Day trip from Madrid Ávila
A small Castilian city ringed by a complete circuit of medieval walls you can walk on top of, about 1 hour 30 minutes from Madrid by regional train.
Is Ávila worth a day trip from Madrid?
Half a day of walls. Enough.
Go if walls are your thing, and plan for half a day on site. The train from Príncipe Pío takes 1 hour 26 minutes at best and closer to 1 hour 40 on most departures, so you spend 3 hours travelling for 3 or 4 hours in town. The walk on the walls costs € 8 and is the reason to come. From 25 October to 26 March the walls close on Mondays and at 18:00. If you only have one free day, Segovia or Toledo gives you more for a shorter ride.
The decision sheet
- Travel time
- 1 h 27most trains take 1 h 30 to 1 h 45 · one way · Renfe timetables and prices
- Transport
- Media Distancia train
- Self-guided cost
- € 33.40Media Distancia return at € 12.70 each way + walls ticket (€ 8) · Renfe timetables and prices
- Tour price
- From € 45.90Civitatis catalogue
- Time needed
- 3–4 hDaytripo editorial
- Closed days
- Mondays from 25 Oct to 26 Mar; open daily the rest of the year
- Best time
- Late Mar to late Oct, when the walls open daily until 20:00Daytripo editorial
- Verdict
- Worth half a dayDaytripo editorial
What to see and do in Ávila
- 01
The wall walk
The circuit is 2.5 km long with 87 towers, and about 1.7 km is open on top in separate sections. Each section has its own entrance. Allow 60 to 90 minutes.
- 02
Ávila Cathedral
Begun in the 12th century and often called the first Gothic cathedral in Spain. Its apse is one of the wall's towers. The mottled red and white stone inside is unusual. About 45 minutes.
- 03
Basilica of San Vicente
A Romanesque church just outside the walls, with a carved tomb showing the martyrdom of three local saints. It sits on your route from the station. Allow 30 minutes.
- 04
Convent of Santa Teresa
A church built over the house where Teresa of Ávila was born in 1515, with a small museum in the crypt. It is by the south gate. Allow 30 minutes.
- 05
Los Cuatro Postes
Four stone columns on a rise across the Adaja river, the viewpoint for the whole walled circuit. It is 20 minutes on foot from the west gate, best near sunset.
Good forCastles and palacesOld towns and villagesChurches and monasteries
How to spend the day
Take the 09:06 from Príncipe Pío and arrive at 10:37. Walk to the walls and do the rampart sections first, while your legs are fresh. Then the cathedral, built into the wall, and Plaza del Mercado Chico. Have a late lunch inside the old town. Trains back leave at 15:47, arriving in Madrid at 17:29, or at 17:18, arriving at 18:55. The last one on a weekday is at 21:12.
Ávila in summer and in winter
Summer
June to AugustAt 1,130 m, Ávila is the cool option from June to August: highs around 28 to 30 °C and cold nights. The walls open daily until 20:00, so you can walk them late, in softer light. There is no shade on the ramparts, so avoid 13:00 to 16:00. A medieval market takes over the old town on the first weekend of September.
Winter
December to FebruaryDecember to February is harsh here. Highs stay near 7 °C, nights go well below zero and snow is common. The walls close on Mondays and at 18:00, and ice sometimes shuts sections of the walkway. Go on a clear day from Tuesday to Sunday, take the 09:06 train, and treat the roast lunch as part of the visit.
How crowded it gets
Busy- Busiest
- Easter week, Aug weekends, around 15 October, 11:30-14:00
- Quietest
- Weekdays all year; winter outside Christmas
Ávila never gets as full as Toledo. The squeeze is the narrow rampart walkway when a coach group is on it between 11:30 and 13:30. Do the walls on arrival or after 16:00.
How do you get to Ávila from Madrid?
Train
- Travel time
- 1 h 26 to 1 h 45
- Frequency
- 14 trains on weekdays, 10 on Saturdays
- Cost
- € 12.70 each way
- Departs from
- Madrid Príncipe Pío
Media Distancia trains leave from Príncipe Pío, not Atocha or the main Chamartín concourse. The fare is fixed at € 12.70. Skip the Regional trains from Chamartín at € 9.25: they take over 2 hours. The old town is a walk from Ávila station.
Organized tour
- Travel time
- 9 to 11 hours door to door
- Frequency
- Daily
- Cost
- From € 45.90
- Departs from
- Calle San Nicolás 15, near Ópera metro
No coach tour goes to Ávila alone. It is sold paired with Segovia, in 9 hours, or with Salamanca, in 11. The Segovia pairing is the sensible one: it turns two half days into one day and covers both sets of tickets if you pick that option.
Practical: clothes, food and money
What to wear
The warmest clothes you packed, from October to April: coat, hat and gloves, since the wind on the ramparts is sharp. Flat shoes with grip for uneven stone steps. A hat and sunscreen in summer.
What to eat
Order the chuletón de Ávila, a thick beef steak meant for sharing, with patatas revolconas, potatoes mashed with paprika and pork crackling. Yemas de Santa Teresa, sweets made of egg yolk and sugar, are sold in boxes all over town. Most restaurants are inside the walls near Mercado Chico.
What you will spend
Little. The train is a fixed € 12.70 each way and the walls cost € 8. The cathedral, San Vicente and the convent museum charge small separate fees. The viewpoint and the walk around the outside of the walls cost nothing.
How to get the most out of the day
- Keep your walls ticket. It is valid for every section, and the entrances are several minutes apart at different gates.
- The station is about 15 minutes on foot from the walls, slightly uphill. A taxi rank stands outside if it is snowing.
- The city's festival for Santa Teresa peaks on 15 October, with processions and full restaurants. Book lunch if you go that week.
- Trains back are spaced about 90 minutes apart in the afternoon. Decide between the 15:47 and the 17:18 before you sit down to lunch.
How long do you need in Ávila?
Plan 3–4 h on site, plus 1 h 27 of travel each way from Madrid.
When is Ávila closed?
Mondays from 25 Oct to 26 Mar; open daily the rest of the year. Best time: Late Mar to late Oct, when the walls open daily until 20:00.