Ávila and Segovia… two Spanish towns that you might not have heard of before. Both located around an hour’s drive from Madrid, these two medieval gems of Spain’s Castile y León region are bursting at the seams with beautiful and evocative historic architecture.
Do you fancy a picturesque Spanish road trip packed with fairy-tale castles, cathedrals, palaces, a huge Roman aqueduct, charming medieval cobbled streets and city walls? Then read our trip report and itinerary for a Spanish road trip through the Castile y León region to Ávila and Segovia…
When us Brits think of Spain we might imagine huge developments in Benidorm with its tower block hotels, or holiday resorts in the Balearic islands of Mallorca or Ibiza. We might also think of city breaks in Barcelona or Madrid. Spain has a lot much more to offer than this though, and is one of the most charming and beautiful European destinations for short breaks from the UK, or for those from further afield as part of their Summer vacations in Europe.
We recently got some bargain flights to Madrid with Iberia, but instead of a city break in the capital we decided instead to hire a car and embark on a mini road trip adventure in the Castile y León region.
As well as bargain flights, we also got a great deal on a hire car through Expedia, and soon after touching down in Madrid we had picked up our set of wheels and were heading out of the city across sweeping plains and up through twisty mountain passes through the beautiful region of Castile y León…
SEARCH FOR HIRE CARS WITH EXPEDIA HERE
Disclosure : this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase or booking via links in the article, I may receive a small commission which can help the blog to grow. I only recommend hotels that we have personally stayed in and enjoyed.
El Escorial
Fifty minutes drive outside of Madrid, our first stop off enroute to our first overnight stay in Segovia was the magnificent Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. This enormous complex consisting of a Monastery and Palace is located on the Southern face of Mount Abantos at 1028 metres altitude in the Guadarrama mountain range. The site is 33,327 square metres, and we found it quite an epic task to try and take everything in during our afternoon stop off at this magnificent palace!
The size and scale of this place is quite breath taking, and with photography alone it is quite impossible to properly express the sheer enormity of the site.
Inside there was was so much glorious Rennaissance era architecture, furniture and art to see, that we dearly wished we had allowed more time than our couple of hours here. Highlights for us included the epic Basilica and the huge 54-metre vault of the library.
Inside the Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial
The Pantheon of Kings is also incredible, in which all of the Spanish Kings since Charles V are entombed. If you are visiting Madrid or the surrounding region, you MUST visit El Escorial. It can only be truly appreciated in person, as words and photographs simply cannot do full justice.
Segovia
Just under an hour and a half from Madrid (or 45 minutes from El Escorial if you wish to recreate our trip exactly) is the beautiful and historic city of Segovia. It has many incredible attractions, but the two main stand outs which make this a must visit destination are the huge Roman aqueduct and the incredible Disneyesque castle.
Arriving in Segovia in the evening (having significantly overrun at El Escorial!) we arrived at our stop for the next two nights, Hotel Cándido on the outskirts of Segovia. A modern building in the classic style, this hotel has free parking and a good sized car park, with an impressive lobby area.
We parked our car just on the outskirts of the old town area, and took a walk toward the main square. Dominating the centre of the city is the huge Roman aqueduct. Comprising 167 arches and built around the first or second century A.D., this amazing feat of Roman engineering measures 28 metres at it’s tallest point, and dominates the Plaza del Azoguejo. Incredibly, no mortar was used in the construction of the aqueduct.
It is well worth taking your time here to gaze up at the arches before ascending the steps next to the structure to the Mirador for the your obligatory tourist photo in front of the arches!
Whilst you’re in the vicinity of the aqueduct, it is worth a quick visit to the Casa de los Picos in La Calle Cervantes to see the unusual facade of this building made up of 617 granite peaks. Very close by, the Mirador de la Canaleja gives some impressive views across the rooftops of Segovia.
7 minutes walk from the Casa de los Picos and heading out toward the incredible castle, is the striking Catedral de Segovia, a late gothic marvel with 12th century stained glass, art filled chapels, and a museum. The cathedral is truly impressive, both inside and out.
