Toledo: the former capital of Spain, a current UNESCO World Heritage site, and an amazing way to spend a day in Spain.
With only four weeks in Madrid, we were eager to make the most of each and every weekend – and get out of the city and see more of the country. Our first stop, two dreary, jet-lag filled days after my arrival, was to spend one day in Toledo.
It’s an easy must-see to check off your Spain to do list of many, many must-see destinations.
Getting there
Toledo is easily accessible from Madrid. It’s my favorite type of day trip – no pre-planning or booking required, you can just show up to the train or bus station, buy a ticket for the next departure, and get on the road.
Trains run every hour and take 30 minutes to reach Toledo from Atocha Station in Madrid. A one way ticket will cost you about €14. You can investigate the schedules directly on the Renfe website, but be warned it can be fairly glitchy, especially if you’re using any sort of translating extension.
The train is fast, clean and efficient. The only draw-back in my opinion to the train travel in Spain is trying to buy any tickets on the Renfe website itself. The tickets are cheapest if you are able to buy them online, but we were unable to get their site to accept any of our American credit cards.
If you buy Renfe tickets at the station, there is a 3.5% administration fee upcharge for using a self-service machine, and a 5.5% upcharge for visiting a teller.
By Alsa Bus, it will take you about 90 minutes to reach Toledo from Madrid. There are departures almost every 10 minutes from Plaza Elíptica and tickets start at €6 one way.
Plaza Elíptica is a bit further outside of the city than Atocha, so we opted for the 30 minute walk to Atocha from our apartment just off Gran Via to get our steps in and avoid paying for the metro, which can cost between €1.50-3.
Naturally, because this was our first time in Atocha, we got lost finding our platform and ended up sprinting onto the departing 10:30am train. We were surprised to find that we would also have to go through a short baggage security line on our way to the platform, like at the airport. We now budget in some extra time to get from the ticket counter and onto the train.
Overall, I recommend using a website like Omio to see all of your transportation options at one time and figure out what will work best for you.
Itinerary
When we travel, we like to pick one or two must-see destinations, and then let the rest of the day take us where it will. Or, we prepare by watching Rick Steve’s explore the destination, and follow in his footsteps.
Jack, a much more dedicated aficionado of medieval, Moorish, and really all history before 1900, chose the Puente de Alcántara, Catedral Primada de Toledo, and Museo del Greco.
Luckily for us, we walked into Toledo from the train station and entered town crossing Puente de Alcántara, easily checking one item off of our list.
The Puente de Alcántara is a double-arched Roman bridge, built after they founded the city. Throughout much of Toledo’s history, this bridge was the only point of entry to the city for pilgrims to cross the Tagus river.
We walked over the bridge and entered the city, climbing up winding stairs that hug the city walls and slowly made our way towards the Cathedral.
Tickets to the Cathedral can be purchased across the street from the entrance on Calle Cardenal Cisneros. They cost €10 euro each. With the deposit of an identification card (we used our American driving licenses) or €50, you can rent headset audio guides for your visit.
With construction dating back to 13th century, this Cathedral is distinct for it’s blending of Gothic style with Muslim influences. The site of the Cathedral changed hands from Visigothic church, to the central Mosque of Toledo under Muslim rule, and then back again to the Cathedral structure we see today.
We wound though the Cathedral separately, taking in the vaulted ceilings, cloister, frescos and elaborate gold altarpiece. We met up in the Sacristy, which functioned more like a miniature museum to El Greco. To us, this was the real highlight of this cathedral and set it apart from the abundance of Cathedral’s we’ve toured.
We broke for a lengthy lunch and then continued our self-guided meandering tour through La Juderia.
La Juderia is the historical Jewish quarter of the city, featuring the oldest standing synagogue in in Europe, Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, and Baños del Ángel, medieval thermal baths preserved by the city of Toledo.
Our of the Jewish Quarter brought us to the EL Greco Museum, which is free to visit after 2:00pm on Saturday. Tickets typically cost €3. It was an easy museum to tour, styled after his workshop, with rooms that track his varied styles and influence. The interior gardens were a welcomed, peaceful respite from the chaos of the narrow cobblestone streets of Toledo. We took some time to sit, enjoy, rehydrate and use the clean bathrooms.
To end our day, we claimed a bench in the park across the street, el Mirador del Paseo del Tránsito to see the beginning of the sunset over the Tagus river. We people watched as families, dogs and toledians passed the evening together. It was a late February night, but it felt like the easy night only summer can bring to a school kid in the States.
Food & Feasts
For lunch, we paced around the city searching for a cafe with an open table para almorzar. As a fair warning to any American tourists, you will see a Burger King and McDonald’s with extensive patio seating in the center plaza, and it will be upsetting.
We paced around for a while searching for an open table. Finally, we conceded to joining the queue for a table at Tornerías near the Teatro de Rojas. Jack and I tend to search out the most bountiful menu del dia, as it tends to be the best deal. For lunch, we had bread, wine, an appetizer, a main dish and desert for €15 euro. In Spain, lunch tends to be the hardiest meal of the day. We like to indulge and take our time enjoying a table in the sun that no waiter is too eager to turn over, even on the busiest of Saturday’s.
For any vegans, there were a surprising number of options in this medieval city, including Street & Soul and Madre Tierra.
Take Home
Our truly, truly, last stop on any day trip is to grab some souvenirs on the way back to the train station. Toledo is famous for its ironworks, Don Quixote, and marzipan. We indulged in some marzipan from Santo Tomé to take home, or provide sustenance on the no-longer-novel walk back to the train station, some iron earrings for my mom, and a small sword that we plan to use as a cheese knife.
All told, we spent about €80 during a day between train tickets, cathedral tickets, and lunch.
Regardless of how you choose to travel, or what you pile into your itinerary, Toledo is an easy one day adventure from Madrid that can be toured easily on your own terms.
Leave us a comment below to tell us about your time in Toledo, or ask any questions!
