From Segovia to Valladolid, Ávila, Salamanca, Soria and Guadalajara: the neighbouring capitals without going through Madrid

Which capitals can be reached from Segovia without going through Madrid, and by which road?

Segovia is used to looking towards the Guadarrama tunnel, but its residents have good reasons to travel in other directions. To the north, the A-601 runs down to Valladolid across the Tierra de Pinares through Cuéllar. To the west, the N-110 leads to Ávila via Villacastín, and from Ávila the A-50 carries on to Salamanca, so the two western capitals lie on the same axis. To the north-east, the same N-110, in the opposite direction, crosses Riaza, the Ayllón district and San Esteban de Gormaz on its way to Soria, with much of the route lacking a dual carriageway. Guadalajara is the only one that means brushing past Madrid: from the north-east you go down the A-1 and skirt the city to the north until you join the A-2, without entering the centre. Each of these trips has its own route page with distance, time and price.

On public transport the map is very uneven. The train only handles the trip to Valladolid well, because Guiomar is on the Madrid–Valladolid high-speed line. Ávila has a direct coach from Segovia bus station, on Paseo de Ezequiel González, to Ávila's bus station, with a few departures a day published by the operator. For Salamanca, Soria and Guadalajara there is no direct train, and by coach the journey usually means changing in another city, sometimes in Madrid itself, which turns a reasonable distance into a whole day. The province page sums it up: public transport links the capital well with Madrid, but poorly links the villages with each other and with the surrounding provinces. That is why this kind of trip is where the car, your own or with a driver, gains most ground over the alternatives.

How do you get from Segovia to Valladolid: the AVE from Guiomar or the A-601 through Cuéllar?

Valladolid is the most frequent destination on this list. It is the seat of the Junta de Castilla y León, home to the Hospital Clínico Universitario and the Hospital Universitario Río Hortega, to which patients are referred for some specialities, and to the University of Valladolid, which also has a campus in Segovia itself. For a lone traveller with little luggage heading to the centre, the high-speed train from Guiomar to Valladolid-Campo Grande is hard to beat: it is direct and arrives at a station right by the city centre. The drawback lies at either end, because Guiomar is on the outskirts of Segovia and you need to reach it with a margin, and because the hospital or office you are going to is not always near Campo Grande. Timetables and the trains stopping at Guiomar are published by Renfe each season.

By road, the A-601 leaves Segovia heading north-west, passes Cuéllar and enters Valladolid from the south, bringing the car close to the neighbourhoods and hospitals on that side of the city. For the Tierra de Pinares the sums are even clearer: from Cuéllar to Valladolid it is 54 km, and the train would mean first going to Guiomar, in the opposite direction. A car with a driver makes sense for a return appointment with waiting, for someone travelling with an elderly person or a wheelchair, for two or three people sharing the per-vehicle price, and for connecting with Valladolid airport at Villanubla, north-west of the city, which the train does not reach. For a morning errand in the centre, on the other hand, the AVE is usually the sensible choice.

And to Ávila and Salamanca, the two western capitals?

Ávila is the short trip on the list: 65 km on the N-110 via Villacastín, a short trip even in winter. There is no train between the two walled cities, but there is the direct coach between bus stations, which works well for anyone visiting or running an errand and coming back the same day. The car wins when the destination is not the centre: the Ávila hospital complex, at the Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles hospital, lies south of the city, outside the walls, and inside the walled area traffic is restricted, so it pays to agree on a particular gate for the drop-off. From El Espinar the trip is shorter still, because San Rafael lies halfway and the Villacastín road begins almost on leaving the town. In winter the Villacastín stretch can dawn icy, and Ávila, at over a thousand metres, has very cold mornings.

Salamanca lies further away, beyond Ávila: you carry on along the A-50, the direct dual carriageway between the two capitals, and the total from Segovia is 170 km. It is a trip for the university, given the University of Salamanca and its student life, for appointments at the Salamanca university hospital complex and for visiting the city. By train there is no direct service designed for that journey, and combining trains via Valladolid, Medina del Campo or Madrid stretches the day. That is why the road transfer is common on student moving days, with suitcases, boxes and the odd small piece of furniture, and for family visits at the weekend. It can be booked with an intermediate stop in Ávila, for example to pick up another person, by saying so when booking so that the fixed price already includes it.

How do you reach Soria and Guadalajara, to the east, with no train linking them to Segovia?

