Madrid/Toledo

Jean,

I'd suggest spending your time in Toledo prior to going to Madrid. The reason being that Madrid is closer to the airport.

Toledo is an easy 30 minutes train ride from Madrid's Atocha train station.

Having said all this, you can certainly reverse the order of your visits but just know that you'll need to give yourselves the extra time to get to Madrid from Toledo.

One more thing... If you decide to stay in Toledo the night before your flight, and if your flight is in the morning (on the weekend), keep in mind that the first train departing from Toledo is at 9:35AM.

Have a wonderful trip!

Hi Priscilla; I guess I wasn't clear; we do plan on staying in Madrid at the end of our tour but I wanted to know if I should spend 2 or 3 nights in Toledo prior to ending in Madrid. Would you recommend spending more nights in Toledo or more in Madrid?
Thanks,
jean

Hi Jean,

Would you recommend spending more nights in Toledo or more in Madrid?

That's a very personal decision ;-)

My mom & I spent 3 nights in Madrid on our first trip to Spain (years ago) and we only visited Toledo one afternoon.
On our most recent trip, we spent 5 nights in Toledo and only one night in Madrid (night before flying home)
Madrid is a large city with 3 amazing museums, but I prefer Toledo over Madrid.

I spent 3 nights in Toledo and wouldn't have minded having one more. I really enjoyed wandering around Toledo, getting off the path between the Zocodover Square and the cathedral (along which the tourists tend to congregate). But Madrid is a large city with some major sights, and not all close together, so it takes time to move between them. You need to read about Madrid in your guide book and decide how many of those sights you want to see.

In addition to Toledo, Madrid has other major side-trip possibilities. I haven't been to El Escorial but really liked Segovia and Cuenca. Segovia, like Toledo, can be scheduled sort of at the last minute without risk of very costly train tickets (beware late-in-the-day sell-outs on trains returning to Madrid, though). For Cuenca you really need to plan ahead, because you need to take a fast AVE train to make the town viable as a day-trip, and the AVE is really only affordable if you buy the ticket well in advance.

The others are correct, how much time you spend in each is based on your own personal interests. Toledo is not big and for some people, after a day they might get bored with it. But if you love just exploring and taking your time, 2-3 days is a good amount. Madrid has some of the best art museums in the world, but if that doesn't interest you much, you may find it a little boring compared to other cities. Or you can use Madrid as a base and explore nearby smaller cities.

U need to balance 3 things ...
1. Time in Toledo
2. Time for Madrid's wonderful museums
3. Time to explore other places from Madrid

With a Toledo emphasis, I would go ...
Day
1. To Toledo (3N)
2.3. Toledo sights
4. Early train to Madrid (4N). Afternoon visit to Prado
5. Day to Segovia
6. Madrid sights (incl Thyssen)
7. Reina Sofia then to El Escorial
8. Depart Madrid

I spent three nights in Toledo on a trip two years ago and that seemed just about right. I have spent weeks and weeks in Madrid and always plenty of things to do - both new and repeat activities. If you like museums and art there is really no way to compare the amount of activities between the two cities.

Also, don't forget that there is no way (accept by taxi) to travel directly from Toledo to the airport. All other modes (train, bus) require you to return to Madrid, then head out to Barajas.

This depends on your likes and dislikes. My opinion is...complicated. I don't love either place the way I love Barcelona, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, or really anywhere in Andalucia, but both Madrid and Toledo are well worth a visit. I would add nights to any of those places and then do 2 Toledo, 3/4 Madrid at the end.
But if you are set on 7 nights in this area here are my suggestions:

3 nights is ok for Madrid, unless you love art museums then I'd do the 4.

4 is way too long for Toledo, in my opinion. I enjoy it, but 2 days is enough for me. People rave about being there at night and I'm torn. It is indeed beautiful, but it is also pretty dead. Once the day trippers leave there isn't much going on and the streets are near deserted. I prefer a little more energy, a place where more people live and stay, not so dominated by day trip visitors. I'd do two full days in Toledo which can be one or two nights depending on your transit preferences.

Are you going to Segovia or Avila? Perhaps you could day trip there - from either place if you have a car, by public transit from Madrid. If you have a car, the Consuegra windmills are fairly close to Toledo as well.

I'll add one other point to the above, excellent, replies. To get from Toledo to anywhere else in Spain (without a car), you need to go through Madrid. That means that if you feel the need to "escape" Toledo to take day trips, you have convoluted routings. If you're in Madrid and want to escape, it's an easy daytrip to Segovia, Avila, El Escorial, etc.

I agree with the idea that Toledo is not just deserted but dead at night. While two nights would be fine, because that would be almost two full days and you could see the sights at a leisurely pace, more would not please me.

While Madrid is often thought of as interesting just for its "big three" museums (which are indeed great), there are also other museums. My favorite was the Museo Sorolla, which is the artist's former house and has lots of his paintings. I love Parque Retiro. I also enjoyed walking around various neighborhoods. La Latina (in Rick's book) is a mixture of hipster and Bangladeshi. Chueca is gay, and Salamanca purrs with wealth; neither is in Rick's book, but both are close to the center. If you like large, high energy cities, don't short-change Madrid.