🇪🇸 Madrid · Living here

Weekend getaways in Madrid

Places within easy reach of Madrid, with how long they take, how to get there and what a weekend costs. Filter by time and mode.

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11 getaways from Madrid

  • Toledo

    35 min · Train, Bus, Car

    A walled city above the Tajo with a cathedral, synagogues and El Greco. Stay the night to see it after the day-trippers leave.

    Stay
    Day trip / 1 night
    Per person
    €30–€180
    Avant train from Atocha, about half an hour
    Spring and autumn; very hot in summer

  • Alcalá de Henares

    40 min · Train, Car

    Cervantes' birthplace and a university town with free tapas with every drink in many bars.

    Stay
    Day trip
    Per person
    €10–€50
    Cercanías from Atocha or Sol, on the abono's outer zones
    All year

  • Segovia

    50 min · Train, Bus, Car

    The Roman aqueduct, the Alcázar and roast suckling pig. Cooler than Madrid, and the Guadarrama is on the way.

    Stay
    Day trip / 1 night
    Per person
    €35–€200
    Avant from Chamartín to Segovia-Guiomar, then a bus into town
    All year; snow on the sierra in winter

  • El Escorial

    1 h · Train, Bus, Car

    Philip II's vast monastery-palace in the foothills, with walks up to the Silla de Felipe II.

    Stay
    Day trip
    Per person
    €20–€60
    Cercanías C-3 from Atocha, or bus from Moncloa
    Spring to autumn

  • Sierra de Guadarrama

    1 h 15 min · Train, Car

    A national park an hour from the city: pine forest, granite peaks and cool air in July.

    Stay
    Day trip / 1 night
    Per person
    €20–€160
    Cercanías C-8 to Cercedilla, then trails straight from the station
    Late spring to autumn; snowshoes in winter

  • Cuenca

    1 h 15 min · Train, Car

    Hanging houses over a gorge and an abstract-art museum inside one of them.

    Stay
    1 night
    Per person
    €90–€250
    AVE from Atocha to Cuenca Fernando Zóbel, then a bus up to the old town
    Spring and autumn

  • Ávila

    1 h 25 min · Train, Car, Bus

    Complete medieval walls you can walk on, and a thick steak, the chuletón de Ávila.

    Stay
    Day trip / 1 night
    Per person
    €30–€180
    Regional train from Chamartín or Príncipe Pío
    Spring to autumn; cold in winter

  • Salamanca

    1 h 35 min · Train, Bus, Car

    A golden sandstone university city with one of Spain's finest plazas and a busy student nightlife.

    Stay
    1–2 nights
    Per person
    €120–€320
    Alvia or Avant from Chamartín
    Spring and autumn, during term

  • Valencia

    1 h 40 min · Train, Car

    The sea, paella where it was invented, and the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences.

    Stay
    1–2 nights
    Per person
    €140–€380
    AVE, Iryo or Ouigo from Atocha
    All year; avoid Fallas in March unless you want it

  • Córdoba

    1 h 50 min · Train

    The Mezquita-Catedral and a maze of white streets. In May the patio festival opens private courtyards.

    Stay
    1–2 nights
    Per person
    €140–€360
    AVE from Atocha
    Spring and autumn; very hot in summer

  • La Rioja

    3 h 30 min · Car, Train

    Wine country: bodegas, hilltop villages and the tapas street of Calle Laurel in Logroño.

    Stay
    2–3 nights
    Per person
    €220–€550
    Car up the A-1, or train to Logroño
    September and October for the harvest

Budgets are per person for the whole trip: return travel, a mid-range double room shared, and food.