Hi, for those who want to go visit Toledo, the beautiful and picturesque city south of Madrid, here's a sort of travel report. Sorry, it's a bit long :-( I tried to write down every little advice I can think of :-(
Visited Toledo twice already, first was last year's New Year´s Eve and then I returned again last weekend because I have a friend/turista visiting from NL, The info here is culled from both visits.
Why visit Toledo? Because the entire city is a Unesco Heritage site, and it was the former capital of Spain. Because the city is so well preserved, it has been hailed as a living monument. Toledo is easily reached via the AVE train from Madrid. It is possible to do a day trip to Toledo, but I would advice if you have time, to sleep here too. The sunrise is beautiful, and it´s nice to wake up and walk through the city in the morning.
From Madrid: One may opt to take the bus (takes two hours) but for me, I took the high speed AVE (AVE stands for Alta Velocidad) Train from Madrid´s Atocha Station. If you take AVE, travel time from Atocha to Toledo is only 30 minutes! For daytrippers, better use this option to save time. Price for AVE Train: 25 Euros for return tickets
From the Toledo Train Station: One may take a taxi to the city. The city is like a fortress. That is, it is separated by a river and one has to climb through some roads to get to this UNESCO heritage city. The Taxis offer a flat rate of 5 Euros to the city per cab. Or if you want to let the taxi show you around a bit, they will charge a 15Euro special sightseeing fee.
To be honest, if you do not have any big and/or heavy luggages, the best way to approach Toledo's walled city is to walk your way up to the city. We did it the first time, and it´s more scenic as you will walk through the river that serves to separate Toledo from the rest of Castille-La Mancha, and you will have to walk through the stone paths going up the city´s walled interiors. It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk to the center of the city from the train station.
What to see/do:
Take the sightseeing train that winds through and outside the city. It will go to areas that are outside the city and are hard to go to unless you have a car. It also allows you to see all the places you can visit, so you can budget your time where to concentrate/how to map your routes/what you are willing to drop, etc. Sightseeing Train is 7Euros per person.
However, Do not Miss:
The Cathedral –gold tableaus, grand paintings!
The Sta Cruz Museum-- to see the works of the painter, El Greco, literally translated as The Greek, because he was born in Greece, but became one of Spain's most famous painter.
Also, El Greco´s restored house with some of his and his son´s paintings. Actually, this is such a nice place to hangout as the museum has a great outdoor area with chairs and a well-kept garden. One can spend hours here just chatting and taking a rest (after walking and walking)
Also, take a pic of Miguel Cervantes’ and Don Quixote´s placemarks in the city.
Eat at Confiteria Santo Tome ---the famous mazapan bakery, supposedly makes the best mazapan (marzipan) throughout Spain. Yes, they make really delicious goodies! However, note that their marzipan do not have preservatives, so if you plan to bring home some to Pinas, ask the seller. Because as I remember, the marzipans (baked daily) are only good up to five days from purchase.
The city has a Jewish quarter, a Moslem quarter, and the city center. Enjoy the medieval feel, and roam around the city. It´s nice to walk through cobblestoned paths, and discover small plots of greeneries while you explore the cityJ Do not be afraid or hesitant to ask the locals when you get lost. They are verrrry, verrry helpful and will go out of their way to help you go to wherever you want to go.
There are a lot of restaurants in the city serving very affordable meals ( 10-15€ for a two course meal with wine and dessert). The last time we went, we stumbled upon La Perdiz, which was a Michelin-recommended restaurant. Good food and a swoon-worthy dessert plate (olive oil and mint ice-cream, the richest chocolate cake ever and a jellied raspberry). Their set lunch costs 13€ including a choice of wine or water. They are famous for partridge dishes (thus the name, perdiz), but didn't try them.
What to buy from Toledo:
Swords, decorative metal crafts. Toledanos are famous for their metal crafts
Earrings, Jewelries – Toledo jewelry have a unique design called Damasquino, something they got from the years when Toledo was under the Moslems. Very pretty! Perfect jeweleries, not too expensive too. I was able to buy earrings for only 5 to 10 € per pair.
I hope this helps those who are planning to visit Toledo :-)
