Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles Hospital in Ávila: how to get to an appointment from Arenas de San Pedro, El Barco, Arévalo and the Tiétar valley, with waiting time and the trip home
Almost every appointment in Ávila province goes to Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles Hospital, south of the capital outside the walls, and the journey depends on which side of Gredos you live. From the Tiétar valley the mountains are crossed over the Pico pass: Arenas de San Pedro to the hospital is 83 km and about 75 min, at a fixed price from 117,25 €. From El Barco de Ávila the road climbs the N-110, 82 km, and from Arévalo it comes down the A-6 and N-403, across the plain. The transfer is a car with a driver who takes you, waits as long as the appointment lasts and brings you home, with a companion if needed; it is not an ambulance or medical transport.
Written by Ridelta - Taxi y VTC · reviewed on 27 October 2026
Where is Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles Hospital and what does it cover?
Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles Hospital is the hospital of the Ávila Healthcare Complex, Sacyl's referral centre for the whole province. It is on the south side of the city, outside the walls, in the area of Avenida de Juan Carlos I, with car access from the ring road and surface parking that fills early on appointment mornings. It concentrates the outpatient specialist clinics, diagnostic tests, inpatient wards and emergencies of a province that, because of the Gredos range, works almost as two: the northern half comes down to Ávila naturally, while from the Tiétar valley an appointment means crossing the mountains, and for some specialities the patient is referred to Salamanca or Madrid. Appointment numbers and information on each department are published by Sacyl on its portal.
An appointment in Ávila has its own arithmetic of time: the appointment hour, the margin to find the floor and the department, the wait in the waiting room, which nobody controls, and the return to a village that may be two hours away on mountain roads. For an elderly or convalescent patient the bus is not a real option: from the Tiétar it runs only a few times a day, arrives at the bus station and not the hospital, and the combination of outward trip, wait and return does not fit into a day. That is why in Ávila province the transfer to an appointment is one of the most repeated services, and it is organised around the appointment time rather than the bus timetable.
How do you get there from the Tiétar valley: Arenas, Candeleda and Sotillo across Gredos?
From Arenas de San Pedro the way to the hospital is the N-502, which climbs from Ramacastañas to the Pico pass, drops down the Alberche valley to the N-403 at the Ávila junction and enters the capital from the south, where the hospital sits without any need to cross the city. It is a mountain route, with bends and a pass at over thirteen hundred metres that can have snow or ice first thing in winter, so a local driver leaves with a margin and knows the state of the pass before setting off. Candeleda, further west, goes through Arenas first and adds valley kilometres: to the hospital it is 104 km. Sotillo de la Adrada, at the eastern end of the valley, climbs via San Martín de Valdeiglesias and the N-403 through El Tiemblo and Cebreros: 60 km.
The Tiétar valley is the district furthest from its own hospital, and it knows it: some first-level appointments are handled at the specialist centre in Arenas de San Pedro, which Sacyl keeps so that anyone needing only a check-up avoids the pass, but tests, the specialists who do not hold clinics in the valley and operations are still in Ávila. The province page says it plainly: from the Tiétar an appointment means crossing Gredos. For an early-morning appointment that means leaving home in the dark, and for a patient who cannot drive, a relative who loses the day. The transfer with waiting time solves both at once, with the price per car and per trip fixed before booking.
And from El Barco de Ávila, Piedrahíta and Arévalo?
The west of the province, on the northern side of Gredos, relies on Ávila for its hospital and gets there on the N-110. From El Barco de Ávila, on the Tormes, the road climbs the valley to Piedrahíta, crosses the Villatoro pass and drops into the Amblés valley to the capital, entering from the west and skirting the city to the hospital: 82 km with no incidents. From Piedrahíta, in the Corneja valley, the route is the same and shorter, 62 km. The small villages of the Alto Tormes and the Corneja have no station and hardly any bus, and the province page describes them as mountain market towns with villages around them that rely on Ávila for hospital care; in winter, with snow at Villatoro, the trip needs more margin.
From Arévalo and La Moraña the journey is flat and quick: the A-6 to Adanero or the Ávila road through Gotarrendura and the N-403, entering the capital from the north and skirting it to the hospital on the south side. It is 55 km, at a price fixed before booking. Many La Moraña residents also have appointments in Valladolid when their speciality is treated there, and the sums are similar in kilometres; what changes is that there is no useful train from Arévalo to Ávila for a morning appointment, because the conventional line's frequency does not fit the hour. In both cases the transfer takes the appointment as its reference: the driver works out the pickup at home to arrive with the hospital's margin, not public transport's.
