Segovia and Avila Guided Day Tour from Madrid
Madrid, Spain
- 9 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Take a walk through Spanish history on this full-day tour of two of Spain’s oldest cities, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Marvel over the magnificent medieval walls of Avila; learn about the city ’s significance as the birthplace of Saint Teresa; and explore its Gothic cathedral and Romanesque churches. Then, journey to historic Segovia, famous for its remarkable Roman aqueduct and the fairytale-like Alcazar de Segovia.
- Full-day tour of UNESCO-listed Avila and Segovia from Madrid
- Step back in time as you visit the fortified medieval city of Avila
- Explore the Alcázar of Segovia and Roman Aqueduct in historic Segovia
- Travel by comfortable air-conditioned coach
- Great choice for history buffs!
What's Included
- Professional guide (bilingual)
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Walking tour in both cities
- Audio guides
- Admission Fee - Cathedral of Segovia (if option is selected)
- Admission Fee - Walls of Avila (if option is selected)
- Lunch(if option is selected) Traditional Lunch starting with a large white beans, roasted suckling pig, (tarta de ponche) typical Segovian Dessert and one drink.
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- C. de Ferraz, 3, Moncloa - Aravaca, 28008 Madrid, Spain
Departure Point: Meeting point is located in Madrid center area, in front Deboh Temple, and near Paseo Pintor Rosales. Address: Ferraz 3 street 28008 Madrid Closest Metro Station: Ventura Rodriguez (Line 3, yellow color)
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.9:30 am
Itinerary
Acueduct of Segovia (Pass By)
Plaza Mayor (Pass By)
Alcazar of Segovia (Pass By)
Los Cuatro Postes (Pass By)
Avila (Pass By)
Basilica de San Vicente (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Monica_M
We had an amazing day in Segovia and Ávila thanks to our wonderful guide, Silvia! She was knowledgeable, organized, and made everything so fun and easy. Her passion for the history and culture truly brought each stop to life. A big thank you to Pedro, our bus driver, who got us to each destination safely. Highly recommend this experience! 💛🇪🇸
Reviews
4.1
based on 79 reviews
Monica_M, Apr 2026
We had an amazing day in Segovia and Ávila thanks to our wonderful guide, Silvia! She was knowledgeable, organized, and made everything so fun and easy. Her passion for the history and culture truly brought each stop to life. A big thank you to Pedro, our bus driver, who got us to each destination safely. Highly recommend this experience! 💛🇪🇸
Jose_L, Apr 2025
Might be a good idea to switched the guide, she makes the same route way too many times, she is not making the tour fun.
Julia_F, Jul 2024
Segovia is a very lively place to visit and the Jewish Educational center there, though small, had an interesting installation on a famous Jewish/converso physician, Dr. Laguna. The company needs to do more research to provide the guides with more stories--our guide kept the group going and knew dates and sites but had no really interesting material beyond the basics to share. Avila is less interesting than Toledo. Combined Toledo segovia day would have been better
Coral_R, Mar 2024
Pablo was very informative and he seemed very knowledgeable about the history and facts of the place. It was raining all tour so make sure about forecast. Gourmet launch was absolutely amazing, the cochinillo was tender and rest of the launch is nice.
Kevin_R, Sep 2023
Two gorgeous cities to visit. Our guide did a fantastic job bouncing between Spanish and English and her English was accent free and easy to understand. Highly recommend.
Kayak2810, Apr 2023
First of all the tour guide Venesa was excellent. She was polite, friendly and gave us the history and stories of the places we visited. This tour is a good value. I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Madrid.
Iovanna_W, Aug 2022
Mayte was amazing. She fluently gave the tour bothnin English and Spanish. Mayte made everyone feel safe and comfortable and made sure we all had an amazing experience touring the cities.
Response from Host, Aug 2022
Hi Iovanna!
It is a great pleasure to know that you enjoyed the tour with Mayte. We will let her know about your feedback,
Kind regards
Dina_T, Jul 2022
Actually only the fifteen minutes free at the lunch time in the Segovia Catedral, we had no really chance to ask questions and didn't understand quite nothing from the English
Response from Host, Jul 2022
Dear customer,
We regret to hear that any misunderstanding happened.
