If you're visiting Madrid and looking for a day trip that’s easy, scenic, and historically rich, Ávila is one of your best bets. Just 110 km from the capital, this small Castilian city is best known for its incredibly preserved medieval walls and deep religious roots, most notably as the birthplace of Saint Teresa. Ávila isn’t big, but it packs in a surprising amount of cultural and spiritual significance, all wrapped up in a quiet, walkable town. Whether you're into Gothic cathedrals or just looking to escape the city for a bit of Spanish countryside, Ávila has plenty to offer.
The defining feature of Ávila is its 2.5-km-long medieval walls, complete with turrets and gates. You can walk along several sections and take in sweeping views of the city’s rooftops and the Castilian plains beyond. It’s the best way to appreciate Ávila’s military past and unique layout.
Spain’s first Gothic cathedral doubles as a defensive structure. Its apse actually forms part of the city wall. Inside, you’ll find dramatic stonework, vaulted ceilings, and religious art. It’s worth stepping in just to see how seamlessly this building blends sacred and strategic architecture.
This Romanesque church stands on the site where Saints Vicente, Sabina, and Cristeta were martyred. Rich in symbolism and detail, its multicolored stone façade and ornate carvings make it one of Ávila’s most architecturally striking landmarks. You can opt for a guided tours if you want to learn more about the stories behind it.
Once a royal and religious hub, this Dominican monastery is known for its three distinct cloistered courtyards. It also houses the tomb of Prince Don Juan and a small museum of natural sciences. A visit here gives you a window into Ávila’s intellectual and monastic heritage.
The Convent of Saint Teresa was built over her childhood home. Inside, you’ll find a chapel, relics, and a small museum dedicated to her life and writings. Whether you follow her spiritual teachings or not, her presence is deeply woven into Ávila’s identity, and this site reflects that.
For religious and medieval heritage: Go with the Segovia & Ávila tour. It covers Ávila’s walls and St. Teresa Church, plus a walk through Segovia’s Roman and medieval landmarks.
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For the most variety in one day: Choose the Toledo, Segovia & Ávila full day tour. It’s a fast-paced but well-rounded trip through three UNESCO cities with distinct histories and styles.
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For a more academic and cultural angle: Pick the Ávila & Salamanca tour. Salamanca adds golden sandstone buildings, university heritage, and rich Gothic architecture to your day.
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Yes, Ávila is ideal for a day trip. It’s just over an hour away and offers a striking change of pace from Madrid. You don’t need to stay overnight to experience its highlights.
A guided day tour is the most convenient option, especially if you want context on the sites without planning everything yourself. It usually includes roundtrip transfers, access to top landmarks, and a local guide to explain the history and layout.
You can cover most of Ávila’s major sites in about 4 to 6 hours. That includes walking the walls, visiting the Cathedral, seeing the Basilica of San Vicente, and stopping by the Convent of Saint Teresa.
Yes, you can walk along sections of Ávila’s famous walls. Entry is usually included in guided tours, or you can purchase a ticket on-site. The views from the top give you a great sense of the city’s layout and surrounding countryside.
Definitely. Many tours pair Ávila with Segovia, Salamanca, or even Toledo. These combinations are popular because they’re geographically close and offer contrasting architecture and history, all within one well-organized itinerary.
Wonderful experience. Knowledgeable tour guide, with a good sense of humour. Very picturesque cities, trust me. Picturesque in a sense it will make you friends jelly after posting a few images on the socials. If you like history, social dynamics between different ethnicities, religion integrating or the opposite. I say go for it
The guide explained everything in detail, journey was very comfortable, great places to visit
The guide wasn't at the agreed place, we paid in Spanish and most of the time she spoke in English, giving different explanations in both languages. She left us without support in both cities. We ended up getting lost in Toledo. She gave us the name of a square to meet in that didn't exist. We asked her if we got lost and she told us to look it up on Google. She drew attention to herself in front of other passengers. In Segovia, when we arrived at the Alcazar, we asked to return with her and she told us we couldn't return with her. She left us alone on the tour. We were disappointed with this guide. We've done several tours with you and it was good.
