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El Escorial visit with local guide
Segovia visit with TM
Avila visit with TM
· This is a full day and timing can be tricky. Please convey that to your group leaders and ask that they help you with group logistics to stay on time.
Escorial:
· Call Escorial guide the day before to confirm. Entrances to Escorial are paid by the guide.
· Please make sure everyone in your group has their whisper sets before heading out on sightseeing ( and that you have the microphone/s for the local guide)
· The timings of entrances to El Escorial can only be changed well in advance through the Area Office.
· Please check in advance to make sure the entrance time on your voucher will enable you to make all the visits today. If not, please call the Area Office.
Segovia and Avila:
· Tickets are now reserved in advance through the Clorian system by the Araque office – you should have a voucher or confirmation paper in your documents
· You are required to call the Alcazar at least 48 hours in advance to confirm your group number and expected time of visit
· You may need a copy of your rooming list for the ticket office of the Alcazar.
· There are toilets at the tourist office next to the aqueduct (if they are working). There are also plenty of cafes on Calle Juan Bravo for drinks/rest stop. There are plenty of toilets at the Alcazar too.
· Call or text your guide at least 48 hours in advance to confirm your appointment.
· Find out in advance which place is more important to the group – Segovia and Avila and plan your time accordingly.
El Escorial – visit
Remind your group to leave their backpacks on the bus – checking them in takes up a lot of time.
The bus drop off and pick up point is the bus station. Take your group up the ramps and make a left on Calle San Juan this curves around to become Calle Juan Leyva. Take the second street on your left – Calle San Francisco which will lead you down to a dead end that is covered in ivy. Walk under the ivy and down the stairs and turn right. The Hotel Florida is just up the street on your right hand side. Meet you guide there. If you arrive about 15 minutes before your scheduled meeting time, allow the group to use the bathrooms in the lobby of the hotel (more bathrooms downstairs). Please introduce yourself to the hotel staff at reception. Meet your guide and walk over to the Palace together. The guide will go in one entrance to pay for tickets and will direct you to another entrance where you’ll meet back just after the second security check point. The tour takes approx. 1.5 hours, and includes Royal apartments, the library and the Mausoleum. After the visit, allow time for toilets (again at Hotel Florida).
A – Hotel Florida – Meeting place with guide & bathrooms
B – Bus Drop Off/Pick Up point (there is a ramp from the bus station
up to Calle San Juan, which is faster and a bit nicer than the
road)
Depart El Escorial for 40/45 minute drive to Segovia
Segovia – visit with TM
The bus drop off point is at the Aqueduct. However, if you are told otherwise, the drop off point will be the bus station.
A – Bus Station – bus drop off point
B – Plaza Mayor & Cathedral
C – Alcazar
D – Calle de San Valentino & Paseo de los Tilos
E – Roundabout in front of bus parking – bus pick up point
Aqueduct Drop Off
The tourist office in this Plaza (on the right-hand side with the Aqueduct at your back) has lovely pictorial maps for a small charge if anyone in your group is interested. If you are stopping for lunch, there are good lunch places around the Plaza del Azoguejo. Give your group time for lunch and the meet again in the Plaza.
Your local guide will meet you in the Plaza del Azoguejo and continue with them until the end of the Alcazar visit ( or bring you back to the aqueduct if you prefer)
Either way, the Plaza mayor makes a good place to get the group together before walking back down to the Aqueduct. Allow time for a bathroom break in the tourist office and call your driver and arrange a pick-up time. Buses cannot wait outside the Aqueduct, so please make sure you allow plenty of time for the stop and arrange a meeting time accordingly.
Bus Station Drop Off
The bus drops you off at the main bus station. From here, lead your group up the Avenida de Fernandez Ladreda and into the Plaza del Azoguejo where you meet your local guide. You will see the aqueduct straight ahead. The tourist office in this plaza has lovely pictorial maps for a small charge if anyone in your group is interested. If you are stopping for lunch, there are good lunch places around the Plaza del Azoguejo.
From the Alcazar garden, you will take another route back down to meet the bus, which is parked in a different parking lot than the bus station. Upon leaving the Alcazar gardens, take the road furthest on your right – Ronda de Juan II. This road changes names to Calle de San Valentin and the Paseo de los Tilos and the photo ops are great. At the end of Paseo de los Tilos make a right onto Calle del Puente Sancti-Spiritu (gardens/river on your right). This leads you to a round-about and the bus parking lot is just on the other side of the round-about.
A – Aqueduct & Tourist Office
B – Plaza Mayor & Cathedral
C – Alcazar
Avila – visit with TM
On arrival at Avila follow signs for Cuatro Postes. From here there is the best view of the walls. There is a café with restrooms across the street.
From here, drive to the tourist office on the main road around the city You can ask for maps to distribute to your group if you like. There is an escalator inside the office that takes you up to the city. When you get out at the top cross the roundabout and enter the gate here to the old town. Lead your group inside the walls and almost immediately take the left-hand street – Calle Tostado which leads to the cathedral.
Give your group time to visit the Cathedral and then walk together to the convent of Santa Teresa. It is built on the site of the house in which she was born. The stained glass windows in the church depict the story of Santa Teresa. To the right of the entrance to the church there is a small souvenir shop and a tiny museum containing a finger of Santa Teresa!
Head for the Cathedral Square following the route outside the walls for panoramic views.
If the group is interested they can also walk a section of the wall – time permitting. Group rates are available, ask at the ticket office.
If you are not visiting Avila inside the walls, ask your driver to stop at the Cuatro Postes restaurant where you will get a magnificent view of the walls.