Segovia and Toledo Excursion + Royal Palace

• Tours from Madrid

Toledo and Segovia tour + Palacio Real visit without queues

Save money by booking these two excursions together. Discover Toledo and Segovia, two historic cities declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites, on the first day, and visit the Royal Palace the next day.

Toledo and Segovia Tour (Day 1)

In just one day, enjoy an excursion to Toledo and Segovia from Madrid. These two historic cities, declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, are close to the Spanish capital. Therefore, it is possible to take full advantage of the day to know both locations, authentic gems of Spanish heritage. We will begin with a guided visit to the city of Toledo, located 70 kilometres from Madrid. There we will go on a walking tour in to introduce you to all of its attractions before giving you free time to enter those that seem most intriguing to you.

Walking tour in Toledo

In Toledo, we will find monuments made by Christians, Jews and Muslims, who coexisted in peace and harmony. That’s why this city is also known as the “City of the Three Cultures.”

Walking through the historic centre of Toledo is a true luxury. We will travel along narrow, cobbled and steep streets that are almost exactly as they were in the 16th century. That is part of the charm of our itinerary through Toledo, but for people with limited mobility it can be very difficult, so this tour is not recommended if you have such limitations. 

The first point of contact we will have with Toledo will be from the Mirador del Valle (Valley Lookout), where we will have some fantastic views of the city, surrounded by the Tajo River, in which the Alcazar and Cathedral stand out. 

We will begin our walking tour of Toledo by crossing through one of the city’s most beautiful entrances, the San Martin Bridge. It will allow us to cross the Tajo River, which envelopes the city. The bridge, which formed part of the city’s defensive complex, has a tower on both sides, and on them we will see the crest of Emperor Carlos V presiding over the entrance. 


From the San Martín Bridge, we will head toward the Jewish district and to our first stop: the Monastery of San Juan of de los Reyes, declared an Historic-Artistic Monument of National Interest. This Gothic-style monastery was built in 1477 by order of Queen Isabel the Catholic as gratitude to God for victory in the Battle of Toro. In fact, both on its facade and in its interior, we will find representations of the Crown of Castile. 

In your free time, you will be able to go inside to see its cloister, which is considered one of the jewels of the Gothic Renaissance in Spain, and its church, where reliefs with the crest of monarchs are highlighted on its walls and high altar. 

Also in the Jewish district, we will find the only 2 historic synagogues remaining of the original 9: the Transito Synagogue (14th century) and the Synagogue of Saint Mary the White (12th century), declared a National Monument.

Both synagogues are of a Mudejar (Moorish) style inside, since the Moors were charged with its construction. You can also visit them on your own during your free time. 

Before leaving the Jewish district, we will head toward the small church of Santo Tomé, the most-visited place in Toledo, where the master work of El Greco is located: The burial of Count Orgaz. Take advantage of your free time to see this magnificent painting if you wish. 

Our next stop is the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where the Town Hall, Archiepiscopal Palace and the Cathedral of Saint Mary are located. 

The Cathedral of Toledo is considered Spain’s Gothic jewel, and on its main facade, its unique tower of three crowns, 92 metres high, and the Puerta del Perdón (Gate of Forgiveness) are displayed. You can visit the interior of the cathedral during your free time with an audio guide. 

Now our guided tour of Toledo has come to a close, and you will have 90 minutes of free time to go to any of the places we passed by in order to go inside. All of them are very close by. If you prefer, you could always go shopping or get something to eat. 

Walking tour in Segovia

Once our visit to Toledo has ended, we will begin the bus ride to Segovia. The journey lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes, but it is worthwhile in order to get to know three of Spain’s great monuments. The first of them, the Roman Aqueduct, will be the starting point of our visit to Segovia. 

The aqueduct served to transport water from the Guadarrama Mountain Range to Segovia over 15 kilometres. Built during the Roman presence in Spain in the 2nd century, its most visible part is 800 metres long and reaches up to 28 metres high. While approaching the aqueduct, we will be able to see how it was built stone upon stone, without any type of mortar to hold it together. 

This will be our first point of contact with the heritage of Segovia, but before continuing we will give you time to eat. We recommend going to Mesón de Cándido or Casa Duque, the most famous restaurants in Segovia, in order to sample the city’s most typical dish: cochinillo asado (roast pig). This dish, together with the other typical dish, judiones (beans), can also be sampled in practically all of the restaurants in the city.

After eating, on our trip to the Alcazar we will encounter other prominent areas in the city.

We will see palatial houses of the old nobles, like the Casa de los Picos or the Torre de los Lozoya. 


We will get to know two important examples of Roman-style churches catalogued as National Monuments: the Church of San Martín and the Church of San Andrés.

We will walk through the Jewish district and discover the house of Abraham Seneor, a former Chief Rabbi of Segovia. 

We will also contemplate the facade of its impressive cathedral, built between the 16th and 18th centuries and considered the last cathedral built in the Gothic style in Spain. 

We will finish our guided visit to Segovia by entering the spectacular Alcazar, the other great symbol of the city and the residence of the Castilian Monarchs until the Catholic Monarchs, and one of the castles that inspired the Disney Castle. 

Inside, rooms as elegant as the Throne Room, the Room of the Kings, the Armory or the Royal Chamber await us, which we will visit at our own pace.

In short, our proposed tour through Toledo and Segovia from Madrid in the same day is an irreplaceable offer and the opportunity to discover two absolutelly essential destinations during your holiday in Spain. 

Royal Palace of Madrid guided tour (Day 2)

On our guided visit to the Royal Palace, discover the immense heritage of this historic and extraordinary residence inhabited by the Spanish royal family until 1931. In addition, this tour allows you to avoid long queues at the entrance. 

The Royal Palace was built over the course of two decades, from 1738 to 1759, which makes sense when you realize that we are talking about the largest Royal Palace in Western Europe, where there are more than 3,000 rooms, practically double the size of the Palace of Versailles or Buckingham Palace. 

Our tour is centred on the grand protocol rooms, many of which are still used for official acts. On the other hand, the Palace is no longer used by the Spanish monarchs as a residence, which was the case for monarchs from Felipe V to Alfonso XIII.  

Therefore, the Royal Palace has become one of the most luxurious that Spain has had in recent centuries. This will be apparent from the first moment of the tour, when we ascend the monumental marble and granite staircase, where the crest of the royal family and a statue of Carlos III bid us welcome.

Those stairs will take us to the second floor, where the great official rooms are located. We will visit some of the rooms, like the Hall of the Halberdier, the Porcelain Cabinet, the Hall of Mirrors or the Throne Room, where the king solemnly receives his guests. The furniture, decorations, tapestries, paintings and numerous clocks in all of the rooms will surprise you.

We will also visit the Royal Chapel, which is for the monarchs’ private use. It is a first-class work of architecture decorated with rococo and neoclassical paintings that ornament the walls and the large semi-circular cupola. 

The Royal Chapel is the best finale we can think of for this guided visit through the Royal Palace of Madrid. However, we recommend visiting other places on your own, such as the impressive Armory, where some of the best collections of armaments from the 16th and 17th centuries are displayed.

Neither should you miss the opportunity to walk through the Gardens of Sabatini, located behind the Palace, where you will be able to walk among trees, floral gardens and spectacular fountains.  

Finally, we also encourage you to take a walk through the Plaza de Oriente, where you can see the main facade of the palace, a great equestrian sculpture of King Felipe IV and statues of the old Spanish kings.

Plaza de Oriente is a good place to say goodbye to the solemn monument that is the Royal Palace, which, thanks to our visit, you are now much more familiar with.