I have very bad experience as the instructions email direct me to wrong pick up location and nobody pick me up at meeting point. Before 10min expired I use the chat contact Headout email but no body help and I called IBE tour and they said the tour bus already gone as I went to wrong pick up point. I have send all proved photos and chat screenshots to proved I arrived meeting point at 8 am followed by email. It was spoiled my day and I am still not received the refund.
Both cities are very beautiful and with a great history, the guides are very dynamic and with great mastery of the subject... I liked everything
Excellent service. The only thing I think is that they should redistribute the time in each city. 30 minutes more to Segovia and if they want to return the same at 5:45pm, then 30 minutes less to Toledo. It would be perfect!
Very good guide, very comfortable and clean bus, very good time management
The trip was organised well. The bus was very comfortable. The guide spoke very good English and provided very good information. It might be good to have more time in Toledo.
Our tour guy was excellent and the places were fantastic
Knowledgeable guides giving the exact level of detail I was after. Unlike other tour operators, they weren't too rigid with the time and meeting points which allowed me to feel more relaxed without delaying the entire trip and itinerary
Tour guide Amanda was brilliant and made the trip very interesting. She has probably delivered the tour dozens of times but it didn't come across like this at all. Both cities memorable and worth a visit. Excellent all round
Cover all the main highlights of 2 UNESCO cities in the language of your comfort.
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Starting point: Plaza Las Ventas
Toledo
Walk the narrow historic streets and pass by gems like the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. Upgrade to add on tickets to the majestic Toledo Cathedral.
The enchanting city of Segovia welcomes you with its ingenious Roman Aqueduct. Upgrade to add on tickets to the iconic Alcázar.
Go-molemo
Sergio
Miguel
Organized, punctual, as expected and fun.
Sightseeing, plan and punctuality however, it could be 1 more hour as everything was in rush، we must be at coach at sharp 4:30 and we just finished Cathedral around 2. This is the only cons it had
Instructions were clear and Toledo was lovely. We changed guides once in Toledo and I feel it would have been great if she had used a microphone like some guides from other tours. There were a lot of people a lot of noise making it very hard to hear her. She did her best under difficult circumstances.
Easy ride from Madrid to Toledo and back. I liked the explanation about Toledo upon arrival and the view point. Unfortunately there was also a 'factory visit' of damescene jewelry, a real tourist trap which took precious time (45 minutes). This was not advertised and such damescene could be bought in many shops in town as well. The tour in centre of town and cathedral was nice.
It lasted 7 hours instead of 8 like it was said when i bought tickets.
A charming and very interesting guide.
Excellent The guide Cris was very friendly and attentive.
The guide was excelente!! We erre few perdón, that s maje the diferente
A good tour with excellent price to go and return to Toledo. The guides Benito and then Eva shared with us good information to be able to make our visit to this beautiful city. Thank you for taking care of everyone's time and leaving as punctual as possible as there are people who may have tickets later returning from Toledo.
Our trip to Toledo was awesome. Meeting place was easily accessible. The transaction was a nice modern bus and our guide was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. Personally I think the return can be scheduled to earlier since unless you have tons of things to do, the free time is a bit too long
The transportation was punctual, although they should describe a little more precisely the meeting point in Madrid because the area is large and there were doubts. The guide in Toledo explained everything clearly about the city and provided maps to go to the most iconic places.
Deep dive into Toledo! This tour packs art, history, culture and landmarks in a single day.
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Starting point: Madrid
Toledo Old Town
St. Tomé Church
Santa María la Blanca Synagogue
San Juan de los Reyes Monastery
Real Colegio de las Doncellas (if option selected)
Cristo de la Luz Mosque
1.5-hour free time or lunch (if option selected)
Jesuitas Church (if option selected)
El Salvador Mosque-Church (if option selected)
Toledo Cathedral
Mirador del Valle viewpoint
End point: Madrid
Nicolaas
Ramin
The trip was perfect in a number of ways. The 6 hour, half day tour was perfect for the amount of time we had and what we hoped to see. From the 55mins bus trip and return to Toledo, the running commentary in English and Spanish to the tour of the forge and gold establishment ( where lots of gifts for home were bought) to the grand tour of the castle and city on the mountain. Everything was pretty much magical that exceeded expectations. Ka nui te mihi aroha ki te taonga o te kaupapa o tenei rā. Ka rawe hoki rā. From New Zealand Manu and Tui.
