Segovia General Hospital: getting to and from an appointment from Cuéllar, Sepúlveda, Riaza, Cantalejo and the Tierra de Pinares without a car of your own
Segovia General Hospital, south-west of the capital beside the Ávila road, is the reference hospital for the whole province, and for much of it an appointment begins with a long journey: from Cuéllar it is 61 km and about 49 min on the A-601, and from Riaza or Sepúlveda, on the N-110 and local roads, much the same. Village buses go to Segovia's bus station, not to the hospital, and on timetables that rarely fit an early appointment. A car with a driver collects you at home, drops you at the outpatients entrance, waits if needed and takes you home, with the price fixed before booking: from Cuéllar, from 87,04 € per car and trip. It is not medical transport and does not replace it.
Written by Ridelta - Taxi y VTC · reviewed on 27 October 2026
Where is Segovia General Hospital and whom does it serve?
The hospital is on the outskirts of Segovia, to the south-west, beside the Ávila road, far from the old town and the bus station. It forms the Segovia healthcare complex of Sacyl, Castilla y León's public health service, and is the province's only general hospital: outpatient clinics, tests, A&E, wards and surgery for a population scattered over more than two hundred municipalities, many of them over an hour away. The province page sums it up: from Cuéllar, Riaza or Sepúlveda an appointment means a long trip, and for some specialities patients are referred to hospitals in Madrid or Valladolid. Access by car is straightforward, with parking on the forecourt and a stopping area by the main entrance for dropping off and collecting anyone who finds walking difficult.
The difficulty is not the hospital but the province. Segovia has few inhabitants spread across small villages, and public transport, as the page says, links the capital well with Madrid but the villages poorly with each other: intercity buses leave with few departures for Segovia's bus station, arrive mid-morning and return mid-afternoon, and from the station to the hospital there is still an urban leg. For an early appointment, a fasting test or a mid-afternoon check-up, that combination fails, and anyone who does not drive, has no car or cannot drive after a test ends up depending on a relative who loses the day. Sacyl provides non-urgent medical transport to those with a medical prescription; everyone else makes their own arrangements.
How do you get to the hospital from Cuéllar and the Tierra de Pinares?
Cuéllar is the hub of the Tierra de Pinares and the province's most populous town after the capital, and its reference hospital is Segovia's even though Valladolid feels closer. The road is the A-601, the Pinares motorway, which runs down to Segovia and around the city to the Ávila road: almost entirely dual carriageway, with no passes, which in winter only calls for care with fog in the pine woods. From Carbonero el Mayor, halfway along the same motorway, it is 27 km; from Nava de la Asunción, in the west of the district, 42 km along the Santa María la Real de Nieva road. Each village's route page publishes the "from" fare for the trip to the hospital.
What changes for a resident of Cuéllar or Nava is the whole day: a nine o'clock appointment means leaving home before eight, a mid-morning test leaves a wait with nowhere to go, and the return after lunch coincides with nothing. That is why the most common booking from the Tierra de Pinares is the return trip with waiting time: the driver collects you at home, drops you at the outpatients entrance, waits the agreed time or comes back at a fixed hour and takes you home, all in one price fixed when you book. Anyone staying on to run errands in Segovia can book only the outward trip and request the return from wherever they are, with the pickup at a point in the city rather than at the hospital.
And from Sepúlveda, Riaza and Cantalejo, the north-east of the province?
The north-east is the part of Segovia furthest from its hospital. Sepúlveda, above the Duratón gorges, Riaza, at the foot of the Ayllón range, and Cantalejo make up a cluster of small, scattered villages, with weekend rural tourism and little public transport, which for the hospital depend on the capital by local roads. Riaza comes down the N-110, which crosses the north-east to Segovia: it is 78 km. Sepúlveda joins the N-110 or cuts across via Cantalejo and Turégano: 71 km. Cantalejo goes via Turégano, 49 km. These are two-lane roads, with winding stretches and, in winter, ice on the shaded sides and fog in the valleys.
For these villages, an appointment in Segovia is often the only reason to go down to the capital, and the province page adds a point that weighs: for some specialities patients are referred to Madrid hospitals, and from the north-east the natural route skips Segovia and goes down the A-1, which crosses the mountains at Somosierra and enters Madrid from the north. A transfer with a driver serves both cases with the same logic, pickup at home and return home, and lets someone accompany the patient without anyone having to take the day off work. In Riaza and Sepúlveda, where many residents are elderly and live alone, it is also the way a check-up does not depend on a son or daughter driving up from Madrid on the day of the appointment.
