Toledo? When I first heard of this city, I thought of Toledo, Ohio. I did not realize that there was a beautiful medieval city in Spain with the same name.
Toledo is a city with a history of rich cultural diversity. There are Christian, Jewish, Moorish and Roman influences all over the city. UNESCO declare the city of Toledo as a World Heritage Site in 1986.
I was excited to find out that Toledo was a very short train ride from Madrid, approximately 30-35 minutes. The train station is at the Puerta de Atocha. We had booked the train tickets online 10 days before our departure. Tickets for my husband and I were 20.60 euros each round-trip and the cost for our kids (ages 11 and 13) were 15.50 each round-trip. We pre-printed our tickets at home and were able to go straight to the gates when we arrived at the train station. All departure times were available so I was able to purchase a convenient 10:20 am departure time and a 5:59 pm arrival time back to Madrid (5:25 pm departure time from Toledo).
I have read many blog posts with differing opinions about whether to pre-buy tickets or not. Some people write that it is not necessary to buy train tickets in advance. Others have written how they were not able to board at the times they wanted due to the tickets being sold out. I did not want take the risk of the tickets being unavailable at my desired times so I decided that pre-buying tickets would be the safer option. I was happy with my decision to do so and would recommend that you pre-buy train tickets to Toledo, especially if you are visiting during the popular travel seasons. Also, I noticed that the lines to purchase tickets were relatively long when we were there in the summer. Give yourself extra time to purchase tickets if you decide on not pre-buying them.
LESSON LEARNED: We arrived at Puerta de Atocha approximately 30 minutes before our departure time. I had read that the rides to Toledo departed from the lower floor (Baja Planta) but was confused to where exactly to go. I started to go into panic mode when I realized that we only had about 15 minutes until the train was to leave. By the time we passed security and boarded the train, it was mere minutes before departure time. Next time, I will give myself at least 45 minutes before I go to a foreign train station so I could figure out the details of my trip in a relaxed manner and not as a crazy madwoman. I would recommend to give yourself a solid hour if you do not pre-purchase the tickets. Thankfully, we made our train and were able to cool down on the way to Toledo after our mad dash to board. Also, thank God I had already pre-puchased the tickets and had our pre-printed tickets.
After what seemed like the shortest train ride ever, we arrived at Toledo close to 11 am. We wandered out of the beautiful train station and basically followed a crowd of people who walked like they knew where they were going. We walked down a main wide road where we could see the castle in the background. After about 15 minutes of walking, we were able to ride many flights of escalators that took us close to the center of the city. From there it was a 5 minute walk to the Plaza de Zocodover.
I have read many bloggers recommend the hop-on hop-off bus or paying for a taxi that will take them from the train station to the Plaza de Zocodover. Being that it was the end of June and over 90F degrees, I wish our family opted for the non-walking options. Since our family does generally enjoy walking, I would walk again only if the weather was at least 10 degrees cooler. Needless to say, I would definitely not recommend the walking option to families with younger children.
We spent a total of approximately 6 hours in Toledo. I was worried that it would be too much time for our family to be walking around in the summer heat, but I think that it was close to perfect timing for us. Families with younger children should definitely consider spending closer to 4 hours here in the summer months. We spent those 6 hours visiting the Alcazar and the Toledo Cathedral as well as eating at the Mercado de San Augustin and walking the many beautiful narrow streets of the city. Yet, despite allowing my family 6 full hours of touring this historic city, I forgot to do something very important while we were there. WE FORGOT TO EAT MARZIPAN! I am still hating myself for this lapse in memory.
RECOMMENDATION: Go to Toledo! Pre-buy train tickets to Toledo! It is so easy to get there from Madrid. Arrive at the train station early and find some sort of transportation from the Toledo train station to the Plaza de Zocodover unless the weather is nice and cool. If that is the case, stroll over to the Plaza de Zocodover on foot and get some exercise. Finally, EAT MARZIPAN!