Segovia Day Trip from Madrid: Aqueduct, Alcázar, Cochinillo

Segovia is the easiest great day trip from Madrid. The high-speed train from Chamartín takes about 25–30 minutes, and once you are in the old town the three things everyone comes for – the Roman aqueduct, the cathedral and the Alcázar – sit on a single walkable ridge about 1.5 km long. Get a morning train, walk from the aqueduct to the castle, eat roast suckling pig (cochinillo) at lunch, and you can be back in Madrid for dinner. You do not need a tour, and you do not need to stay the night.

Getting from Madrid to Segovia

You have two sensible options: the fast train or the bus. Driving works too, but parking near the old town is a headache and you lose the chance of a glass of wine with lunch.

High-speed train (the best option)

Trains run from Madrid-Chamartín-Clara Campoamor to Segovia-Guiomar. Renfe's Avant and AVE services plus Ouigo use the line, and booking sites list around 28 trains a day with a journey time of roughly 25–30 minutes (checked September 2026). Advance fares on Trainline and Omio start at around €6–11 each way; walk-up fares are higher, so book a few days ahead if you can.

The catch: Guiomar is a modern station several kilometres outside the city. Urban bus line 11 waits outside the main entrance and drops you at the aqueduct in 15–20 minutes. It runs every 15–20 minutes and you can pay on board; sources quote the single fare at between €1 and €2.25, so carry small change or a contactless card. A taxi from the rank is faster but costs noticeably more.

Chamartín is on Metro lines 1 and 10 and on the Cercanías network. If you are new to getting around the capital, our guide to public transport in Madrid covers tickets and travel cards.

Bus from Moncloa

Avanza runs coaches from the Moncloa interchange in Madrid to Segovia's bus station, roughly every 30 minutes. The trip takes about 1 hour 15 minutes depending on traffic, and fares are around €7 each way. The advantage is that the bus station is a ten-minute walk from the aqueduct, so the door-to-door difference with the train is smaller than it looks. It is a good fallback if the trains are sold out.

If you are driving and want to add La Granja or a loop through the Sierra de Guadarrama, our notes on renting a car in Spain are worth a read first.

A half-day walking route through the old town

Segovia's old town sits on a narrow rock with the aqueduct at the eastern end and the Alcázar at the western tip. Walk it in that direction: you arrive at the aqueduct, the streets rise gently, and you finish at the castle with the best view in the city. Allow three to four hours with visits, not counting lunch.

1. Aqueduct, Plaza del Azoguejo – 30 minutes. Walk up the steps on the left side for the view along the arches.
2. Calle Real (Calle Cervantes, then Juan Bravo) – 20 minutes. The main shopping street; look up at the Casa de los Picos, a 15th-century house covered in pointed granite studs.
3. Plaza Mayor and the cathedral – 45–60 minutes.
4. The old Jewish quarter (Judería) – 20 minutes, a short detour south of the cathedral.
5. The Alcázar – 60–90 minutes.

A sample timetable

The Roman aqueduct

This is the reason to come, and it is free. Built by the Romans around the late 1st or early 2nd century AD, it carries water on two tiers of granite arches that reach almost 29 metres at their highest point in Plaza del Azoguejo. There is no mortar holding the blocks together. Standing underneath it is genuinely one of the great sights in Spain, and photographs do not prepare you for the scale.

Two tips. First, do not just photograph it from the square – climb the stairway beside it to the Postigo del Consuelo viewpoint, where you can see the channel run towards the old town. Second, come back after dark if you are staying for dinner; it is floodlit and the crowds thin out.

Segovia Cathedral

Finished in the 18th century, it is often called the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain, and its pale stone and pinnacles dominate the Plaza Mayor. Official 2026 prices from the cathedral's own website:

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9:30–18:30 and Sunday 13:30–18:30. Entry to the church itself is free on Sunday mornings (9:00–10:00 from April to October, 9:30–10:30 from November to March), though the cloister and exhibition rooms stay closed then.

My view: the €4 ticket is worth it for twenty minutes inside, but if you only have time for one climb, choose the cathedral tower over the Alcázar tower. Tower visits are guided at fixed times (10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30), so book a slot that fits your walk rather than turning up and waiting.

