Segovia was one of the places we wanted to make sure we visited while we’re in Spain, with its famous aqueduct and Disney-inspiring castle, and we decided to take a day trip there while my parents were in town.
I had gotten train tickets online beforehand, and we planned a good window of time to arrive there.
However, this train was leaving out of Chamartin station instead of Atocha where we’d taken the train to Barcelona, so we were not familiar with the station.
We arrived at the station from the metro with maybe 15-20 minutes before our train was to leave, which is not cutting it too too close, but it was more of a maze than Atocha and it wasn’t clear how to get to our luggage check and platform, so I realized we had to hurry. We zipped through the station, asking directions from one person, then the next, then the next, getting into a parking garage, then doubling back because we thought we went the wrong way, then asking again, then turning around again into the garage and this time turning off where we’d missed before. We were running through the station by that point, finally found our place, dashed through luggage check, flew down the escalator and along the empty platform, showing our tickets to the person and getting on the train and slumping into our seats literally 30 seconds before the train started moving.
The kids didn’t like that part and at least one of them cried for a bit, but our heartrates slowed back down soon enough and we got settled into the calm hour-long train ride.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal if we’d missed the train, just would’ve had to buy new tickets and would’ve arrived later than we planned. But we’re glad we made it. What an exhilarating start to the day!
Once we arrived in Segovia we realized the train station was a bit of a ways from the town. We had read a blog post of a lady who’d done the whole day walking and that’s what we’d planned to do, but we started second-guessing that once we realized we were in the middle of nowhere. We ultimately decided to stick with the plan though and set off to walk into town. We had plenty of time before our 1:30 ticket window for visiting the castle.
We are all glad that we did!
It was a brisk morning, some clouds but also sunny. The fields and low mountains were very picturesque.
We were walking along a two-lane road with no sidewalk but still plenty of shoulder, and very few cars came by at all. Once we got a little ways along we had to choose between staying along what looked like would be a busier road, or turning off onto a smaller one that went off to the side a bit. We chose the side road, and we are all glad we did! It was a gravel road that had a turnoff into a dirt walking path, and eventually we came across signs that indicated it was actually part of an ancient Roman road. Very cool.
We came across some horse pastures, and as we took a little detour to walk up to the fence, the horses came right up to us. It seems like they were looking for food, though, and once they realized we didn’t have any, they turned away. One of the horses seemed particularly miffed, and when he turned away, he lifted his tail and pooped, rear end facing right at us. We had been taking video so we have evidence of his sign of displeasure.
Eventually we got into town, took a snack break, and arrived at our first destination, the Roman aqueduct. It’s one thing to see it in pictures, but completely another to be there in person. Quite impressive.
We continued walking through the old part of town, and found a poke cafe to eat lunch at. It was too early for Spanish lunch so we were the only ones there.
We arrived at Segovia castle in time for our ticket window, and enjoyed the medieval architecture, interior decor, and armor, as well as the spectacular views. The castle is a fortress situated on a cliff surrounded by a moat and lots of forestry/shrubbery. You can see several monasteries and impressive cathedrals in the surrounding area, none of which we visited but were still cool. In one of the castle courtyards there was a wishing well so we had a couple turns throwing in a coin and making a wish.
After the castle we decided to go exploring down a stairway and path behind it and go to a little-known field where a friend told me you can get a really good view for a photo op. It was drizzling at that point, but we still did get good pictures, probably the best ones since coming here, maybe besides at Sagrada Familia.
The rain dampened the mood of some of the kids, and we decided to head back. We were pretty much done anyway. We were hoping to get some dinner before going back to the station, but even the American burger place we found was closed from 5-8pm, the hours Spanish restaurants typically close. We did get some delicious churros and chocolate from a street stand in the plaza. With the rain and the hour we decided NOT to walk back to the train station, but instead took the bus. It was dark by the time we got there. Luckily the train station had a cafe so we got some ham bocadillos (sandwiches on a mini baguette), salad, and snacks.
The journey home was uneventful and we pretty much just went to bed once we got home.
The morning walk was probably the best part of the day, even though it ended up taking almost two hours. It was so calm and scenic.
The first gallery are pictures I took, the second are Natalie’s, the third are Jacob’s.
Natalie’s
Jacob’s