We have just checked about this complain with the operator but we can confirm you that you did the tour as scheduled. In fact, the visit to the Cathedral is not included on the tour. As you confirm, you were there by your own and you decided to spent your free time there as the rest of the group did another activities.
Regarding the language issues, the guide is always glad of assisting the customers in case they need any information to be clarified.
Kind regards
Yena_A, Mar 2022
For the experienced traveller, I'd recommend skipping this tour entirely.
It's the old school hop on the bus, corralled like a herd, then hop back on for some photo op spots etc.... it was a rather miserable day trip unfortunately. Sergovia was interesting to see some history, but if you seek design, art and more history on your own time...this may disappoint.
Avila was definitely not worth the visit on a tour. It was 1 stop to a historical sweets shop(interesting) but then nothing else after shuffling a along the roman fortification walls for a few mins before getting back on the bus. Would have enjoyed wandering on your own time, instead of being ushered around, and skipping some of the great local shops, churches and other venues.
I would recommend this if you're with elderly or young children, but otherwise no. Also FYI, the bus is 1hr15mins to and fro madrid (which they don't tell you until you're there- the contact tour operator in viator will give you radio silence) and also between Sergovia and Avila it's about 45min to 1hr between each town too. And you're back by 6ish in the even, having spent a total of up to 4hrs on the bus.
You can thank me later. Happy travels!
Response from Host, Mar 2022
Dear customer,
thank for your opinion and your time.
We are sorry to hear you had a frustrating experience travelling with us. We always try to give to our customer all the information about the tour before departure, Segovia full day tour (withouth Ávila) is an available option to take if you are interested on have more free time on your own.
Maybe it was a better option to you.
Thanks again for your review, we strive to do better.
Best regards
VPT
Julianna_L, Mar 2022
Guide Fernando was great! A great solo adventure, great for students as it was in english and spanish.
Jarm_C, Jul 2021
This is not a shopping trip but a good way to see a lot in a short amount of time. The guide was very nice & accomodating.
Response from Host, Jul 2021
Dear Customer,
Thanks for the comment.
We really appreciate your words and also we are very happy to know that you enjoy your trip.
We hope to see you in the next trip
Best regards
SWT
Susan_R, May 2019
If you have the extra time in Madrid these cities are a great choice. Beautiful ruins and a lot of history. Our guide Tamara was good but I felt that the additional time of the commentaries in Spanish took away from the depth of background that could have been provided. OVERALL RECOMMENDED.
Placida_C, Sep 2018
Tour ran on time and the guide was very knowledgeable, lunch recommendation was also pretty good, enjoyed the trip very much.
RobertD_L, May 2018
This tour provided us with an excellent day trip out of Madrid. Our guide, Catherine, had a large wealth of knowledge to share with us and at the same time, operated the tour with efficiency keeping us on-track at all times. We consider both Segovia and Avila a must see!
ANDREW_L, Apr 2018
We enjoyed this tour very much! the guide was excellent Tammy and gave us a very thorough explanation of what we were seeing, the history surrounding it, and it's significance both historically, religiously, or politically. both cities are very significant religious/political sites, and the tour revolves around viewing the historical buildings, art work, and infrastructure of a 12th century city. we were only 12 or 15 people in our group. The walking was difficult uphill, bad weather, high elevation in Avila so if you have older folks, you may want to reconsider. The reason I didn't give this tour 5 stars: The tour was supposed to be english speaking. there was one person added last minute who only spoke Spanish. Our tour guide wasted a great deal of our time saying everything in 2 languages. The young lady also was 35 minutes late back to the bus after lunch. This gave us very limited time in Avila, so we could not see The church of St. Theresa as Mass had already started by the time we arrived. The tour clearly states that anyone who is late will be left behind. I am very glad our tour guide did not do that, but I felt it was very rude of our joiner to not have followed directions, which were explained clearly to her in Spanish. This, along with a snow storm as we drove up the mountain to Avila limited our visit to about 1 hour there. She also did not always stay with the group, causing us to look for her a number of times as we moved on. Again, not the tour's fault per say, but if we had stuck with English only it would not have impacted much or at all. We did not take the lunch option, choosing a nice sit down space very near our meeting area. we had a fabulous lunch of Paella at a restaurant that had 2 Michelan stars. The others on our tour said their lunch option with the tour was very good too.
