What to do in Toledo | 12+ Things to Do and See

By Roberto – (Updated Dec 2022)

⏱7 min

Wondering about what to do in Toledo? Toledo is a small cozy city in the middle of Spain, which has years of history and hundreds of stories. For years, it was the capital of Spain and it is called the City of the Three Cultures because it has architecture and culture from the different religions (Muslim, Judaism, and Christianity).

Toledo is really close to Madrid and we highly recommend staying overnight to spend two days, but you can discover it in just one day if time is constrained.

When to go	Toledo can be cold and wet in winter, and dry and very hot in summer. We recommend visiting it in Mar-Jun or Sept-Dec
How to get there	From Madrid: 1h by car 2h by bus (around 25€/round trip) 30 mins by train (every 30 minutes from Puerta de Atocha –  around 25€/round trip)
Where to Stay	We stayed at Eugenia de Montijo, Autograph Collection, and we loved it. Nice hotel, great customer service, helpful, and in the center of the city.
Don’t forget	Comfy trainers/sneakers, camera, book a guided tour
Cost

What to do in Toledo: 12 Best Things to Do and See

For sure you can see the monuments on your own but there are many details and stories about Toledo, so we recommend hiring a walking tour around the city for some hours to discover all the secrets. Some tours include free access to the monuments, in other tours, you may have to pay separately for access. We recommend double-checking before buying the tours.

Toledo offers hours of culture and places to visit, but if we have to choose a Top 12 best things to do in Toledo, they would be:

1 – Get lost in the streets

A simply (and free) thing to do in Toledo is to get lost in its streets. Its picturesque streets offer the pleasure to discover places away from the main streets and possess the most authentic feeling of a medieval city. There are details everywhere, and as one guide told us “I’ve been living here for more than 20 years and there are still places that I don’t know. There are secret passageways, gardens, or pieces of art, that you can only see if you know the right people”.

2 – Cathedral of Santa María

It’s the third biggest gothic style cathedral of the world, only surpassed by those in Seville and Milan. It took more than 250 years to build, and the views from the interior are even better than the exterior. Originally it had the 2nd biggest bell worldwide, but its fate comes with a funny story. We’ll save that story for the tour guides to tell you. The entry pass is 10€ (or it may be included in some tours) and offers audio guides. Again, we recommend visiting the cathedral with a guide.

3 – Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes

The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes was built in 1476 by the order of the Catholic Kings. With gothic style, this Franciscan building impresses with its two-story cloister full of sculptures and decorative elements, as well as its interior. On a sunny day, it is simply marvelous but even on a cloudy rainy day looks good. 😊 Don’t forget to buy some ‘mazapanes’ (marzipans) at the little stores across from the entrance.

4 – Valley’s Lookout

This lookout offers the best viewpoint of Toledo, hugged by the Río Tajo (Tagus river). To get to the viewpoint, you can walk to it in about 40 minutes from the center of the city, take a taxi (about €5), or take the L71 bus that departs from the Puerta de la Bisagra (it takes 20 mins). The best views are, as always, during sunrise or sunset. 

5 – Rooftop Bar Carlos V

You won’t find this place on other websites of Top places of Toledo, but for us, it was a discovery and must be in this top. You can have amazing views from the top of this hotel while having drinks or dinner. To get there, just press “5” in the elevator at Hotel Carlos V. It opens from Tuesday to Sunday and offers dinner from Wednesday to Sunday. Check their website here. 

6 – Spend a night in Toledo

We also recommend spending at least one night in the city, because Toledo offers a totally different vibe and the big monuments are illuminated.

7 – Visit the medieval theme park Puy du Fou Toledo

I had no idea about this new theme medieval park next to Toledo and it definitely is worth a visit. In Puy du Fou, there are epic shows with dozens of dancers, outstanding scenarios, fights and even horses. We have a dedicated post here:

8 – Discover the Jewish Quarter

Toledo was for years the capital of Spain and also had the biggest Jewish Quarter of Spain during the centuries XII y XIII. Both Jewish and Muslim, co-lived with Catholics in the city in a relative peace (paying money to do their business) and sharing culture and architecture.

Everything changed in 1492 when the Catholic Kings ordered the expulsion of the Jewish (this is a long and complex story) and they converted to Catholicism or left the city behind without possessions. Today, there is a Jewish organisation that cares about what areas were Jewish and put tiles to mark out these areas. There are more than 500 tiles in Toledo!

