A 5 day Madrid itinerary using 4.5 days of PTO! In summation, you will spend 2.5 days exploring Madrid along with two different day trips!
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Thusrday
Travel day! Whether you have to use this day as a PTO day or not depends on where your departing city is.
- 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 we lived in Dallas or anywhere that would like to take us across the pond directly, we wouldn’t have had to use ANY 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.
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. We learned some history of the city and had a better idea of the layout of the city after the walking tour!
- 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 museum. You also have to pay to enter the palace.
- Be sure to explore Plaza Mayor and Puerta de Sol while in Madrid. Following your waking tour will be a great time to do so!
- 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!
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!
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!
Tuesday: Explore Madrid
Finish exploring Madrid!
- Don’t leave Madrid without doing a tapa and sangria hop! These two were some of my favorite things about Madrid! While you are hopping around restaurants, stop at any missed sites you would like to see in Madrid.
- Did you know the oldest restaurant in the WORLD resides in Madird? Sabrino de Botin. Have dinner or at least stop by for drinks because there isn’t another in the world older than it. If this seems too “touristy” for you, you need to at least stop and SEE the Oldest Restaurant (there is only one in the WORLD)!
Wednesday: Travel Day
Travel day back home! Leave early enough to save PTO and be back in time for work on Thursday!
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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