The historical tour through the historic center of Toledo was excellently explained by the guide Mariano...a genius...and the beauty of that city...imposing!
The city is beautiful and its history, narrated by the guide Javier, very interesting. It is a pity that we did not have time to see the Cathedral inside as it was a half day tour.
Great experience. The tour guide had very good knowledge of the city of Toledo and the history. It was the perfect half day tour.
It was a lovely tour with very nice guides. I recommend it to everyone! Toledo is extremely beautiful🙂
They had the wrong starting point on the website, and we had no idea the meeting point was that far since we booked last minute. And when I called the support team, only machine no people. Terrible experience. Literally dont care about you once you booked the tickets
Nothing, since i never was able to take trip.
Ticketing experience was great ..no problems The trip was really great..informative and I felt I got to see a lot of Toledo just on that half day trip. Our guide was fun and enthusiastic
Comfy bus on way to Toledo. Great picturesque town that I suggest anyone should visit if in Madrid. Tour guide was detailed without talking too much. Great day out. Sit on the left side of the bus for best viewing and pics.
There was not much of a tour. Mostly just free time. The host was knowledgeable but had to do the short tour in both English and Spanish
Great if you don't have much time. Guide was very knowledgeable and trip was well organised and kept to time. Would have been nice to take a bit more 'own time' to look around at our own pace. Just 20 minutes or so.
The gaudiest was very nice. And the tour was very well organized
easy and clear instructions where to meet. Nacho was a great guide. wish we had more time to explore on our own.
If you are short on time, book this half-day tour and see the best of Toledo in 6 hours.
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Manu
Selva
Carlos
Toledo, Segovia and Avila were beautiful places that we could have easily stayed at. Our guide was very knowledgeable and attentive.
Very top class management. Well disciplined trip. Joyful and informative demonstration of Mr khan sir 👏 😀
1. We were never given a audio device. You need to provide one for each customer. You aren't thinking about people with trouble hearing. 2.Guides didn't direct you to the correct guide when they split you according to language preference. Very unorganized tour guides. I over heard them talking bad about people in their group. The only time a guide did a head count was when the bus was leaving. When split up they never took a head count. The never looked back to make sure the group was together. It was extraemos hard to keep up. As soon as a guide stopped to explain they never waited dor everyone. They should have noticed half of your group is still reusing to catch up. Because they never checked by the time we reach the guide she's done explaining. They never wanted to repeat. It was horrible. We weren't given enough rime to go to the bathroom. You have to think we aren't the only tourist. Guides don't wait not 1 min past meeting time. They have no problem leaving you behind. Again that's also part of not counting how many people in the group. 3. We were never given time to stop and buy anything. 4. Avila shouldn't even be a part of this tour. You show is 2 things and take us to a store to get some type of candy which is part of our time to explore and after that we go back to the bus. Useless tour! 5. This is a very fast walk thru each town. This tour should not exist. 6. I have used head out last year for my travels and loved my tour guides. This year not so great. 7. I know for a fact other people on this tour have said they called to complain.
We had two guides. Ainoa in Toledo and Segovia. She was very kind, considerate and very clear in her explanations and timing. Monica was our guide in Avila and her explanations were also very clear, although fast because she had to explain twice (English and Spanish). In Avila the visit is very short and we would have liked more time to visit the Cathedral. Excellent service and attention from everyone.
Juggle 3 UNESCO cities in a day with a well-rounded itinerary and a bilingual guide.
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Check the location shared on your final voucher to meet your guide and board your comfortable transfers for the day.
Walk the narrow historic streets, and pass by the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes.
This enchanting city welcomes you with its ingenious aqueduct, iconic Alcázar, and beautiful Segovia Cathedral that towers over the highest part of town.
Surrounded by 11th-century walls, beset by an enormous Roman necropolis, discover the city's historic center – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Everything was very good. A pleasant experience, a very good tour.
The activity started late because the guide never showed up. We started it without a guide and then a guide appeared in Toledo, who was
Excellent experience. The must-see is the visit to the cathedral.
I really liked the explanation of the historical points, the guide was pleasant and very clear and gave us time to walk around on our own. Good experience
Faster option
Bonjour, the guide Bennie was great! He answered all our questions and, being the only French person, he made sure I understood the tour.