9 – Blanca Iglesia de San Ildefonso

If you have time, there are other “secondary” places to visit. A good option is the church of San Ildefonso, or la blanca. This huge church has an immense facade and its elegant interior is worth the money. Also, once inside, you can get to the top of the dome to have great views of Toledo.

10 – Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca

From the hundreds of synanogues that were is Spain, only 5 are remaining. Insane. Most were transformed into Catholic churches. Toledo has 2 of the 5 historical synagogues in Spain. The most spectacular is Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca

To visit many important buildings, like this synagogue, San Ildefonso church, or Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, you have two options: to pay the regular entrance fee of 3 € per monument, or buy the touristic wristband, which is 12 € to have full included. My simple advice is, if you are going to visit more than 4 monuments, buy it. Otherwise buy the regular ticket.

11 – Try food!

We were not going to leave something important in a top things of what to do in Toledo. And we know that… when traveling, food is a must!

Toledo has good options and many restaurants, but we recommend to reserve on the weekends or national holidays. We couldn’t go to some of the restaurants we wanted to try. A piece of advice is to go for the bushmeat, like boar or deer. Many restaurants have those options. Another must try is mazapan! A typical sweet made with almond, sugar and egg. Simply delicious! 😋

We would recommend the following bars or restaurants:

• Alfileritos 24 (varied food, excellent service)
• Asador Palencia Lara (great for meat)
• Clandestina (simply food)
• El Embrujo (for breakfast and tapas)
• El Trébol (trendy, good quality/price)
• La Abadía (tapas and beers)
• Madre Tierra (vegetarian)
• Nuevo Almacén (varied tapas)

12 – Look for fake facades

This is one of my favourites things to do in Toledo. The first time we visited the city we didn’t realice that many (so many) of the facades from the houses are fake. Yes, fake. They paint bricks, shades or balconies. They even do fake bricks in 3D!

There are some that are obvious (once you start to pay attention) but other are really difficult to detect. The guide told us, that in Toledo the houses are really old and have a plain facade. In order to make them cuter or pretend they are more elaborated, they just paint them.

This house for example, seems that it has big tiles or bricks, but if you get close to the wall… 😂. Love it!

Extra things to do in Toledo:

13. Iglesia de Santo Tomé
14. Alcázar of Toledo 
15. Bridge of San Martín and Bridge of Alcántara
16. El Greco Museum
17. La Puerta del Sol & city wall 
18. Plaza de Zocodover
19. Mosque of Cristo de La Luz
20. Manchego Cheese Museum 
21. Buy a sword!
22. Corpus Christi

Toledo’s most important and old (since 1264!) festival is Corpus Christi. The celebration itself falls on the Sunday of the ninth week after Easter, normally around the end of May or the beginning of June. Around five weeks before the day of the procession, the streets of the city are specially decorated with awnings, lanterns, and wreaths.

This is a special moment to visit Toledo and see antique pennants and tapestries draped from windows and balconies throughout the old city. Even the cathedral facade is covered with tapestries. In addition, the streets themselves are strewn with flowers and fragrant herbs, making a glorious aromatic carpet.

A bit of history of Toledo

While many tourists opt for visiting Barcelona, Madrid, or Baleares, Toledo offers a cultural immersion of Spanish culture. The city started to grow under the Roman Empire in 193 b.C. and grew under the Visigoth Reign. The king Atanagildo moved the capital from Barcelona to Toledo around 560, probably because of its central position in the Iberian peninsula and the importance of the Río Tajo. 

In 711, Muslims conquered the city and lived there for almost 400 years 🕌. This time in the history of the Iberian Peninsula is known as the Muslim Era. Muslim people enriched the city with culture, architecture, and trade. One example is the Mezquita del Cristo de La Luz (The Mosque of Cristo de la Luz) or Plaza Zocodover.

During the Spanish Reconquista, Catholics reconquered Toledo in 1085 with Alfonso VI, and the city blossomed again with more culture and new architecture. The city achieved its glorious moment in this Catholic Era, with a multitude of cultures, styles, and art. Catholics, the Jewish, and Muslims coexisted for some centuries in relative “harmony“.

Toledo grew during the Spanish Golden Era and was a temporary home for Catholic Kings, Cervantes, the painter El Greco, and other celebrities of the moment. In 1492, the Catholic Kings finally exiled the Jewish from the city, and in 1561, Felipe II decided to move the capital to Madrid. 

Because of this cultural mix, as you can imagine, there is a long list about what to see in Toledo.

Further reading…

Looking for more suggestions on what to see in Spain? Check out some of our other posts below.