Segovia, La Granja and Coca castle in one day without a car from Madrid: the AVE to Guiomar, the aqueduct, the Alcázar, the palace gardens and the return on long weekends and getaways

Can you do Segovia, La Granja and Coca in a day without a car from Madrid?

Yes, on one condition: accepting that the train does the long leg and the car does the rest. The AVE links Madrid-Chamartín with Segovia-Guiomar quickly, but Guiomar is several kilometres from the aqueduct, La Granja lies at the foot of the mountains in another direction and Coca castle is in the north-west of the province, which the province page describes as having no convenient public transport from Segovia or Madrid. Putting the three together with scheduled buses means a day of waiting at bus stations; with a car that collects you at Guiomar, drops you at the aqueduct, waits and carries on to La Granja and Coca, the day fits with time for lunch. Anyone who wants less driving can leave Coca for another time and swap it for Pedraza or Sepúlveda, to the north-east.

The order matters. Segovia is best visited first thing, before the excursion coaches fill the Plaza del Azoguejo; La Granja mid-morning or after lunch, when the gardens are open and, on the designated days, the fountains run; and Coca last, because from there the return to Guiomar or to Madrid on the A-601 and the AP-61 is direct. At Easter, on long weekends and on the San Juan weekend the city fills up, the old town is closed to cars and the late-afternoon return pickups all coincide, as the province page reminds us; on those days the pickup point is set outside the old town and the time is booked with a margin so as not to miss the train.

How do you get there from Madrid and where does the day start: at Guiomar or at the Azoguejo?

There are two ways to start. The first is the AVE: Chamartín to Guiomar on the Avant and AVE trains that stop there, whose timetables Renfe publishes each season, and on the station forecourt the driver waits with a name sign and the train number, so a delay moves the pickup. The second is to set off by car from Madrid and make the whole trip with the same driver, crossing the mountains through the AP-6 tunnel and the AP-61; it costs more and takes longer than the train, but lets you start at La Granja or Coca and avoids the connection at Chamartín with children or grandparents. For a group of four or five the price per car changes the sums, because the train is paid per head and the car is not.

The day in Segovia begins in the Plaza del Azoguejo, beneath the aqueduct, which the province page names as the meeting point for almost every visit and the best place to drop off or collect day visitors, because the car does not get much further into the old town. The city council regulates vehicle access to the walled town and excursion coaches have their car park outside; a car with a driver can drop you by the aqueduct and collect you there or at the far end of the city, by the Alcázar, which is where many walks end. What you should not expect is the car coming into the Plaza Mayor to fetch you on a long-weekend Saturday: the local police close the old town and the driver will tell you the nearest permitted point.

What itinerary makes sense: aqueduct, Alcázar, palace and gardens, Coca castle?

Segovia is done on foot. From the aqueduct, the Calle Real climbs to the Plaza Mayor and the cathedral and continues to the Alcázar, at the western tip of the old town above the meeting of the Eresma and the Clamores; it is a one-way walk that the province page advises closing by fixing the pickup at one of the two ends. The old town and the aqueduct have been a World Heritage Site since 1985, and the cathedral's and the Alcázar's opening hours are published by their managers and change with the season. Afterwards, the car climbs to the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso: the Royal Palace of La Granja, run by Patrimonio Nacional, with its gardens and fountains, which draw visitors from Madrid all year round and are often combined with Segovia on the same day. The big fountain days are few and are announced by Patrimonio Nacional.

Coca castle is the part of the day that asks for the most driving and surprises the most. It stands in the Tierra de Pinares, in the north-west of the province, built of brick in Mudéjar style and surrounded by pine woods, and is usually visited on the way to Cuéllar or Valladolid; the visit is guided and its hours are published by its managers. From La Granja it is 72 km, passing Segovia again, and from the capital itself 52 km and about 59 min, from 80,73 € per car. From Coca, the return to Guiomar for the last train or to Madrid on the A-601, the AP-61 and the AP-6 closes the loop without repeating a road. Anyone who prefers to stay the night can leave Coca for the next morning and go down to Madrid afterwards.

And Pedraza, Sepúlveda and the Duratón gorges: the north-eastern getaway?

The other classic getaway looks north-east. Pedraza is a walled medieval town with a single gateway and cars kept outside the old centre, whose candlelight concerts in July and whose weekends fill the outer car park, with no public transport for the return at night; from Segovia it is 39 km. Sepúlveda, above the gorges of the river Duratón, is the village of roast lamb and the gateway to the natural park, with the hermitage of San Frutos at the bottom of the canyon; from Segovia, 59 km, and Pedraza lies on the way between the two. They are villages of long lunches and late returns, and the province page warns that the north-east has little public transport: a pickup booked for a set time is what lets you eat without watching the clock.

From Madrid, the north-east is better reached by the A-1 and the Somosierra pass than by going through Segovia, so for a getaway to Pedraza or Sepúlveda alone it makes more sense to set off by car from Madrid than to take the AVE; to combine them with Segovia, the logical order is Guiomar, aqueduct, Pedraza and back to Madrid on the A-1. The Hoces del Río Duratón natural park regulates car access to the hermitage of San Frutos and parking in high season, and its park centre in Sepúlveda publishes the conditions; the driver drops you at the permitted point and collects you wherever is agreed. In winter, Somosierra and the N-110 have snow and ice, and the page advises saying when booking if you prefer one road or the other.

What happens on long weekends, at Easter and San Juan, and how do you book the return?

Segovia and La Granja are, in the words of the province page, among the most common day trips from Madrid, and on long weekends and at Easter the old town and the area around the aqueduct fill up and the late-afternoon return pickups all coincide. In late June, the capital's San Juan and San Pedro fiestas bring concerts and traffic closures in the centre, and on summer weekends La Granja adds the fountain crowds. On those days, the car does not enter the old town, the Guiomar car park fills and the last train to Madrid is full unless bought in advance; the return with a driver straight to Madrid, from 124,61 € per car, is the alternative when the train is full or when dinner has run late.

The tour is booked as a single service, on the website or in the app, with the starting point — Guiomar with the train number, or a Madrid address — the stops and the planned time at each, and the end, which can be Guiomar for the return train or home in Madrid; the calculator fixes the price before you confirm and the driver waits at each stop for the time booked. If a visit overruns, you say so from the app and the return is adjusted under the terms on the help page. For groups of more than four, or for a hen party or a wedding at La Granja, several cars are coordinated on the same tour, and the knowledge-centre piece on groups explains how it is organised. Tickets to the monuments are bought by each visitor; the transfer neither includes nor handles them.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Patrimonio Nacional · Palacio Real de La Granja de San Ildefonso: horarios, jardines y fuentes (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Ayuntamiento de Segovia · acceso de vehículos al recinto amurallado y cortes de tráfico (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Turismo de Castilla y León · castillo de Coca, Pedraza y Hoces del Río Duratón (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Renfe · trenes Avant y AVE Madrid–Segovia-Guiomar (consulted on 27 October 2026)