The Alcázar

Perched on the prow of the rock where two rivers meet, the Alcázar is the castle that launched a thousand "Disney inspiration" claims. The truth is that much of what you see was rebuilt after a fire in 1862, and the interior is a series of restored royal rooms, armour and a museum of the artillery academy that was based here. It is enjoyable rather than profound.

Tickets and hours

The official site lists opening hours of 10:00–18:00 from November to March and 10:00–19:30 from April to October, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. It is closed on Christmas Day and has shortened hours on a few dates, including 2 and 3 October and 24 and 31 December 2026.

On prices, sources disagree. Several guides list €7 for the palace and museum and €10 including the Tower of Juan II, while at least one 2026 source quotes €13.50 for the full ticket. The official site shows the rates only as an image that I could not verify, so check entradas.alcazardesegovia.com before you go and budget up to about €14.

A note for UK visitors: the free entry slot on Tuesdays from 14:00 to 16:00 is only for citizens of the European Union, so British passport holders no longer qualify.

Is the tower worth it?

The Tower of Juan II is a climb up a narrow spiral staircase and gives a wide view over the plain and back to the cathedral. It is good, but if you have already done the cathedral tower you can skip it. What you should not skip is the free terrace at the back of the Alcázar gardens, which looks straight down onto the valley.

Where to eat cochinillo – and what to skip

Cochinillo asado is roast suckling pig, cooked in a wood oven until the skin is glassy and the meat falls apart. In Segovia it is less a dish than an institution, and at well-known restaurants you should expect to pay roughly €28–35 a portion in 2026, or €30–40 for a set menu that includes it. Portions are usually a quarter of a pig per person between two – not large, and rich enough that you will not want more.

The three famous names

• Mesón de Cándido – right beneath the aqueduct and in business since the 19th century. This is where the owner cuts the pig with the edge of a plate and then smashes the plate on the floor. It is a good show and the setting is superb, but you are paying for both. Go if the ceremony matters to you.
• Restaurante José María – near the Plaza Mayor, opened in 1982, and the choice of many Segovians for consistent cochinillo and a strong wine list. If I had one lunch here, this is where I would book.
• Casa Duque – on Calle Cervantes, open since 1895 and still family-run. More old-fashioned, often better value than Cándido, and good for judiones (large white beans from nearby La Granja) as well as the pig.

Practical eating tips

• Book. Weekends and bank holidays fill up days ahead, especially for the 14:00–14:30 sitting.
• Order starters carefully. A plate of judiones or sopa castellana (garlic and bread soup) with the pig is plenty.
• Finish with ponche segoviano, a marzipan-topped custard sponge that you will find in every pastry shop around the Plaza Mayor.
• Skip the laminated tourist menus on the Plaza del Azoguejo that promise "cochinillo" at a suspiciously low price. The pig needs to be roasted to order in a proper oven, and the cheap versions are often reheated.

New to Castilian food? Our round-up of Spanish foods you must try puts cochinillo alongside the other regional classics, and if you want to compare with what the capital does well, see where to eat in Madrid.

If you have extra time

With a spare hour after lunch, walk down from the Alcázar to the Mirador de la Pradera de San Marcos in the valley below. This is the famous head-on view of the castle rising like a ship's bow. From there it is a short walk to the 13th-century Iglesia de la Vera Cruz, a twelve-sided Romanesque church linked to the Knights Templar. The climb back up to the old town is steep; allow 30–40 minutes for the whole loop.

Segovia or Toledo?

If you only have time for one day trip from Madrid, the choice is usually between Segovia and Toledo. Toledo has more to see – churches, synagogues, the El Greco connection – and rewards a full day. Segovia is more compact, more relaxed and has the single most striking monument of the two in the aqueduct, plus the better lunch. In summer, Segovia's altitude (around 1,000 metres) also makes it noticeably cooler than Toledo. Our Toledo day trip guide covers the alternative in the same level of detail.

Wear shoes with grip – the granite streets are polished smooth – and bring a layer even in spring or autumn, as Segovia is often several degrees colder than Madrid.