Laureen B, Mar 2018
Definitely worth going to see the walled city of Avila and beautiful Segovia! Avila is a site that could be something straight out of 'Game of Thrones'! The aqueduct in Segovia is an engineering marvel and the Alcazar was great. We also enjoyed the gastronomic lunch, which was very good and included some great local favorites and a nice wine.
Janet W, Feb 2018
Excellent--learned so much history and had beautiful weather to see the sights.
Shibatosh D, Jan 2018
The trip was quite good, worthwhile and informative.
Jeff B R, Nov 2017
The locations visited were really, really cool. Our guide was the worst guide that we had during our 3 week vacation. She was nice but offered little if any insight or historical fact that I couldn't quickly glean from Wikipedia the tour again ended up being bi-lingual which in general down grades the tour. Also, Avila is this awesome, walled city and the extent of our time in Avila was to stop and take pictures of the city from a distant viewpoint to hear very basic Wikipedia type facts on the history of the city we then walked in and heard some information about a church and a convent and then left. I was very, very disappointed - we didn't even take time to climb the stairs to the top of the wall.
The tour redeemed itself once we got to Segovia. The tour guide upped her game a bit and we spent a lot of time in Segovia to learn about the historical items there, including the Roman aqueduct. My wife and I found a wonderful place to have lunch.
If the guide was more engaged and effective, particularly on the drive there, and if more time was spent in Avila, this tour would have been a 5.
Margarita B, Nov 2017
Barbara was a super excellent guide, we thoroughly enjoed the tour and highly recommend Segovia!
palmguysd, Nov 2017
The transport of getting us picked up at our hotel and then transferred to another bus for the days events seemed chaotic from a passenger's view. At the end of the day everyone was dropped off at the same Plaza and told to fend for themselves as to getting back to their hotels. Heard some voicing complaints about this to the tour guide?? For us we could walk the 20 minutes back to our hotel. Avila was interesting and felt we spent ample time there. Segovia was spectular and almost wished we had booked to go there on our own and stay overnight. Our four hours there were packed full of things to see and do. Opted for the tourist lunch and wished we hadn't afterwards. Took 60 precious minutes from touring and the meal was mediocre at best. Overall it was an acceptable tour as 25 people on a tour can go. Segovia is a must see!
Alan W, Oct 2017
The tour went to 2 very important, historic and very interesting places.
It was due to guide, acceptable:
Guide should been a bit more learned concerning some of the multi-ethnic relationships that had existed at the time these cities were at their prime. She missed an opportunity to point out where these pre-inquisition era groups lived in spite of us having asked her early in the tour to point them out. It became only an afterthought when we were already past them, unable to go back and just about to board our bus.
It was also shameful that a tour that is a full day and not inexpensive should have the tour director trying to sell bottled water on the bus for 1 each. Regardless of who makes this water decision, just give it out to each person requesting it at the beginning of the tour, charge a few pennies more for the overall price of the tour and don't try to nickel and dime people. It's a complete turn off and a reason to never book again with this vender used by Viator in Spain.
Julia M, Oct 2017
Pickup at our hotel-great! Spent the next hour driving around Madrid collecting people from their hotels. Next, everyone was taken to a central location for dispersal to other buses that were going on different tours. Much better to have met everyone at the central location and avoid all this. After we finally got going, we made a pit stop at a gas station and the guide made it clear this was the last chance for a bathroom break for a while. Several people got off the bus and of course there was a line for the ladies restroom. The guide shooed everyone back to the bus before they'd had their turn. Being bilingual, I knew the guide was complaining to the driver about the passengers--not cool! On to Avila--wait!...only 1hr in Avila and only 10 minutes in the church of St. Teresa of Avila! Guide waited outside,no tour of the inside. Next stop-lunch in Segovia. Lunch was surprisingly good. The guide instructed everyone to meet at the cathedral and if anyone was separated accidentally or intentionally to spend some free time, to be at the bus promptly at 5PM. I'll wait for 10 minutes and if you are not there, you will have to take another bus back to Madrid for 10 euros. Fair enough. Stayed with the tour for the cathedral, but was a little delayed leaving and the group had moved on. We walked through town to the Alcazar as we knew the guide was going there next. The group was no where to be seen. As we weren't sure if they were inside or had already left for the long walk to the bus, we decided to head to the bus. Arrived at the bus at 4:45, joined shortly by another couple. At 5PM the driver arrived and informed us that the guide had called him and would be 30 minutes late! When she arrived, she blamed us for her being late. Not impressed at all.