What a transfer with a driver to an appointment is, and what it is not?
It is a car with a driver that takes a person, and whoever accompanies them, from home to the hospital door and back: an ordinary saloon, with the price fixed before booking, an invoice if requested and the option of waiting during the appointment. It is not an ambulance or medical transport: no stretcher, no medical staff on board, nothing billed to Sacyl, and it is not for anyone who needs oxygen, monitoring or help moving that the driver cannot provide. Non-urgent medical transport is prescribed by the doctor and organised by Sacyl with its own resources; those without that prescription, or who have it and prefer their own schedule without a shared vehicle, are the ones who use a car with a driver. The knowledge-centre piece on non-urgent medical transport explains the boundary in detail.
There are two things you can ask for when booking. First, a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, which depends on availability in the area and is requested in advance from the accessible transfer page; second, that the driver helps with a bag or accompanies the person to the admissions desk, which is a normal part of the service and costs nothing extra. For elderly people travelling alone, the booking can be made by a relative from Madrid or anywhere else, in the traveller's name, with the person's phone number and a note for the driver; the platform tells the relative about the pickup and the arrival. The page for the over-sixty-fives explains how it is done and what information it is worth leaving.
How do you book the outward and return trips with waiting time, and what about referrals to Valladolid or Madrid?
You book on the website or in the app with your home address, the hospital as destination, the appointment time and, if you wish, the waiting time or the return hour; the calculator returns a fixed price that covers everything agreed and does not change if the appointment overruns within the time booked. If the appointment is moved, the booking is changed from the app; cancellation and waiting terms are on the help page. It is worth stating the exact entrance, because the hospital has separate access points for outpatients, A&E and tests, and a note on whether the person needs the driver to accompany them inside. For repeated appointments, such as dialysis or physiotherapy, the fixed service lets you schedule the days and times in a single booking.
Referrals are the province's other journey. When Segovia does not have the speciality, Sacyl refers patients to Valladolid, which from Cuéllar and the Tierra de Pinares is closer than the capital itself on the A-601, or to Madrid hospitals, which the north-east reaches down the A-1 and the rest of the province via the AP-61 and AP-6. The same booking works for those trips, with the destination hospital and the appointment time, and the Madrid hospitals destination page lists the most common centres and their access points. A transfer with a driver does not decide which hospital you go to and does not replace the ambulance when the doctor prescribes one: it solves the journey for anyone who has an appointment and no way to get there, from the Tierra de Pinares or from the Duratón gorges.
Frequently asked questions
How much is it from Cuéllar to Segovia General Hospital?
The published "from" fare is 87,04 € per car for 61 km on the A-601. The calculator gives the exact price with your address, date and time, and waiting or the return trip are added to the same booking.
Can the driver wait during the appointment?
Yes. You book the return trip with the estimated waiting time or a fixed return hour, and the fixed price includes it. If the appointment overruns beyond what was booked, you tell the driver from the app and it is adjusted under the terms on the help page.
Is this Sacyl medical transport?
No. Non-urgent medical transport is prescribed by the doctor and provided by Sacyl; this is a car with a driver to and from an appointment, paid for by the traveller or their family, with no medical staff or stretcher.
How much is it from Riaza or Sepúlveda to the hospital?
From Riaza, on the N-110, the "from" fare is 112,94 €; from Sepúlveda, 104,88 €. These are prices per car, not per person, so a companion does not change the figure.
Can I book from Madrid the transfer for my mother, who lives in Cantalejo?
Yes. The booking is made in her name, with her address, her phone number and the appointment time; you receive the notice of pickup and arrival. You can add a note so the driver accompanies her to admissions.
Sources
- Sacyl · Complejo Asistencial de Segovia: localización, accesos y transporte sanitario (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Junta de Castilla y León · transporte público interurbano de viajeros (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Diputación de Segovia · municipios y carreteras provinciales (consulted on 27 October 2026)
How we write, where the figures come from and how we correct an error: editorial policy.
Access points and services at Segovia General Hospital and the rules on non-urgent medical transport belong to Sacyl and may change; check them with the hospital or your health centre. Bus timetables are published by the regional government and the operators. Distances and times are those of the route engine in daytime with no incidents; the exact price comes from the calculator with date and time, and waiting and cancellation terms are on the help page.