53409MADThis is a full day, please plan accordingly.
El Escorial visit with guide
Segovia visit with guide
Escorial :
· Call Escorial guide the day before to confirm. Entrances to Escorial are paid by the guide.
· The timings of entrances to El Escorial can only be changed well in advance through the Area Office.
Segovia:
· Call or text your guide at least 48 hours in advance to confirm your meeting time and place.
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 a 40/45-minute drive to Segovia.
Segovia – visit with TM
The coach drop-off point is at the Aqueduct. However, if you are told otherwise, the drop off point will be the bus station. We have included both sets of information, so you are prepared for both cases.
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. 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.
You will finish your guided visit at the Alcazar. Allow your group to climb to the top of the tower if they would like to do so.
From the 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 – 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-
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.
You will finish at the Alcazar with your local guide. Allow your group time to climb to the top of the tower if they would like to do so.
Meet everyone back in the Plaza Mayor and walk the group 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.
A – Aqueduct & Tourist Office
B – Plaza Mayor & Cathedral
C – Alcazar