It is hard to prepare for the first sight of the Aqueduct of Segovia. You come around a corner into the Plaza del Azoguejo and there it is — a double tier of granite arches striding across the square, twenty-eight metres high, built by the Romans around two thousand years ago and held together by nothing but the precise cut of the stones. No mortar, no cement. It carried water into the city until well into the twentieth century.
Seeing the aqueduct
The monument is free and always open — it is simply part of the city. Stand beneath it in the Plaza del Azoguejo for the full scale, then climb the stairs beside it to a viewpoint that brings you level with the top of the arches. It looks remarkable by day and even better floodlit at night.
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More than the aqueduct
Segovia rewards a longer look. The Alcázar, a fairy-tale castle on a rocky spur at the edge of the old town, is said to have helped inspire the Disney castle, and its towers give long views over the Castilian plain. The Gothic cathedral presides over the main square. And then there is lunch: Segovia is famous for cochinillo asado, roast suckling pig so tender it is traditionally carved with the edge of a plate at Mesón de Cándido, beneath the aqueduct itself.
Getting there
Segovia makes an easy day trip from Madrid, about an hour by road or under half an hour on the high-speed train. A private transfer from Madrid or Barajas airport (MAD) lets you go door to door, linger over that long lunch and head back whenever you are ready, rather than racing for a return train. Book a transfer to Segovia or see our private transfers in Segovia.
