about fifty minutes to Segovia, conveniently parking at Parking Segovia Aqueduct parkia.
We walked to the base of the imposing Aqueduct of Segovia. The towering two-level water aqueduct once transported water from the nearby Rio Frio River. The structure was built in or about 100 AD by Romans. The aqueduct was used constantly bringing water to the city until the mid 19th century.
Easily one of the oldest and most impressive structures on the planet, UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site. I recommend climbing the stairs next to the structure for great views from above.
From the top of the stairs, we walked about ten minutes to Plaza Mayor, home to Segovia Cathedral and the town hall.
The Cathedral is a popular tourist draw, we chose to skip it and carry on another ten-minute walk to Alcázar de Segovia.
Alcázar de Segovia is a medieval castle fortress probably first built during the Berber reign in the twelfth century. We paid €5.50 each for the self-guided tour.
I’ve been in numerous castles, but this was the first that had a drawbridge and moat reminiscent of many childhood stories. There's also a throne and rooms filled with coats of armor and flags. The tour of the interior takes you through numerous scarcely filled but ornately decorated rooms. The decor is a fascinating combination of Spanish and Islamic styles.
After the tour, we walked back across town as the sun began to lower in the sky. We took one last look at the aqueduct before driving just over an hour back to Madrid to return our rental car.
This road trip was part of our 4 Days in Madrid.
