Day trip to Toledo

If you are ever in Madrid for several days and you have the time, I highly recommend you take a day trip to Toledo. There are buses from Madrid to Toledo and back every 30 minutes and it's a 50 minutes ride. Or you can also take the high speed train that connects these two Spanish cities in only 35 minutes.

Toledo is a beautiful medieval city in the center of the Iberian peninsula, and you can see most of the things that it has to offer in just one day, and without spending too much money!

If you make the trip during the summer like I did, I have several recommendations for you.

1) Clothes: Toledo in the summer is HOT so you are going to need light clothing. I recommend a summer dress and a hat and sunglasses to protect yourself from the sun. Also very important, wear comfy sandals! Let's not forget Toledo is a medieval city and so are a lot of its street! Definitely ditch the heels.

  

2) I would recommend the first thing you do when you get there in the morning is walk around the city. Start from the Zocodover square and just lose yourself in the streets of Toledo. Try to imagine what the city was like in the old times... believe me, it won't be hard.

3) Make a stop to eat. The cheapest thing would have been to take a sandwich with you, or you can eat at a Döner Kebab , which is also cheap and delicious! (not very typical Spanish I know, but very popular among the Spanish youth.) If you don't mind spending just a little more, there are plenty of restaurants in the Zocodover square and around, most of them not expensive at all.

4) The fastest way to see the city is if you take the tourist train. I know these things seem too touristy and even tacky but it's really worth it. The best part of the train is that you can see the city from outside and admire its cathedral, monastery, bridges and roman ruins from afar in only 45 minutes and around 4 euros. If you were to try to do the same thing by walking it would take forever and it'd tire you out because Toledo is built on a hill and going up and down is exhausting, especially during the summertime where the temperature in the city goes up to 40º C easily. I recommend you take the train ride after lunch because that's when the heat strikes harder and at least you'd be sitting under a roof.

5) I would leave the indoors visits for the afternoon too to avoid the heat. The Cathedral is very impressive and it's only 7 euros to visit. There is also a Synagoge and a Jewish museum, both very interesting.