How to Get to Toledo from Madrid

Toledo is located just 80 kilometers from the capital. An ancient medieval city that keeps in its interior the most genuine mixture of the three cultures of the peninsula: Christian, Muslim and Jewish. If you have come to spend a few days in the capital, you should know that Madrid has a lot to see and do but one of its essential excursions is to visit Toledo in one day. These are the ways you have to get there from Madrid.

There are many tourists who are interested in getting to know the city of Toledo, and it is not for less. Many local people from Madrid go from time to time to spend the day just to enjoy a nice walk and a special meal. However, if you are coming to Madrid for the first time and do not know the area, the best option is to hire an organized day trip that will take you there and pick you up, and see the most important sights of the city such as the Alcazar of Toledo, the Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca, its two viewpoints that offer panoramic views of the city or the cathedral.

Practical Information

• Price: between 27€ and 91€, although if it includes food or other destinations it can go up to 80€.
• Time: the excursion can last between 5 to 12 hours but the trip to Toledo is less than 2 hours.
• Recommended if... it is the first time you are going to Toledo and you want to be guided, see the most popular sights and not worry about transfers.

Here you have a comparative table with the different tours:

If you want to manage your visit to Toledo on your own and arrive by your own means, one of the fastest options is to take the train. You might think that a car might be more expeditious, but the truth is that in Spain the train goes like lightning, literally. The country has a special type of train called AVE (High Speed) that can reach 200 kilometers per hour.

This way, in just 30 minutes you will have arrived in the beautiful city of Toledo without even noticing it and you will have the whole day ahead of you to get to know the history and legacy of this place. In addition, if you book your train tickets in time, they can be really cheap, considering the conditions and speed offered.

To take a train in Madrid to Toledo you must go to Atocha Station, at the metro stop Estación del Arte, near the Reina Sofia Museum ( here you have information to visit this essential place). When you arrive in Toledo, the station is a 20 minute walk from the old town.

Another type of train

If you don't manage to book your AVE ticket in time or it is too expensive, you also have the option of taking a conventional train. It may not go at 200 kilometers per hour but it is also quite fast and a bit cheaper, reaching Toledo in just one hour.

To take this type of train you will also have to arrive at Atocha station. Medium distance trains, as in this case, are called Avant and are much easier to get on the go than the AVE.

Practical information

• Price: the round trip price per person on AVE is usually around 30€, although everything depends on how far in advance the reservation is made. The price of a normal train is approximately 20€.
• Companies: the company that carries the AVE and normal trains is Renfe.
• Time: in AVE the journey time is half an hour and in a normal train is about 1 hour.
• Recommended if... you want to make the most of Toledo and save time on transfers.

Getting to know Toledo is quite an experience, but if it is your first time in Madrid, it may not have been an option until a few days before your visit. Don't worry, Toledo is so popular in the community that there are many ways to get there and adjusted to all budgets and schedules.

If you have been bitten by the bug to know Toledo and want to do it in a cheap and improvised way, your best option is to take a bus at the Plaza Elíptica interchange, which can be reached by metro on line 11.

For about 5 euros (10 euros round trip) you can buy on the fly and without having to book a single ticket that will take you in about two hours to the walled city.

However, you should keep in mind that if it is the weekend the buses may be very full but, even so, they usually leave every half hour so, even if you have to wait, you can always count on a seat to get there and back.

Practical information

• Price: about 10€ round trip.
• Companies: the main company is Alsa.
• Time: approximately 2 hours,
• Recommended if... you are looking for an economical option that allows you to improvise the times.

If you are looking to get to Toledo in a fast and exclusive way, one of the best options is to hire a private transport, either a cab, an Uber or a private car. One of the advantages of this type of transportation is that it is much more intimate in case you are traveling with family or a group of friends.

Also, unlike the bus, you will not have to stop at different stops and you can get there much faster and more comfortably.

However, this is one of the most expensive options since, despite being able to share the expenses with the rest of the people who are going to visit Toledo, the total price one way is usually not less than 100€.

Practical information

• Price: round trip approximately 200€ in total.
• Companies: it can be the cab system of Madrid, companies like Uber or Cabify or private transfers like Chofix.
• Time: about 1 hour and a half each way.
• Recommended if... you want an exclusive and private transfer.

It is clear that during your stay you will be able to choose from a lot of tours around Madrid, but you may want to get off the tourist routes and go a little bit on your own. If that is the case and you have a driver's license, one of the options that I recommend is to rent a car for hours with which you can get to Toledo and visit it at your own pace.

Some of the advantages that you can have with this type of transport are to choose the time that best suits you to make the transfers, park near the center thanks to the parking system that Toledo has and also to travel in a private and personal way.

The price is a little more expensive than public transport but much less than a private driver, costing an average of 50€ per day.

The only drawback is that you will have to be attentive to the route and parking lots, but if you do not mind having to drive during your vacation, it can be an interesting option to consider.

Practical information

• Price: around 50€ for a full day rental for a standard car.
• Companies: the most important car rental companies in Spain are Europcar, Avis and Hertz.
• Time: about 1 hour and a half.
• Recommended if... you want to travel in a flexible and personalized way.

Toledo is one of the most touristic cities in Castilla-La Mancha, so you will find it crowded at any time you go.

Even so, if you have come to spend 5 days in Madrid and you can choose the day of the week, I recommend you to go between Monday and Thursday, avoiding the weekend when it is most crowded. You will find the roads with much less traffic jams and the tourist attractions without long queues.

As for the weather, the best thing to do in the case of Toledo is to avoid extremes, since, being a medieval city, it is built on top of a hill and is exposed to both cold and heat. In winter the snow usually arrives to its streets and in summer the 40 degrees so my recommendation is to go in spring and autumn, when temperatures are mild and the rains are infrequent.

In order to give you a general idea of all the means of transport that can take you easily and quickly to Toledo I leave you a comparative table with which you can choose the way that best suits your needs:

Toledo is full of charm, history and cultural richness. Walking through its Cathedral and its narrow streets will make you feel transported to another era where Jews, Muslims and Christians shared the city and achieved one of the greatest cultural legacies of the country.

Whichever way you choose to move to this World Heritage City, I guarantee it will be worth it.