Five Days in Madrid and Toledo, Spain
- Candace Ahlfinger
- Aug 23
- 8 min read
Madrid
We arrived at the Pestana hotel Plaza Mayor complete with great AC, I might add, which was wonderful during the heat wave that accompanied us! We quickly dropped our suitcases to walk around and eat since in the midst of flights we hadn’t had time to eat lunch. We went to Taberna de Peñalver upon the recommendation of our hotel. Yes, they had paella which we had read not to eat in Madrid, but they gave credit to the area from which paella originated.
We began our fantastic meal with boquerones fritos or boquerones de Andaluz (fried anchovies) and followed it up with a luscious paella. The streets and restaurant become busy after 8 and really about 9. (Of course, this busy-ness was compounded because Spain was in the World Cup game. Everyone, including us, found a tv and a drink to watch Spain beat France. (2026)) We had eaten abnormally early by Spanish standards but, thankfully, a few places were open.
The next morning, we started our day at Chocolatería San Ginés—churros, chocolate and café con leche. What a great way to start the day! It’s easy to be served—just go in, order at the register, give your ticket to one of the many helpful waiters inside or out who will find you a seat, and wait for them to bring your food. After being in business since 1894, they have serving customers down to an art. In addition to churros, they also have porras which are larger versions of churros. (I still like churros best!) Amazingly, we noticed that pigeons don’t seem to be in the area even though food crumbs are certain to be present.
Disclaimer…I studied in Madrid while I was in college and visited it again with family, but those trips were many years ago, so we approached the city as first time tourists. The only major tourist item we didn’t do was a flamenco show because we have been to many. I would highly recommend taking in a show if you haven’t seen these amazing performers.
Of course, taking in Madrid as first-timers meant we took a walking tour with Frederico as our guide.
He shared Madrid’s history as we walked the interesting streets. Madrid was begun in the 9th century by the Moors whose leader, Emir Muhammad I, built a Moorish fortress, the Royal Alcázar. King Alfonso VI of Castile captured the city in 1083. It was not until 1561 that Madrid became the capital of a Spain under the rule of King Philip II who wanted a new start for the unified country away from his father and the church, both of which had their stronghold in Toledo. Since that time, Madrid has had only two ruling families, the Habsburgs and the Bourbons. Don’t be surprised if the names sound familiar. All the royal European families interbred so much…In 1734, the Alcázar burned so Phillip, now the fifth, built a new fortress/palace from 1738-1755. The Royal Palace of Madrid is the largest palace in Western Europe. (We had a great tour but only visited a few of the 3,418 rooms!)
We paused at the Plaza de la Villa to take pictures of the oldest medieval wooden door in Madrid along with the three famous buildings reflecting the various types of architecture. Torre de los Lujanes, built in the Mudejar style, is the oldest building in Plaza de la Villa. The Casa de Cisneros was built in 1537 in the Plateresque style, and the Baroque-style Casa de la Villa was built in 1644.
Another famous stop was the Mercado de San Miguel. The site was first a church before a fire destroyed it. In the 1800s, the place became a market for vendors which led to the city building a glass and iron building in 1916 to house the market. The historic building has now been repurposed into a successful tapas food hall. Although it primarily appeals to tourists, I admit that we stopped by for a quick, and delicious, snack when less touristy bars weren’t open.
The next day we took a guided tour of the Museo Nacional del Prado, the national art museum of Spain. The building was constructed in 1785 to house the Natural History Museum but was repurposed before it was ever opened to the public to become an art museum in 1819. We chose to take a tour to make certain that we didn’t miss any of the more major works and to also learn more history about the art. Some of the amazing works are by El Greco, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Velazquez, Rubens, Goya, and Bosch. We could easily have spent a full day and not seen all the works, but ½ day was a good start. (No pictures are allowed inside.)
We also did not make it to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Spain’s modern art museum. Thankfully, we had been able to view Picasso’s Guernica before, but the museum holds works by many famous artists. These two museums are close to one another and to Retiro Park which we walked through. (We stuck near trees and tall bushes for shade protection during the lingering heat wave.)
Food tours have become a staple in many of our travels because the guides weave history and culture into the foods we sample. Samantha, of Devour Food Tours, was wonderful to show us parts of Madrid and give us more than enough food! During the tour we visited several centenary restaurants—restaurants that have been in business for at least 100 years—including Cerveceria Aleman and La Casa del Abuelo. Our tour took us through multiple districts with our last stop in the Barrio de las Letras, Literary Quarter, with quotes from famous authors embedded in the streets.