From the cathedral, it’s another 8 minute walk to the castle. I would recommend a short detour in order to pass by Puerta de San Andrés to see one of the old gatehouses along the city walls. From here you can walk on to the magnificent Castle of Segovia, known as Alcázar de Segovia.
The Alcázar is an enormous evocative and romantic medieval castle with pointed spires. It is more than a little Disneyesque. In fact it is said to have inspired the queen’s castle in the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney may have added some extra turrets, but the resemblance is easy to see!
The exterior of this castle is an absolute spectacle to behold, and a walk down to Mirador de la Pradera de San Marcos will provide some epic views and photo opportunities gazing up at the castle, as well as being a great spot for a picnic.
Heading inside, the castle is jam packed with things to see. Room after room is filled with a plethora of cannons, swords, flags, suits of armour, and shields. Your imagination will be stirred with visions of epic battles of the medieval era.
Segovia could be tackled in a single day at a push, and many people visit on day trips from Madrid and do just that, although I would consider this a tight squeeze! If doing Segovia as a day trip I would absolutely prioritise seeing the aqueduct and castle. We enjoyed spending a couple of days in the area, which gave us plenty of time to relax and see the sights at a more leisurely pace, taking our time strolling around, browsing in some of the shops, or pausing at cafes for some tapas and people watching while enjoying a Tinto de Verano (red wine and lemonade).
The food in the Castile y León region in general is superb. The local speciality of Segovia is a whole suckling pig, called a Cochinillo, and this dish is widely and proudly advertised in Segovia’s many restaurants. In general I think that Spanish food deserves more attention. It is heavily pork focused though, especially in this region, which may not be to everyone’s taste or dietary requirements!
Ávila
Under an hour from Segovia, or around 1hr 20mins from Madrid, Ávila is another stunning little city within easy reach for a day trip from Madrid. We stayed two nights here, and again it would be our recommendation to allow a night or two to allow yourself time to relax and explore within Ávila’s perfectly preserved city walls.
Those city walls are the defining feature of Ávila. The city is renowned for having its defensive walls completely intact, and they do not disappoint in both their impressive scale and their stunning condition. In many ways, Ávila reminds of York in England with it’s medieval streets and historic sites within fortified city walls.
As we approached in our hire car, we were lucky enough that our route took us right past the San Sebastian Shrine, known by locals as Los Cuatro Postes. It is said to commemorate the site where Santa Teresa de Jesús’s uncle, Francisco de Cepeda, was reunited with St. Teresa and her brother Rodrigo as they fled to Moorish territory in the hope of becoming martyrs.
Los Cuatro Postes (location here) is a kind of mirador (lookout point), which gives spectacular views of the city walls of Ávila. It is a great vantage point to see the majestic walls encircling the city, and a highly recommended stop off point on your way in or out of the city.
After enjoying the views from Los Cuatro Postes, we continued into the city to our wonderful hotel, La Casa del Presidente. Located just inside the city walls and within perfect walking distance from the main attractions, this hotel was a former residence of Adolfo Suarez and is a historic highlight in itself! Click here for our full review of La Casa del Presidente hotel.
With our bags and car dropped off, we took a very short walk to the nearby Puerta de Alcazar. Just inside this spectacular main gate you can ascend the steps to walk along the top of a section of the city walls and take in the breathtaking views of the city’s deep red roofs.
The aforementioned Santa Teresa is a prominent figure in the history of Ávila. As with many catholic countries, several of the main attractions in the city are religious sites. Just outside the walls by the Puerta de Alcazar is the Iglesia (church) de San Pedro and another five minutes walk is the Convento de San José
Heading back to just inside the Puerta, we stopped at Plaza Adolfo Suárez for a pit stop at a small cafe called La Rubia de Ávila for quick bite of tapas in the mid September sun, washed down with a Tinto de Verano for Chenai and una caña (a small beer) for me.
From here we really enjoyed wandering around the charming cobbled streets checking out the numerous small boutique shops that Ávila boasts, many of which are clustered around the Plaza Mercado Chico. A number of shops sold the local delicacy called Yemas – a sweet and custardy egg yolk cake. Quite a delicious little treat, we made sure to take some home with us for later!
