Travel with Amateur Traveler · Saturday, August 29, 2026
Felicity Hughes suggests a week-long itinerary for Madrid, including day trips to Toledo and El Escorial to better understand the city's history. Toledo is highlighted for its preserved medieval architecture, while El Escorial is noted as the mountain palace of Philip the Second, who established Madrid as Spain's capital.
“So, I thought about a week. Because a lot of people try and do Madrid in three days, and it's not a huge city. You can do it, but you're just about scraping the surface. You're not really going deep.”
“So you should go to Toledo. And that's because Madrid got chosen to be the capital of Spain over Toledo.”
“The other place is El Escorial. Oh. I would have bet that that was going to be your other place.”
“Because he's the man who put Madrid on the map by deciding that this would be where the court would settle, which essentially made it the capital of Spain.”