Madrid and Castilian Spain Complete Guide 2026: Prado, Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca, Aranjuez, El Escorial and the Heart of Old Castile
Browse more guides: Spain travel | Europe destinations Madrid and Castilian Spain Complete Guide 2026: Prado, Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca, Aranjuez, El Escorial and the Heart of Old Castile TL;DR I planned my Castilian Spain trip around Madrid because the city sits at the geographic center of the country, and the AVE high-speed rail network spokes out from Atocha and Chamartín to almost every UNESCO town I wanted to see. From Madrid I reached Toledo in 30 minutes, Segovia in 30 minutes, Salamanca in about 1.5 hours, and Cuenca in under an hour. That decided my itinerary. I stayed in central Madrid for seven nights and made four day-trips, then spent three nights split between Salamanca and Toledo so I could walk those old quarters after sundown. The art is the second reason I came. The Golden Triangle of Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza sits within a 10-minute walk along Paseo del Prado. The Prado holds the deepest Velázquez, Goya and El Greco collection on earth. Reina S...