Crazy Trip from Madrid to Toledo (Travel tips)

Back in 2019 when we were in Madrid for a business trip, we decided to extend our trip longer to have more time to explore! Through multiple recommendations praising Toledo’s beauty, we decided to do a day trip to Toledo. We booked a 33-minute train from Puerta de Atocha (a train station in Madrid) to Toledo. The price of the train ticket really depends on the time you go, but for us, it was around $35 CAD per adult for a round trip. There was also an additional booking fee of $9.95 CAD per transaction regardless of how many tickets you purchase. We bought our tickets on the Rail Europe website which allows you to pay in Eur, GBP, USD or CAD.

Honestly, we were so lucky to have made it on the train. When you go… don’t do what we did and make sure you arrive to the train station in advance (especially if it is your first time)!! Since we travelled in a group of 7, our journey to just get on the train was quite hectic. Since there was no taxi large enough to carry all 7 of us, we took two taxis to get to Puerta de Atocha. I was on the second taxi to the train station. As the second group travelling to the station, you would expect to greet the first group once you arrive to the station, but that obviously did not happen. Once we arrived, we realized something wasn’t right. The biggest question on my mind was “where is the first group?” and “they should already be here first”. That was when we realized there were multiple entrances that taxis dropped passengers off at.

All of our phones were on airplane mode since the roaming fees would’ve been super expensive. But luckily through quick thinking, we connected to the public wifi at the station. We made a quick call through the unstable wifi network and met up in the station, but that wasn’t the end of all our problems. We didn’t know where to board the train from! Everything was in Spanish and everyone spoke Spanish. We quickly approached a security guard and used our translator app in hopes that he would be able to guide us in the right direction. The train departure platform was quite far or much further than it had to be. We literally ran from the entrance to the direction the security guard pointed us to. While we were running, I noticed something wasn’t right. Somehow, we ran past our departure gate and had to run back. It was definitely an experience to remember.

Toledo Railway Station

WHAT TO DO

Since we only had a day in Toledo, there was no time to waste! It was time to explore, shop, eat, and enjoy as much as we could! We signed ourselves up for a 24-hour hop-on hop-off bus tour. You can either get tickets while you are in Toledo like we did or you can purchase tickets ahead of time online here!

The price of the tickets range from $21-39 USD depending on what you would like to have included in your itinerary. Make sure to bring your own earbuds to plug in and listen to the audio guide on the history of Toledo that is available in 12 languages! The commentary keeps you entertained as you ride to your next destination! Besides listening to the commentary there are plenty of beautiful views!!

Near the Alcazar de Toledo 16th century palace was the Plaza de Zocodover. It was a very populated plaza with many restaurants and shops. It was also very festive and decorated from head to toe in lights!

The best part of the hop-on and hop-off bus is that you can get on and off as many or as few times are you like. If you’re short on time or not interested in a particular destination you can continue riding to the next stop. The bus is super helpful to help you see Toledo and many famous attractions all in one day without stressing out on planning your trip.

San Martin Bridge

The hop on and hop off ticket did not only give us access to the bus for 24 hours, but it also gave us access to the Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo. This is also known as the Toledo Cathedral which is a Roman Catholic Church in Toledo.

Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo

Besides giving yourself time to complete the hop-on hop-off bus tour, save some time to shop in Toledo itself! There are many shops and many restaurants to choose from! We spent all day exploring Toledo through the tour in that we didn’t have too much time to get souvenirs!

We passed by an 18th century hotel building. It looked super nice and aesthetic from the outside. We were walking around at night at that point so the lights were all lit up!

I am pretty sure that because we travelled to Toledo around Christmas time, the Puente de Alcántara was decorated with lights! It was super pretty! The arch of lights went across the bridge.

Puente de Alcántara

TRAVEL TIPS

• I would recommend aiming to arrive 45 mins in advance before your train departs if you are not familiar with the station. In addition, your train and gate will be displayed on the departure screen 30 minutes before departure.

• I would also recommend getting a phone card in Madrid. They aren’t very expensive either. We ended up getting one later on which was a huge blessing!! It made everything so much easier since we could use data whenever we needed to.

• Bring your earbuds for hop-on hop-off bus

• Dress for the weather!! We went during December so we found it a bit chilly while sitting on the second floor open roof hop on and hop off bus!

Since we were travelling with kids, we decided to take the 1030am train from Madrid to Toledo instead of an earlier one. When we arrived in Toledo our plan was to have lunch first then go exploring. Since we started exploring around noon, to maximize the time we had in Toledo, we took the last train back at 2130. To be completely honest, we were exhausted after walking and exploring all day. We would have preferred to leave right after dinner but since we already had tickets booked to return to Madrid at 2130, we spent time after dinner relaxing and unwinding at a café.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to share your experiences below! Let’s continue exploring the world together!

-FELI