5 Days in Madrid and Beyond, Spain
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Five days is where Madrid properly becomes a central Spain base: two city days, then three days of day trips, Toledo, a combined Segovia and Ávila day, and El Escorial. Everything here nests on top of our 4-day itinerary ; add one more day for Aranjuez or Alcalá de Henares and go to our 6-day itinerary .
Book these before you go
- Toledo train tickets for Day 3, the direct AVANT service sells out in peak season.
- El Escorial tickets , advance online purchase only in 2026, no walk-up ticket office.
- A Segovia and Ávila combined day tour , the standard way to cover both in a single day given Ávila’s slower conventional train.
| Day | Focus | Rough daily cost (EUR, €) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Golden Triangle (Prado priority), Retiro Park | 60-90 |
| Day 2 | Royal Palace, Almudena Cathedral, Plaza Mayor, Sol, La Latina tapas | 60-100 |
| Day 3 | Toledo, full day | 50-80 |
| Day 4 | Segovia and Ávila, combined day | 60-100 |
| Day 5 | El Escorial, half day, free afternoon or Valle de Cuelgamuros | 40-70 |
Day 1: Golden Triangle and Retiro
Museo del Prado , €15 general, 2-3 hours for Velázquez, Goya and Bosch, free Monday-Saturday 18:00-20:00 and Sunday 17:00-19:00 with a same-day reservation. Retiro Park fills the rest of the day, the lake, the Rosaleda, and the Palacio de Cristal’s exterior only, closed for restoration into roughly 2027.
Day 2: Royal Madrid and La Latina
Royal Palace of Madrid , €14 general, in the morning, then Almudena Cathedral next door, its dome and museum only open Monday-Saturday 10:00-14:30. Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol in the afternoon, a Cava Baja tapas crawl in La Latina at night, arrive by 20:00 for counter space.
Day 3: Toledo, full day
Direct AVANT train from Atocha , 33-34 minutes. Toledo’s Cathedral, the Alcázar, El Greco’s Burial of the Count of Orgaz in Santo Tomé, and the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca fill the day, “Three Cultures” history layered on top of itself in a way none of Madrid’s other day trips match.
Day 4: Segovia and Ávila, paired
Segovia by AVE from Chamartín , 26-28 minutes, station 4km from the old town, bus 11 or a taxi covers the gap. The aqueduct, the Alcázar, Segovia Cathedral, and cochinillo asado for lunch. Ávila runs on a slower conventional Media Distancia line, roughly 1h40min-2h15min depending on the specific departure, not the fast AVANT/AVE class, which is why the two towns are usually combined on a single guided day rather than attempted separately. Ávila’s medieval walls, 2.5km of ramparts, 88 towers, are Europe’s most complete, and walking two accessible sections costs roughly €7.
Day 5: El Escorial
Cercanías C-3 or C-8 from Atocha or Príncipe Pío, 50-60 minutes, then a 10-20 minute uphill walk or local bus L4. El Escorial is €14 standard, closed Mondays, and as of 2026 requires advance online purchase, tickets.patrimonionacional.es, no walk-up sales. It’s a separate 1984 UNESCO listing, “Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid,” unrelated to Madrid’s own 2021 inscription; our El Escorial guide covers ticketing and the site itself in full. If you’d rather stretch it into a full day, Valle de Cuelgamuros, formerly the Valley of the Fallen, sits roughly 9km away.
Do Segovia and Ávila really need a combined tour, or can I do them separately?
A combined tour is the practical answer given Ávila’s slower train. Doing them as two separate day trips is possible but eats an extra day you don’t have on a 5-day plan; a guided combination handles both towns’ transport in one booking, which is why it’s the standard product for this pairing.
Confirm your Cercanías timetable for El Escorial the night before Day 5; frequency drops outside peak commuting hours, and missing an early train shortens an already tight half day.