Need help or advices for Day Trip to Toledo

Easy enough to do with any tourist map.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187514-c107037/Madrid:Spain:Day.Trip.To.Toledo.html

From Madrid, take the AVE train from the Atocha Station. Get your tickets in the ticket counter room on the level with the tropical garden. When you enter the room get a number just like for the ice cream shops here. Get a round trip ticket and go to the loading platform. The Ticket will have the car number and seat number on it. 26 minutes later you will be in Toledo, the only stop. As you exit the station, there are tour buses immediately in front. Bypass them and get a local bus on the street outside the parking lot. Take it to Plaza Zodocover. Ask for assistance..the people are very helpful. From Plaza Zodocover, go down the hill to the Cathederal. (There is a tourist office just off the plaza with maps, etc. The ticket office, gift shop for the Cathederal is on the side street across from the entrance. Get a hand held audio guide. The time there will be one hour more or less, depending on your speed.

From there back to Plaza Zodocover, and go through the kestone arch. Easily seen..Turn left just past the statue of Cervantes, and there is a great sidewalk café just ahead of you...actually fills the street as it dead ends. After lunch, the Santa Maria (?) Museum is adcaent to the restaurant. as you walk back out the street, turn left and you are at the entrance. Great museum with changing and non changing exhibits. From there walk up the hill to the Alcazar and the Military Museum. You actually enter from the basement. Well worth seeing, and not just military exhibits.

If you have the time, and energy, ask for directions to the Jewish Quarter and seethe buildings there...also the St. Tome church. or El Greco's house.

Then hail a taxi back to the train station.

Have fun!!!

I wanted to take a moment to thank HJ for the fine recommendations, as well as Neil. Neil's linked article was absolutely amazing! I would have never found it on my own. So, Neil if you are still checking this thread I'd love to know how to search TripAdvisor for a similar article on Sevilla. Thank you.

One additional thought I forgot...you should be able to hail a taxi on the streets....or, if you are at the House of El Greco, there is usually several of them parked near the entrance....and an excellent Pizza place around the corner, next to the souvenir shop on the corner at the base of the road coming down the hill... And thanks for the comment. Toledo is one of my favorite cities to visit there... There are also taxis outside the train station...about a 5 o7 euro fee I think to the Plaza Zodocover.. and a ride you may never forget!!!

It is very easy to take a train from Madrid, it is actually a pretty short trip!. You can take a bus from the train station into old Toledo and then walk around. I stayed at an airbnb place, not in the old city, and walked, and walked, and walked. If you are a good walker and have comfortable shoes, you can do it all by walking. The bus that goes into the old city only stops two places. It is pretty small and you can cover most of it in a day.

You don't need a guided tour unless you want to spend the money. A guide will always enhance a visit, but you will still enjoy Toledo without one!

I have been 5 times to Toledo and would have some suggestions.
The first one is to make sure you go with comfortable shoes. Toledo is not an easy City to walk. The second one is to ensure you bring a hat if the day is hot.
The Tripadvisor article posted above is very complete. I miss however a couple of things which I´d like to share. In my opinion one of the best things in Toledo are the views from outside the City. At the other side of the Tajo river you can enjoy great views of Toledo. If you are not driving you would need to either walk (it may not be the best option) or take the small train that makes the tour around the city. The train leaves from Zocodover. Taxi, as suggested in the thread is also a great option.
One of Toledo´s best restaurants is located at the other side of the river: La Ermita Views are superb.

In Toledo I would recommend Locum. Excellent food and just round the corner from the Cathedral. Las 4 Estaciones is a good option too (not mentioned in the Tripadvisor article I think). Otherwise you should be careful with food in Toledo since many restaurants offer very low value for money.

I agree you may not needed a guided tour in Toledo, though a guided tour can include things which are not easy to reach. Wind mills are one of those things. You can get to Consuegra by bus. another option is a tour, though they are expensive. http://winetourismspain.com/270/toledo-tour-from-madrid

2 last suggestions.
La Casa del Judio is interesting and normally not crowded http://www.toledo-turismo.com/en/casa-del-jud%C3%ADo_155
Views from Los Jesuitas are very good (you need to climb the stairs and enjoy excellent views of Toledo. Los Jesuitas are located 3 minutes from the Cathedral.

Good advice so far. I also highly recommend the two former synagogues as they are both spectacular. Both were built in the Mudejar style (Moorish style and craftsmen but built after the Reconquista). One has a great museum of Jewish history and culture in Toledo and the other is a great space of Moorish columns and arches. And there is a small Moorish mosque built about 1000AD and later converted into a church. It was built with Visogothic column capitals and sits on the site of an excavated Roman road. If ever you wanted to see the layers of history in one place, this is it. It's small but worth it if you like such things. Located down near the main gate. The sites pass gets you into all three along with several other main sites. If visiting them, the pass is worth it.