Every one of the main attractions of the city was within very easy walking reach of our hotel. You will likely stumble across the Catedral de Ávila, Torreón de los Guzmanes (currently the headquarters of the Ávila Provincial Council), and the Basílica de Santa Teresa without me even posting the locations!
The Basílica de Santa Teresa is the birthplace of Santa Teresa, and we enjoyed a visit to the interesting museum devoted to her life.
How long should you spend in Ávila? Well, most of Ávila’s main attractions (aside from the walls themselves) are sites of religious significance, so if you are strongly interested in the religious element you may want to consider a couple of nights. This will allow you to really take your time over visits to the Cathedral, the churches, and the convent, as well as allowing yourself good time for dining, shopping and relaxing.
As for us, we stayed for two nights, which was easily enough for us to enjoy the ambience of this small city and see plenty of the sights, as well as take in the religious sites at an unhurried pace. It also left us time for an afternoon excursion into the Spanish countryside…
Valle de Iruelas
50 minutes drive from Ávila is the beautiful Valle de Iruelas, a mountainous and scenic nature reserve packed with pine trees and with a huge reservoir.
The drive to the reserve was a real highlight, involving some beautiful mountain roads with switchbacks and hairpin bends. Just the kind of roads that motoring journalists eagerly seek out when they review the latest sports cars! Sadly these were not the kind of roads for which our wallowing MG hire car was created, and how I wished we were driving this route in my Mazda MX-5! Nonetheless we enjoyed the incredible views of the reservoir and the nature as we ascended and descended the twisting route.
The valley and nature reserve is home to a large colony of black vultures, which I had been really wanting to see. With some difficulty we located the path to the bird watching hide, which was a very steep climb up the hillside. The vultures had clearly left for the day, although we did see one massive bird swoop close over Chenai’s head as she was posing for a photo. In truth we had already seen plenty of these majestic birds in the car as we drove here anyway, and the views from the top were well worth the climb in themselves.
Descending the hill was a whole lot quicker than it was to climb. After our descent we stopped off at the side of the reservoir by a pretty old church to relax awhile by the water’s edge.
In terms of wildlife and natural beauty, Spain has such a lot to offer, and is arguably underrated in this regard. As I noted earlier, this is not perhaps what comes to mind for us British when we think of Spain, and I really recommend going a little off the beaten track and seeing the diverse wildlife and landscapes that Spain has to offer, with Valle de Iruelas being a fine example.
Conclusion
Ávila and Segovia in particular are very popular destinations for day trips from Madrid, and can be experienced to some extent on this basis. Segovia especially seemed popular with Chinese and American tourists on coach tours from Madrid. With both of these cities I would suggest that to see them in a day or half day on a coach tour does not fully do them justice.
Both cities warrant a night or two in one of the local hotels in order to properly experience the food and the atmosphere, as well as the glorious sights of the ancient structures lit up at night time. We loved the simple pleasure of just wandering the medieval streets of these two beguiling cities at our own leisurely pace, pausing for a Tinto de Verano and a bit of tapas at one of the many cafes before strolling on to check out the numerous shops.
In particular, we highly recommend staying at La Casa del Presidente hotel in Ávila for a couple of nights, just for the experience of staying in this wonderful and historic building as a perfectly located base for exploring the atmospheric streets of Ávila itself. You can read our separate full review of La Casa del Presidente here.
El Escorial is a lovely day trip destination, and a morning or afternoon spent here should give you enough time to explore the Monasterio de San Lorenzo. If you are passing through El Escorial on a road trip, I would advise you to allow a bit more than the couple of hours that we had, as the monastery is truly massive, and it keeps on revealing more and more rooms full of historic and fascinating treasures as you explore it.
The Castile y León region as a whole is a wonderful and picturesque part of Spain, and perfect for road trip exploration. The region has mountainous terrain, beguiling nature, as well as flat plains (which evoked visions of Sergio Leone’s westerns), and is packed with fascinating sites of religious and historic importance.
I hope that this little report from our four night road trip tour of the Castile y León region gives you some inspiration for your next visit to Spain.