INCREDIBLE! The tour guide was amazing and knowledgeable
It was a very enjoyable experience. Lydia the guide was an outstanding person to have, very knowledgeable, gave great information, clear and distinct in Spakish and English. Pablo the bus driver took photos for people.
Amanda was a lovely guide. The tour was approximately 2 hours which left us plenty of time to have lunch and visit some other monuments. This suited us.
La ciudad es hermosa así que no importa que tal sea el tour o si vas solo, lo vas a pasar increíble. Creo que la relación precio calidad del tour fue excelente (incluyendo pasaje de ida y vuelta acceso a 7 monumentos) y el guía (alex) excelente también súper amable, compartiendo detalles de todo y respondiendo todas las preguntas. Un tour que definitivamente vale la pena.. Creo que deberían mejorar dos cosas: 1)La informacion que dan en la página sobre la modalidad del tour: que incluye y que no (por ej yo pague 7 monumentos de los cuales solo 3 eran con visita guiada y el resto tenía acceso libre por mi cuenta ya que el guía continuaba con quienes además habían abonado catedral y eso no estaba explicado de antes), el horario de retorno tampoco estaba explicado así como el lugar de retorno. 2) usar mejor el tiempo: recién al llegar a toledo explican cómo será y nos dan pulseras y dividen en grupos (eso lo podrían hacer en la hora de viaje en el bus) y además al llegar dan media hora para caminar por cuenta de uno cuando es innecesario. Preferible hacer el tour primero y luego dejar más tiempo para andar solo ya que es tan grande que si quieres ver todo no te alcanza el tiempo
It was a very good tour with a nice and knowledgeable guide, Lydia. We're very satisfied and want to use headout even in the future The only thing to complain about is that both Lydia and the drivers could have been more strict about following the mask rules. Too many didn't care. However, we understand that it can be a sensitive thing repremanding customers. So maybe it should have been 4 stars but we're generous!
We had a lot fun in Toledo with our guide Lidia, she was very entertaining and experienced , the bus was very comfortable. We enjoyed beautiful views, nice Cathedral and good food.
Driver arrived just on time, and took us to the right terminal as we didn't know which terminal our flight was departing from 😅
Benny expertly managed giving the tour in two languages without shortchanging either language group. His knowledge was phenomenal! He is hands down the best tour guide I've had in Spain!
Beautiful experience! Very good guide! Well organized tour! Unforgettable day! Highly recommended!
Its reliable
Everything was amazing !!! Friendly staff thank you very much for all !!! Change nothing !
In-depth walking tour with local guide and time to roam iconic landmarks.
Inclusions
Full-day trip to Toledo
Round-trip AC transfers from Madrid
1-hour guided walking tour of Toledo
Guided tour of Toledo Cathedral with entry (as per option selected)
Expert English or Spanish-speaking guide
Exclusions
We had to use the bathroom very much, and the guide sent us about a kilometer ahead, and we never saw her again. It was just a ride to Toledo and back to Madrid. Toledo was amazing, and we wished we'd spent the night there. The Guide, however, couldn't care less that we were lost or needed the toilet.
Toledo was beautiful and our guide, Ramito was super!
Efficient trip and good guides.
Its really smooth And not at all exhausting
The time of the trip is perfect.
We wrre a large group of different walking abilities. The guide would begin giving information before the whole group had arrived at the location. Otherwise he wss good
Very disorganized. It was difficult to find the departure point. The bus left late. On the way back, we were only on one bus, we were standing still, at the end they made us get off and wait for another bus. We lost 2 hours. I do not recommend it. A pity because Toledo is beautiful
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Half-day trip around Toledo
Expert local guide in English and Spanish
Pick-up from Neptune Fountain
Round-trip bus transfer
Exclusions
Meeting point
Toledo
Jewish Quarter
Sword-making workshop
Ending point
Very nice guided tour very interesting
Inclusions
Guided tour of Toledo Cathedral with entry
Expert English and Spanish-speaking guide
You can cancel these tickets up to 48 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 48 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
The guide was very kind and explained the whole tour very well, we liked it very much 👍🏻
I am waiting for my money back since the activity was cancelled due to the guide's illness. They did not offer another one in exchange that we were not interested in.
Very nice guided tour very interesting
This tour comes with entry tickets and a bilingual guide for unique insights.
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