MaryBeth_N, Oct 2017
Horrible tour. When we arrived in Avila, one of the passengers stayed on the bus, thinking we were just stopping for a bathroom break. Actually, we were supposed to start the walking part of the tour. The bus took off with the passenger and we had to wait approximately 20 minutes for its return. This made the tour guide, Kate, behind schedule. This caused her to rush through the tour, even though several us had trouble walking up hill at a fast pace. She would stop and give a 5 minute talk in Spanish, and regardless of whether the slow walking English people caught up, she would immediately speak for about a minute in English. We missed most of the information. When we arrived in Segovia, we told her we couldn't make the walk all the way up to the castle. She said fine, explore the city meet back after the other went up the hill. She didn't mention that the entire town was closed down for siesta, so we just sat for nearly two hours waiting for the others to return. Horrible, horrible tour.
Awantika C, Sep 2017
This was really worth it. Would have been better with a little more time. Both Avila and Segovia are worth visiting and the aquaduct in Segovia is amazing. Our guide Katherine was good, but would like to visit more places in both towns. Bus ride was very comfortable. The only problem is that I have found that these travel agencies do not communicate with you about the time of pickup and place. As a tourist abroad, it is difficult to contact them. In my case, I could not make calls, by the time I received their mail in response to mine I was already worried. It is a simple matter for them to email you the pick up location and time they insist on pickup, but they can also give a fall back option as for all the agencies the last pickup location was their office.
Ingrid_B, Sep 2017
Our tour was fun and we had a great time. Carolina was our tour guide and she was very knowledgeable and friendly. We definitely recommend this tour except the lunch. They definitely need to change the place or better the food. For us was the worst food eaten in Spain.
Herb, Sep 2017
The day trip was very good. The walled city of Avila was very impressive, and the aqueduct in Segovia was a site to behold. Our guide was excellent, and was genuinely disappointed when my wife and I decided to pass on the walk up to the top of Segovia and explore the cathedral - we were just too exhausted from walking many times in the previous week. Plus, I really wanted to get some pictures of the aqueduct and the climbing of the stairs was easy and well worth the effort. We toured the shops and soaked up the atmosphere and the time passed by too quickly.
One disappointment was that I was unable to get a good picture of the wall at Avila from a distance. My only option was to take a picture through the bus window. It would have been great if the bus driver had been able to stop for a few minutes at a proper viewing location to allow everyone to take pictures of the incredible wall surrounding the city.
Although the excursion made for a long day, it was well worth the time to see these two cities
Victoria F, Sep 2017
We enjoyed this tour. It was a nice break to get outside of Madrid. I particularly chose this trip because I wanted to see a Roman aqueduct. Arriving into Segovia and seeing the aqueduct right in the middle of town was great. Barbara was our tour guide and she did a very nice job. She explained things very well and was well versed in answering questions. The downside of the trip was that the drop-off point after the tour was some distance from our hotel. It would have been nice to be dropped off closer to our hotel. All in all, though, a nice outing.
Jorge R, Sep 2017
The tour to Avila and Segovia was quite good. We were picked up close to our hotel and since we had requested an English speaking guide, we were split up from the main group. As a result, we ended up in a group of seven and with our very own bus. The trip to Avila was pleasant and fast in spite of the rain. Avila is a pleasant place to visit and our guide, Catherine, was quite thorough about what we were about to see. Whether it was the main church, the main landmarks or the patron saint, everything was easy to follow.
Segovia was a great experience and the little showers soon dissipated and we were able to visit the city. The cathedral was magnificent as was the castle. Walking the streets to and from the castle was a great experience. We had lunch at San Bernardino restaurant and the food was quite tasty look for their daily specials. The main aqueduct was an experience in itself. We had a chance to view it and to take plenty of pictures. The return to Madrid was smooth along the highway and we were dropped off at Plaza de Espana . Overall, it was a good experience and our guide, Catherine,and the driver were quite good and professional.
Rosa R, Aug 2017
Great experience for the family. Comfortable transportation and punctual. Our guide was very enthusiastic and informative. The only change I would suggest is that it is difficult blending an English and Spanish speaking group together. Two groups in one with the guide constantly having to switch between languages does not work well.
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