By living in Madrid, I get lots of visits from friends and family, and Toledo is always a must during their visit.

It´s a beautiful day trip that you can do from Madrid to visit this city which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.

How to get there?

The closest airport is Madrid Barajas International Airport. It is 50 minutes away by car.

By car, it is around 50 minutes from Madrid, taking the A-42 highway. We parked in Parking Recadero (Paseo Recadero, 22, PC 45004). I don´t remember how much we paid, it wasn´t more than 10 euros per 3 hours.

By train, it leaves from Atocha train station in Madrid center, and takes around 30 minutes  to get there, and 9 euros. The railway station is not right in the center, but you can walk from there to the center or take buses L-5, L-6.1, L-6.2, L9.2, L-22 and B-2

There are also buses that leaves from the south of Madrid to Toledo (Elliptical Square Station or “Estación de Plaza Elíptica” in spanish). But if you are in Madrid just a couple of days, I´ll suggest to take the train to Toledo, which is faster, in the morning, have a nice lunch there to then go back to Madrid in the afternoon.

Here is a map I created with the places I visited, where I ate and also the places I missed.

What to see?

• We started our day a little late, very relax, arriving at Toledo at 13:00. The first stop was the   “Mirador del Valle” where we got this amazing view of the city, and a coffee in “Kiosko Base”

• From there, we drove to the “Recadero Parking” passing next to the San Martin bridge and the Cambron Gate, parked there since it is linked with the city at a higher level by a  system of covered escalators. The escalators  cover a height difference of 36 meters

 

• Since it was almost 14:00, we walked to the restaurant I booked in the morning: Alfileritos 24 and have a quite nice lunch, with a couple of wine glasses
• We visit Puerta del Sol (Sun Gate), Ermita del Cristo de la Luz, Zocodover square,
  Alcázar de Toledo, Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo, Plaza Mayor and Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Square)

• We then stopped at the  Sagrados Corazones Sanctuary (Iglesia/Church San Ildefonso), paid 2 euros to climb the stairs till the top of the tower of the church, where you get a pretty nice view of the city, and actually it is always empty, I guess it´s not a well-known place

Where to eat?

This time we had a nice lunch in ALFILERITOS 24 restaurant, which is placed in an old building with several floors, but with new interiors. The food was excellent, although  only one waiter for the floor who kept disappearing which was a little frustrating. That being said, due to the food quality, I would definitely return.

We ordered, to share:

• Pickled partridge salad with baked apple and a berry dressing
• Roast duck crunchy rolls with apple and a sweet chili sauce
• Red tuna tartare with seaweeds and guacamole

For dessert:

• Little lemon and chocolate doughnuts with white chocolate and yogurt
• Marzipan (typical from Toledo) soufflé with cinnamon ice cream, which was my favorite

We were three person, and paid around 25 per person for all of these and 1 bottle of white wine. They also offer a tasting menu (without drinks) for 39,99 euros per person.

What did we miss?

There is always an excuse to go back to beautiful places. This time, since we were only around 4 hours in Toledo, we didn´t get to see all the city, but definitely next time I´ll go to:

• Synagogue of Santa María La Blanca
• Toledo´s Roman circus
• Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
• Santo Tomé Church
• Bisagra Gate
• Azarquiel Gate
• The view from “Los Cigarrales”
• Alcantara Gate

I hope you have a great time in Madrid and in Toledo. Although, I wasn´t born or raised in Madrid, I have been living here the past 9 years, so it feels like home to me, a home that I enjoy very much.