Soria is the longest and worst-served trip: 191 km on the N-110, which crosses Riaza, the Ayllón range and the Duero riverside at San Esteban de Gormaz before reaching the Sorian capital. There is no train between the two cities, and the coach, when a combination exists, goes through other capitals. It is a trip for family, because many families from north-east Segovia have roots on both sides of the mountains, for students at the University of Valladolid's campus in Soria and for appointments at the Santa Bárbara hospital. For anyone living in Cuéllar the trip is of a similar length, and its route page publishes the distance and price from there. In winter the N-110 between Riaza and Ayllón can have snow and fog, so it is wise to book with a margin and check the road conditions with the Directorate-General for Traffic the day before.

Guadalajara is reached according to where you start: from Riaza, Sepúlveda or Cantalejo, down the A-1 and around northern Madrid to the A-2; from the capital or the mountains, across via the AP-6 and Madrid's ring roads to the same A-2. From Segovia city it is 146 km, and from El Espinar, with the AP-6 on its doorstep, a little less, because the car goes straight onto the motorway. By public transport the trip means going through Madrid and changing stations. The reasons are work in the Henares Corridor, family visits, the Guadalajara university hospital and the Guadalajara-Yebes high-speed station, on the outskirts, with trains towards Zaragoza and Barcelona. To connect with a train at Yebes it is worth giving the train's departure time when booking: the driver works out the pickup from it.

When is a car with a driver worth it, and when is the train or the coach better?

An honest comparison starts with the number of people. A lone traveller going to central Valladolid with a backpack will almost always do better on the AVE from Guiomar, and someone visiting Ávila, on the direct coach. The price of a transfer is per vehicle, not per seat, so the sums change when three or four people travel, when there is real luggage or when the destination is not next to a station. They also change when the trip has no reasonable public transport, as with Segovia to Soria or Segovia to Guadalajara, and when the time does not fit the services: an early appointment at a Valladolid hospital or a late return after a wedding in Salamanca. Your own car remains the choice of many, with the cost of fuel, parking at the destination and the fatigue of driving back.

There are cases in which the door-to-door transfer solves something the other options do not. An elderly person going to a check-up in Valladolid does not have to go up to Guiomar, cross Campo Grande station or find a taxi on the other side: the car collects them at home and drops them at the door of the outpatient building, with a companion if they wish. Anyone living in a village in the north-east or the Tierra de Pinares leaves from their own street without first going into the capital. And a family taking a son or daughter to a student residence in Salamanca loads everything into the boot just once. It is not medical transport: it is for someone who can travel seated and without care during the journey, and the pages for over-65s and on accessibility explain how to request an adapted vehicle.

How do you book the outward and return trips to another capital, and what do you pay?

On the website or in the app, with the pickup address, the exact destination and the date and time. The calculator returns a fixed price before you confirm, per car and not per person, which does not change with traffic; how tolls are handled when the route has them, such as the AP-6 or the AP-61, is explained on the help page. For a same-day return trip there are two ways: book the return as a second transfer at the expected time, or book outward and return with waiting when the stay is short, such as an appointment. From the capital, the route pages publish the "from" fare for each destination: Ávila, from 93,70 €; Guadalajara, from 184,92 €; Salamanca and Valladolid also have their own page with distance, time and price. The invoice is issued in the name of the traveller or their company, with a business account for work travel.

For the return from another capital, what matters is the pickup point. In Valladolid it can be Campo Grande station, a hospital entrance or an address in the centre; in Ávila, a particular gate in the walls or the bus station; in Guadalajara, Yebes station with the train number, so the driver can follow any delay. Anyone booking for someone else, a parent coming back from an appointment or a guest arriving for a wedding, can do so with that person's contact details, as the knowledge-centre piece on booking for a third party explains. Change and cancellation terms are on the help page. And during Segovia's San Juan and San Pedro fiestas in late June, with traffic closures in the centre, it is best to set the pickup outside the old town.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Renfe · alta velocidad Madrid–Segovia–Valladolid: trenes con parada en Guiomar y Campo Grande (consulted on 29 October 2026)
• Adif · estaciones de Segovia-Guiomar, Valladolid-Campo Grande y Guadalajara-Yebes (consulted on 29 October 2026)
• Turismo de Castilla y León · estaciones de autobuses de las capitales (consulted on 29 October 2026)
• Dirección General de Tráfico · estado de las carreteras (consulted on 29 October 2026)