A 5 day Madrid itinerary using 4.5 days of PTO! Madrid is a beautiful, clean European city, but one of its best perks is that it often has super affordable flights and has amazing small, Spanish towns close by! And, trust me, you are going to want to visit some of those small towns. They are so charming and are a good contrast to the hustle and bustle of Madrid!
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Summary of Your 5 Day Madrid Itinerary
This 5 day Madrid itinerary includes two and a half days to explore Madrid in addition to a day trip to Segovia and a day trip to Toledo. Both of these towns are within an easy train ride making it easy to spend a full day in each town.
In all honestly, I thought Madrid was great, but the more I visit smaller European towns, the more I love them! I highly suggest you do at least one day trip while in Madrid!
For planning purposes and PTO preparation, we used half a PTO day to leave on Thursday afternoon and returned on Wednesday, returning to work on Thursday.
- We leave from Arkansas, so we used half a day of PTO to catch a 4:40 pm flight to Dallas and then an overnight flight from Dallas to Madrid! If you live an international hub, you won’t even have to use this half day of PTO.
Friday: Explore Madrid
Land in Madrid in the AM ( we landed around 11:15 am).
Use the rest of the day to start exploring Madrid!
- I recommend heading to Parque de El Retiro as your first stop because it is kind of on the other side of Madrid compared to the other sites. The park is beautiful and needs to be seen SOMETIME on your trip!
- Palacio de Cibeles is also on this side of town. So I recommend going to the observation deck to watch sunset and have a drink while you are over there!
- For dinner, head to Gustos at the Plaza Mayor. It may be in the “tourist” section of town, but it had a beautiful inside downstairs section or a patio option, the food and sangria were amazing and the price was affordable!
Saturday: Day trip to Segovia
There are two day-trips from Madrid on this itinerary. I suggest going to Segovia on Saturday due to it being a less-common day trip and may be cheaper and less crowded on a Saturday.
Why visit Segovia?
- Segovia is one of my favorite day-trip cities I have ever visited! It is quaint, but there is SO much beauty squished into the small city.
- The alcazar de Segovia is phenomenal; built into the side of a cliff with symmetrical architecture, it is something to see! Along with the alcazar, Segovia has clean, beautiful streets and an iconic aqueduct at its entrance.
What to know about your day trip!
- To get to Segovia, you will train from Chamartin station in Madrid with a direct connection to Segovia. The train ride is about 10 euros.
- For everything you need to know about a day trip to Segovia, including how to get there, what to do, cost, time it takes and more, click here!
Train tickets to Segovia can be purchased here!
Sunday: Explore Madrid
Continue with explorations of Madrid on Sunday!
- Start with a walking tour in the morning. I love a walking tour to get some history of the city and to get a better idea of the layout of the city!
- Many walking tours end at the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral, so explore these after your tour!
- The cathedral is free unless you want to go into the dome.
- To get into the dome of the cathedral you have to purchase a ticket to the cathedral museum.
- You also have to pay to enter the palace. If you want to see the inside, I suggest purchasing a skip-the-line ticket with a guided tour!
- The cathedral is free unless you want to go into the dome.
- Following your waking tour, head to Plaza Mayor and Puerta de Sol, the heart of the city center!
- Do a Flamenco show with dinner included to top off the day!
- The flamenco show was a highlight of Madrid for sure! My recommendation is to choose one that includes dinner and drinks (we didn’t do this option and we regretted it).
Monday: Day Trip to Toledo
Your 5 day Madrid itinerary should really include Toledo as well! It is easy to get to and such a neat city!
Why visit Toledo?
- It is only about a 30 minute train ride from Madrid and so worth it!
- Toledo was once the capital of Spain and is a beautiful city on a hill surrounded by a wall. The winding streets, terracotta roofs, friendly locals and history really make it worth visiting.
Do note, though, siesta time is taken seriously here, so you may have trouble finding open restaurants between 1pm to 4 or 5 pm!
What to know about the day trip to Toledo?
- Madrid has two main train stations, so whereas you go to the Chamartin station to get to Segovia, you will go to the Atocha station to get to Toledo!
- Toledo is closer to Madrid than Segovia, which is good because it is also larger! You could even consider staying one night in Toledo if you wanted.
- Click here for everything you will need to know about a day trip to Toledo, including how to get there, what to do and more!
Purchase train tickets to Toledo here!
Tuesday: Explore Madrid
You have several options of things to do on your last day in Madrid, however, I suggest delving into the food and drink culture and doing a tapa and sangria hop!
- These two were some of my favorite things about Madrid!
- You can do this on your own by trying out different restaurants and bars who will offer tapas and sangria or you can opt to take a guided tour.
- The perk of a guided tour is learning all of the BEST spots from a local!
If you are enjoy cooking or getting your hands dirty, you can still delve into the food culture by doing a Spanish cooking class!
- Here they will show you how make Spanish dishes and tapas on your own!
Book a wine and tapas walking tour or a Spanish cooking class!
Did you know the oldest restaurant in the WORLD resides in Madird?
- Sabrino de Botin was founded in 1725 and is the oldest restuarant in the world according to the Guinness World Records.
- Have dinner or at least stop by for drinks because there isn’t another in the world older than it.
Alternative to Day Tripping on Your Own
As I have said, I HIGHLY suggest visiting both Segovia and Toledo. However, I know navigating multiple trains can be a bit overwhelming. Another option to seeing both towns is to do a guided tour of Segovia and Toledo from Madrid.
This will allow you to see both towns, but with the comfort of being picked up and dropped off in Madrid. You will also have a guide who will have some insight on the history of both cities!
Where to Stay While in Madrid
Be sure to stay in a pretty central location while you are in Madrid, especially if you only have a few days in Madrid. Staying on the west side of Madrid will get you closer to many of the highlights of Madrid and also close to metro stations to get you to Atocha and Chamartin stations for your day trips.
5 day Madrid Itinerary Recap
Madrid is a beautiful city, but just outside of Madrid is even more beauty! Yes, you can spend a lot of time exploring Madrid, but if you are working and trying to save PTO days, this itinerary gives you a taste of the big city as well as small city life of Spain!
Looking for specific things to do in Madrid? Here are 10 things we enjoyed while exploring!
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