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City in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain
Photo: Manuel González Olaechea y Franco, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Segovia is a city in Castile and León in northern Spain, with a population of 51,000 in 2023. Its old town is a , with the top sights being the Roman aqueduct, the cathedral, and the Disneyesque castle. It's 90 km north of Madrid and most visitors come on a day-trip, but it's worth staying longer, especially to enjoy the evenings after the tourist hordes depart.
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Paintings and ceramics by Daniel Zuloaga (1852-1921), in an old church.
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y de San Frutos was built in Gothic style between 1525 and 1577, when that style had gone out of fashion elsewhere. Its predecessor had stood on the Alcazar but was wrecked in a siege, with the font, choir and cloister recycled here. The spire got blasted in a thunderstorm and was replaced in 1614. Buried here are St Fructus (d 715), and his brothers St Valentín and St Engracia, hermits all.
The Jewish quarter is the atmospheric block of narrow streets just south of the cathedral, and this museum is in the former house of Rabbi Abraham Señor. As in the rest of Spain, they were persecuted then expelled in 1492.
The poet Machado (1875 – 1939) moved here in 1919 and was professor of French. He fled to France at the outbreak of the Civil War but died a few weeks later. Visit by guided tour.
Artefacts, models, and art related to the history, culture and lifestyle of the city and region.
Dramatically sited at the west edge of the crag of Old Town, this was built around the 11th century, with the current facade added by Phillip II. The interior is decorated in a hotchpotch of Romanesque, Gothic, Mudejar, and Renaissance. It's variously hosted the royal court of the Trastamara Dynasty, Isabella the Catholic, the wedding of Phillip II, and the Spanish Artillery Academy. The ticket includes the Palace, Artillery Museum and Tower of Juan II. The resemblance of its witches-hat towers to Disney Castle is no accident, and scenes from Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight were filmed here.
The 15th century Royal Mint, now a museum of coinage and minting.
Hieronymite monastery founded in 1447 and still active. Saturday morning you can join a guided tour (Spanish only) and attend mass.
This was a monastery farm until 1719, then Philip V acquired it and built a summer palace when his Valsain palace burned down. As a Bourbon he was much influenced by Versailles, and what started as a modest rural retreat burgeoned into a bling palace and political power centre. The village of San Ildefonso swelled with it, with barracks, lodgings for courtiers, a church, and an entire glass factory to produce the necessary amount of glass. La Granja fell out of fashion in the 1880s and suffered a fire in 1918. It's surrounded by vast gardens in 18th-century French manner.
Bar & coffee shop, mixed reviews.
Sweet sweet sweets, famously surly service.
Renowned meson with traditional fare.
Rich selection of traditional Castilian fare.
An excellent meson, booking essential.
Great tapas bar downstairs and restaurant upstairs.
Splendid trad fare.
On the hill 2 km north, this serves decent trad fare but you're mostly paying for the view of Segovia. Try to get seated in the old railway dining car.
Good meson off A6 if you want to eat before reaching Segovia.
Tatty exterior but clean, comfortable rooms, it's more like a small hotel and doesn't have a dorm. The same group also runs Hostel Juan Bravo and Hotel Av de Sotillo.
Charming hotel right on the main square.
Clean spacious place just off main square.
Pleasant hotel in the old town, many rooms have cathedral view.
Fine hotel in a 19th century merchant's house.
Modern chain hotel next to the aqueduct, some street noise, parking available.
Simple place 10 min walk from old town.
Atmospheric hotel in a former monastery.
Parador in a modern building on the hillside 4 km north of centre, so you get great views and free parking but need a car / taxi to reach the sights. Comfort, service and catering good but no more than that, for what you're paying. It feels a bit like a teacher training college.
By plane
Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) has excellent connections across Europe and beyond. Take the Metro downtown for buses and trains towards Segovia.
By train
Segovia-Guiomar has trains every 30-60 min from Madrid Chamartin, taking 30 min nonstop.
By bus
Buses from Madrid Moncloa run once or twice an hour, taking 80 min. They also run from Avila (one hour) and Salamanca (3 hr 30 min). The bus line is Llorente / Avanza.
The walled Old Town is easily accessible on foot. Most of it is pedestrianised, and no traffic passes beneath the Aqueduct, which thus divides the city.
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