Segovia lies about 70 kilometres north of Madrid. To reach the town by train, you have to catch a RENFE mid-haul train from Chamartin, which is the main station for all trains heading north from the Spanish capital. The journey to Segovia only takes 27 minutes, with the train travelling at an impressive top speed of 250 km/h for most of the journey. The railway station of Segovia is literally out in the sticks though. You exit the station building to find cows grazing in the fields opposite.
To get into town you can either take the bus lines 11 and 12 or you can take a taxi. The journey takes between 10 and 15 minutes by bus. The bus services are infrequent, but they are timed to coincide with the arrivals and departures of the trains. So it’s best to check for busses back to the station once you arrive at the city centre.
The centrepiece of Segovia is the Roman aqueduct that is believed to have been constructed in 98 A. D. Apart from its impressive length and height, the amazing thing about the aqueduct is that the building blocks are held together by precision and weight only. There is no mortar or anything of the sort to keep them in place.
Other than that, there is the Alcazar, which lies on the opposite side of the city from the aqueduct. The castle is rather strange because it does not really fit in, architecturally, with the rest of the buildings in the town and looks more like a French château, and not like something you would expect to find in Spain.
For EUR2.50 you can go up the tower of the Alcazar. I can highly recommend doing this. It’s only 156 steps and from the top you have these amazing views of the surrounding countryside and those big skies you rarely get to see in a place as mountainous and densely populated as Switzerland, where I live.
I had three hours to walk around and explore the old town, which I really enjoyed. If you can make it, I would definitely recommend a visit to Segovia.
knightofmalta 