Madrid has so much to do, but we had only two full days allotted to the city. Many take amazing day trips to Segovia, Ávila, El Escorial, and Toledo. We had visited these fantastic places before but chose this trip to spend two nights in Toledo to see more of the city and former capital of Spain.
Toledo is easily accessible from Madrid by train from the Atocha Station, but we opted to take Bolt for simplicity’s sake. During the hour-long drive we left the bustling construction-filled city of Madrid for the picturesque and gentle rolling fields and hills of central Spain. The golden fields with scattered windmills that we occasionally spotted may be more the expected views of most visitors. The architecture changed also, taking on a more typical Mediterranean look. Seemingly suddenly, the landscape became increasingly hilly, then mountainous, and then…Toledo!
Toledo
Toledo has a long history during which it was under Roman rule, served as the capital of the Visogoths (western Germanic tribes), then grew under Muslim rule during which time Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in peace. This coexistence gave Toledo the nickname of “City of Three Cultures” and the city still reflects the different areas in which the groups lived. King Alfonso VI took the city for Christians in 1085, and the peaceful coexistence of the three religions began to unravel. In 1561, King Phillip moved the capital to Madrid and Toledo further declined.
Thankfully, Toledo has retained its beauty and awe-inspiring overlook of the Tagus River that surrounds it on three sides. By staying two nights in the city, we had time to see more of the many famous sites. We also had time to take a tour of the underground spaces. Basically, the city was not only protected by the Tagus River, it was also constrained by it. Instead of growing outside the protection of the city, conquerors simply built on top of older structures. During our tour, we visited Roman baths, a Muslim hammam, a Jewish mikveh, and a well in a long-ago deserted monastery. Ruins are still being discovered, but the bustling city exists over them thus slowing and preventing excavation. (Unfortunately, I could only find the underground tour in Spanish, so my husband patiently waited for me to translate what our guide was saying.)
We also took an excellent city tour with Sara from My Guide in Toledo which I booked through Viator. The Plaza de Zocodover was our meeting point—and the meeting point for many tours within the city. Zocodover comes from its Arabic founders when the square was used as a livestock market. Now the square is bustling with restaurants, souvenir shops, and even McDonalds. We met under the Arco de la Sangre, Arch of Blood, so named because it was near the place of public executions—in the past!
We walked through the Moorish, Christian, and Jewish Quarters before ending our tour in the Cathedral Primada which was started in 1226 on the foundation of a Visogoth basilica and a Moorish mosque. The building was consecrated in 1463—only 237 years later! The magnificent church houses works by El Greco, Caravaggio, Titian, Francisco Goya, and Raphael.
On our own, we wandered through the St. Tome Church to see El Greco’s “Burial of the Count of Orgaz,” perhaps his most famous work. We also visited the El Greco Museum which was touted as being in his home but really wasn’t. I would skip the museum and go to both Toledo churches to see his art.
We also visited the Manchego Cheese Museum which was fun but cheesy! (Sorry for the pun.) The museum part of the store is small but thorough. You then can purchase a cheese tasting, with wine, of Manchego cheese of various ages. I enjoyed the break from the heat and came out knowing more about which is my favorite Manchego.
We took the tourist train, a fun and educational way to reach the Mirador del Valle, the Valley Overlook, that provides picture-worth views of Toledo and allows visitors to see why Toledo was such an important strategic location. The tourist train runs every 30 minutes in summer. Warning: It is bumpy—don’t go if you have back or neck issues—but the audio was good.
We couldn’t pass up the Mosque of Christ of the Light, an excellent example of the reuse of a holy building by another faith.
We ate at several excellent restaurants including La Azotea, Taberna Skala, and Abadía. Tapas and dinners, including Toledo’s famous dishes, Carcamusa and Toledanas, were all wonderful.
We stayed at the Carlos V Hotel in a recently renovated annex that was once a palace. The hotel is very centrally located but be aware that Toledo is extremely hilly—it’s built on 7 hills after all! I would suggest not doing a walking tour in the city if you have mobility issues. The hotel also has a wonderful rooftop bar that gives great views, especially as the sun goes down.
Two nights did not give us enough time to see everything, but we had a great review of the city. As always, there are sites we only walked by including the Alcázar. Another visit perhaps, but we will definitely not visit in the summer when temperatures soared over 100 degrees!
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If you want to see more about Spain, click here for our trip to Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain. (I will update the page soon with info from our most recent visit there.
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