If you are looking at budget tours to Europe, then consider Madrid. Touring near Madrid you can discover some of the great small cities of Spain. Segovia, Avila, and Toledo are all nearby Madrid and offer wonderful vacation opportunities.

You can visit these cities on day trips, but to really soak them in, consider renting a car and driving. This loop can take four to five days depending on how long you linger. Combine it with a visit to Madrid, and you have a great week vacation.

We don’t recommend driving in the city, but getting a rental car in town and driving out is pretty straightforward.

The sprawling complex of the El Escorial Palace is worth a stop. This combination monastery and palace is about an hour drive from the capital. There are furnished rooms to visit, and a great library to see, but the highlight of this complex is seeing the final resting place of four centuries of Spanish Kings and Queens… the Royal Pantheon. You can make this a mid-day stop, see the palace, have lunch in town or at the Palace cafe, then continue on to Segovia.

Segovia is fifty miles from Madrid. This town perches on a hill and represents a couple of eras of Spanish history with both a fairy tale castle and a Roman aqueduct. The town was started by the Romans. What is left of the aqueduct is 2,500 feet long and 100 feet high. It’s double arches anchor one end of the town. Have a dinner of suckling pig (cochinillo asado) in a restaurant next to the arches of the aqueduct.

Stroll the narrow, mostly pedestrian streets to the other end of town to see the Alcazar castle. It looks like a fairy tale castle because it burned in 1862, and it was rebuilt in this exuberant style. There are historic furnishings inside and a great view of town from the tower.

Segovia is well worth spending a night. Just be aware, it can be crowded on weekends. Parking is scarce, so make sure to secure parking along with your hotel.

Avila is a city which could be overlooked… but if you’re into city walls, you shouldn’t miss it. The walls are intact, complete with 90 towers. It dates back to the 11th century. The city was the birthplace of Saint Teresa and is an important pilgrimage site. Once you’ve seen the museum and the Convento de Santa Teresa, head for the city walls. The lively section of town is just outside the main gates. Sit and have tapas and enjoy the view.

Now head for Toledo which is about an hour south of Madrid. This former capital of Spain sits on a hill, surrounded by it’s city walls and the Tagus River. It has retained its medieval charm with city walls and winding streets… and lots of hills…. It’s a fun city to wander and get lost in.

See the Cathedral and the Iglesia de Santo Tome where El Greco’s painting El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz is on view. Discover more of El Greco all over the little city. Wandering will uncover bits of Toledo’s Roman, Moorish and Jewish history as well.

To complete your tour, find a Parador to stay in for one more night before you return your car. Paradores are historic buildings that the government has converted to hotels.

Siguenza Paradore of El Cid fame is a castle turned into a hotel and is about an hour outside of Madrid. From here it’s easy to get back to the airport and catch your flight home.

But before you leave the capital of Spain you will more than likely fall in love with their Tapas, which are typical snack type meals, that go perfectly with a nice cold beer “caña”.

You keep hearing that a trip to Spain isn’t complete without trying tapas. OK. But do you really know what they are? What if you get up your nerve to wander into a bar, and you find that there is no such thing on the menu?

Tapas are small, appetizer size portions… of almost anything. They can be a small plate of ham and cheese, or tiny sandwiches, or a plate of olives, a small skewer of pickled vegetables or seafood or… the list goes on and on. Some bars will serve one small tapa for free with your drink, but most bars charge for them.

Many bars only list raciones on the menu. These are larger portions. You might want the larger portion if two or more of you are sharing the appetizers, but you can always ask for tapas size or even a 1/2 racion (media-racion) or for a portion somewhere in between. Some bars don’t serve anything smaller than a racion, but it’s worth asking. You’ll run into these especially in the tourist areas.

If you wander into a bar and you see half a dozen or a dozen different types of food under glass on the bar, it’ll be easy. Choose a couple, order a small glass of wine or beer and enjoy. You’ll be charged accordingly when you ask for the bill. The first time we did this, we were unsure of the price, so we asked for the bill after a beer and a couple of tasty choices…. the bill was so reasonable that we stayed and enjoyed more.

You’ll find that there are different prices depending on where you choose to eat and drink. If you stand or sit at the bar, you’ll get the best price. Sitting at a table will cost you a little more, and if you eat out on the plaza for the view, you’ll pay the most. So sitting outside on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid having a racion of Serrano ham and cheese will be the most expensive way to go… but it could be worth it.

On the other hand, if you want to get a little more intimate with Spanish life, find a little bar on a back street, stand at the bar and take in the swirl of life around you. A smattering of Spanish will definitely come in handy for this!

Don’t necessarily go looking for a particular bar that you’ve read about. The small snacks that they offer change all the time. Just find a bar that looks lively and that you’ll be comfortable in. Sometimes you can order a small sampler plate. This isn’t how the locals do it, but it might make it easier your first time or two.

Some tourists talk about hopping from bar to bar in the evening. It’s fun to do that, but you’ll find Spaniards enjoying these small plates of appetizers any time of the day. Going to the local bars is part of the social scene to meet friends. Tapas are part of this scene.

Remember that in Spain, dinner is eaten late at night. Spaniards love their tapas, however they generally don’t eat them in place of a meal…. But if you’re not up for dinner at 9, 10 or 11 at night, you can certainly make a meal of them.

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