Toledo
Spain
A walled hill in a bend of the Tagus, with a cathedral, two synagogues and the El Grecos still where he painted them
Photo by Thomas Haas on Unsplash
Photos by Wei Huang, Hasmik Ghazaryan Olson and Miguel Ángel Sanz on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Spain
March to May, and September to November (high summer passes 35°C and the old town has almost no shade)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 42mm in Dec
Where it is
39.86°N, 4.02°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Stay the night: the coaches leave by early evening and the lit, empty lanes are a different town from the one at midday
- Go to the Mirador del Valle at sunset, by taxi or the tourist bus, and walk back over the San Martín bridge
- See Santo Tomé at opening, before the queue for the El Greco forms
- Buy the combined ticket for the monuments if you mean to see more than three of them
- Walk the river path below the walls in the morning, before the heat
Toledo travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Spain
Mid-rangeEuro, and cards are taken almost everywhere, contactless included. Keep a few coins for a coffee at a bar counter, and take the euro price when a terminal offers to convert.
ATMs & cards
Use a bank’s own machine — Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Eurocaja Rural — and refuse the conversion. The standalone machines around Zocodover and Calle Comercio are where the poor rates are.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- standalone machines in souvenir shops around Zocodover and Calle Comercio
Use these instead
- Santander
- BBVA
- CaixaBank
- Eurocaja Rural
A Spanish bank may charge a non-customer; the fee is shown on screen before you confirm. Refuse the conversion either way.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Spain
Very safeVery safe. The crowds are the thing: between about eleven and five the day-trippers from Madrid fill the lanes around the cathedral, and that is where pockets get picked. In high summer the old town is a stone oven at 35°C or more, uphill in every direction — see it early and late and spend the afternoon indoors, which is what the town does. Shops and many churches close from about two until five.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the lanes around the cathedral at midday — where the day-trip crowds are thickest, and the pickpockets with them
- the old town on a summer afternoon — steep stone streets at 35°C and more, with little shade and little open until five
- the cobbles after rain — polished smooth by centuries of feet, and properly slippery downhill
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Spain visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Spain
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date (MMR, tetanus, polio)
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodCarcamusas, a pork and tomato stew served in a small clay dish; perdiz estofada, partridge stewed in wine; and Manchego, which is from the plain to the south. Marzipan is the town’s sweet and the convents still make it — Santo Tomé is the famous shop. Lunch is from two and dinner from nine; turn up at seven and the kitchens are closed.
Travel tipsGetting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- CabifyWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
- Against a taxi
- About level with a metered taxi, and where a city sets a flat airport fare the taxi usually wins.
Several cities cap private-hire licences hard, so at peak the app may simply have nothing to send.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Madrid — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Spain, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Spanish
- HelloHolaOH-la
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youGraciasGRA-thyas
- Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePerdónper-DON
- How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
- The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
- Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD
Religion
Catholic
Nominally Catholic and deeply secular in practice. Churches are working buildings as well as sights, and Semana Santa is taken seriously even by people who never attend Mass.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Eat late — lunch from 14:00, dinner rarely before 21:00
- Greet with two cheek kisses, right cheek first, between women or a man and a woman
- Stand at the bar to drink; it is cheaper than sitting and more sociable
- Say buenos días on entering a small shop, and adiós on leaving
Don't
- Do not expect anything to be open between 14:00 and 17:00 outside the big cities
- Do not order sangria in a serious restaurant — it is a tourist drink; ask for tinto de verano
- Do not tip heavily; rounding up or a euro or two is normal
- In Barcelona, do not assume Catalan and Spanish are interchangeable — the distinction matters to people
Where to stay in Toledo
No Holistay rentals in Toledo yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Toledo on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Madrid Barajas MAD
1h 45mfrom the airport· 80 km as the crow flies
About 1h 45m: Cercanías into Atocha, the Avant train to Toledo in about half an hour, then a bus or taxi up the hill.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
