Hi
will be staying in Madrid for 5 weeks but would also like to visit surrounding areas. Any suggestions on nice small towns to vist within a 30 min trevel distance would be agreat.
Cheers
Rob

I don't know if it qualifies as a small town but Alcala de Henares may be worth going to. A lot of the must-sees (Toledo, Segovia, Chinchon, Avila) are town size (and are described as small cities) and will probably take you around 1 hour to get to.

Heh, yeah, if you're in the center of Madrid, it could take you 30 mins just to get to the edge of it.

All those places mrmark listed are worth seeing, as is El Escorial, and Cercedilla and Cotos, and are easily accessible via bus or train.

hey groupware, welcome to the group!

well, most interesting places are more than 30 minutes away (more like 1 to 2 hours) but well worth the rides as public transportation here is AWESOME!!! bus or trains head out to these places all the time as juliette said.

within 30 minutes of central madrid you would really only get to see what i like to call urban sprawl (suburbs of madrid, NOT at all impressive) and some strip-malls (not as exciting as the name might lead one to believe ).

salamanca is a loooooong day trip at 2 hours away but if you get a hotel or hostel room and make a weekend of it (or at least one night there), you will LOVE it.

try a SEARCH on "day trips from madrid".

there are some good threads.

to get you started, click the ones below...

- "day trips from madrid" thread
- "day trips around madrid" thread

i just pulled those 2 off the results page (click HERE) but there are a lot more there as well.

do a SEARCH on "pedraza" as well.

there is a thread entitled "ancient city of pedraza" and it is one of my very recommended day trips.

also, don´t miss san lorenzo de el escorial. an easy and fun day trip as suggested above.

saludos,
jer...

Now it´s only 35 mins to Toledo from Atocha on the AVE, 8 euros one way.

thanks Stephen.

still 1 hour+ what with getting to atocha, waiting for the train, getting off in toledo and from the train station to the actual old city.

saludos,
jer...

How far is the train station in Toledo from the the touristic part of the city? Actually when I've gone to Toledo in the past the bus station is farther away from my house then Atocha. So all in all thats good to know as it's much faster.

Cheers,
Bonnie

hey Bonnie.

i have always taken the bus to toledo as well since the bus station is closer to the old city than the train station.

the train station is on "paseo de la rosa".
MAP HERE

if you scroll that map to the left and down you can see where the city begins.

i believe besses 5, 6 and 9 go into the city.

you can walk accross the puente de azarquiel and head into the city that way.

the train is less convenient since the station is about twice as far from the city as the bus station.

saludos,
jer...

Funny, last time Maria and I went to Toledo, we travelled by train, but about halfway, the train stopped and all the passengers were shuffled onto buses!

But when we got to Toledo, guess where they dropped us? Yep, at the train station... which as you have already said, is quite a hike from the old town centre.

Cheers,
Steve

hey Steve, that was most likely due to an "avería" (malfunction, the trian busted).

happens sometimes.

either that or a bomb threat on the tracks ahead of you (not common but has happened )

saludos,
jer...

Actually, that transfer-to-a-bus at that nice little station (whose name I can't quite recall at the moment) something like Algodon I think???......has been going on since early last year, and I too was surprised by that when I went to Toledo last June, and suddenly found out that we had to get off and bus the rest of the way into Toledo, and at that time, it was clearly because they had been in "Obras"...working to replace the lines for many Kilometros, all the way through Toledo, for the AVE, and a whole load of other types of works were going on all around the region at that time, basically, Toledo station was a building site when we arrived, and we were told we had to be back on the bus at about 18:45 in order to get back to Algordon station to catch the train back to Atocha, which pissed me off a whole hell of a lot, because it's difficult enough trying to take in what Toledo has got even with several hours to spare, but with barely 5 hours and a lunch break in between, it was just pushing it a little too much for my liking on that day, and I have always stayed late into the evening in places like Toledo, to have a little relaxed dinner, then make the way back to the station, in time to catch the last train back to Madrid, and I don't like being told that I have got to be back on a bus by that kind of time, had I have been made aware of that situation when I purchased my ticket at Atocha, I would not have bothered with the train, but instead would have gone for the Bus, but I must say that in previous years, that problem did not exist, and probably wont do once the works and the new lines are completed, and then it will be well worth going by train again.

By the way, that Park in Aranjuez, Los Jardines del Principe, I noticed on one of the threads, someone said it costs €5.00 to get in, but that is not so, it is quite free, I can assure you, I know that place Intimately, have been going there for Yonks, and the only thing you have to pay for in there is to have a guided tour around inside of La Casita del Labrador, (Un Pabellon de caza) = the little house of the Labrador/Park Keeper/grounds-man, keeper of the Hunting Lodge, which is something I recommend strongly, as it don't look like too much on the outside, but the inside, well, you just have to go and see that for yourself, they have got things in there which are quite literally priceless, and extremely rare, and you have to make a reservation in advance, you can't just turn up, and I don't have the number for them with me, otherwise I would post it here, so you'll just have to get it from the Ayuntamiento de Aranjuez.

Lets not forget Aranjuez shall we, it's a nice little town, very quiet, easy going, lots of Bodas to see in the summer months, if you want a fairly quiet relaxing day out, not hectic, or a mad rush, no long queues or waiting times to get lunch, and plenty of time to look around the Royal Palace, and La Casa del Labrador, or just to walk slowly through the Royal gardens, this is a place not to be overlooked, and the "Fresas con Nata" Strawberries & cream are historically famous as well as delicious & reasonably priced, (at least in Comparison to Wimbledon, where they charge something like £15.00's for a dish of about 4 strawberries & yukky cream) unlike the €3.50 I paid for a full bowl with decent nata in Aranjuez.

Hope you enjoy some, if you visit this summer.

Try going hiking up in the Sierra de Guadarrama, the best place to depart from is Cercedilla as was mentioned. But if you have a car or are willing to walk for some time there is great hiking and solitude.

* Towns along the Metro del Sur
* Embalse de San Juan
* Valdepenas to stock up on wine (kidding... well, maybe not)
* Talavera de la Reina to get awesome pottery - ship it back home.