What is a transfer to an appointment, and what is it not: waiting, companion and return?
It is a car with a driver who collects the patient at home, takes them to the hospital door, helps them out and waits as long as the appointment lasts to bring them home, all as a single service booked around the appointment time. The waiting time is booked as part of the service and charged as published on the help page; if the appointment runs long, the patient tells the driver and the return adjusts. A companion can travel at no extra cost, because the price is per car and not per person, and a wheelchair-adapted vehicle can be requested, with notice, from the accessibility page. The booking can be made by a son or daughter living away in their parent's name, with the patient's details and the exact address, and they receive the confirmation and the driver's details.
What it is not: medical transport. Sacyl's scheduled ambulance, with a stretcher or healthcare staff, is prescribed by the doctor when the patient's condition requires it, and a car with a driver does not replace it. Nor is it an emergency service: that is what 112 is for. The transfer to an appointment is for anyone who can travel sitting in an ordinary car and needs someone to take them, wait and bring them back, which in Ávila province is the most common situation: check-ups, tests, specialist appointments, physiotherapy and visits to an inpatient. The province page makes it clear: this is a car with a driver who takes and collects the patient, not medical transport, and the knowledge-centre piece on non-urgent medical transfers explains where each boundary lies.
What about referrals to Salamanca and Madrid, and how do you book?
For some specialities the Ávila Healthcare Complex refers patients to hospitals in Salamanca or Madrid, and the journey changes scale. Salamanca is reached on the A-50, a direct dual carriageway from Ávila: from the capital to Salamanca it is 109 km, and from Piedrahíta or El Barco the road leaves on the N-110 towards Béjar without going up to Ávila. Madrid means the AP-51 and AP-6, or from the Tiétar the run down the valley and the M-501, and the destination hospital is usually in a part of the capital where parking is an added problem: the transfer drops you at the outpatients door and collects you there. In both cases it is booked as a service with waiting time or as outward and return trips on different days, and the price comes out fixed in the calculator before confirming.
Booking is done on the website or in the app with the pickup address, the hospital and the appointment time; for a repeated appointment, several weeks of physiotherapy or the sessions of a course of treatment, a regular service with the same days and times can be set up from the regular-service page, and a care home or clinic in the province can open a business account with a monthly invoice. Two pieces of province advice that matter for a hospital: in winter, with snow on the Pico pass, at Villatoro or on the Alto del León, the driver confirms the day before and leaves with a margin; and during the Santa Teresa fiestas in mid-October the closures by the walls do not affect the hospital, which is outside the walled area, but they do affect traffic in the city.
Frequently asked questions
Is this an ambulance or medical transport?
No. It is a car with a driver who takes the patient to the appointment, waits and brings them home. The scheduled ambulance is prescribed by the doctor through Sacyl when the patient's condition requires it, and emergencies are for 112.
How much is it from Arenas de San Pedro to Ávila hospital?
The published "from" fare is 117,25 € per car, for a trip over the Pico pass. Waiting during the appointment is added as published on the help page and the calculator gives the total before you book.
Does the driver wait while the appointment lasts?
Yes, if you book with waiting time: the service includes the outward trip, the time at the hospital and the return, and if the appointment runs long you tell the driver and the return adjusts. Waiting conditions are on the help page.
Can I book the transfer for my mother, who lives in El Barco de Ávila?
Yes. You book in her name with her address, the appointment time and a contact phone number; you receive the confirmation and the driver's details. From El Barco to the hospital it is 82 km along the N-110.
What if I am referred to Salamanca or Madrid?
The transfer also covers those hospitals: Salamanca along the A-50 and Madrid along the AP-6 or, from the Tiétar, down the valley. It is booked with waiting time or as outward and return trips on different days, with the price fixed before confirming.
Sources
- Sacyl · Complejo Asistencial de Ávila (Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles): servicios, citas y transporte sanitario (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Junta de Castilla y León · sanidad y centros sanitarios de la provincia de Ávila (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible · red de carreteras del Estado: N-502, N-110 y N-403 (consulted on 27 October 2026)
How we write, where the figures come from and how we correct an error: editorial policy.
The services of the Ávila Healthcare Complex, the Arenas specialist centre and the referrals belong to Sacyl and may change; check them on its portal or at your health centre. Distances and times are those of the route engine in daytime with no incidents; in winter the Gredos and Villatoro passes need a margin. The exact price, including waiting time, comes from the calculator with date and time.