Your driver and guide will pick you up from your Madrid hotel on the morning of your tour. It’s roughly an hour’s journey to Toledo, the ‘city of three cultures’, once Spain’s most important city and one of the few where Jews, Christians and Muslims peacefully co-existed in the Middle Ages. Their legacy is visible all over the city in the architectural diversity of the buildings flanking the twisting lanes of the old city.
Toledo sits dramatically on a rocky outcrop above a river gorge. Exploring the tangle of cobbled medieval lanes with your guide, you’ll be able to visit a number of remarkable sights. They include El Tránsito, one of the city’s most important synagogues, the tiny church of Santo Tomé, which is home to El Greco’s best-known painting, El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz), and the city’s towering cathedral.
Founded in 1226, the Catedral de Toledo remains the seat of the Catholic Church’s power in Spain. Built from stone and brick with asymmetrical towers, its façade is a hodgepodge of styles, including Renaissance, High Gothic and Mudéjar (an Iberian style influenced by Moorish principles of design). Its interior is a forest of pillars, illuminated by stained-glass rose windows.
Artistic wonders fill the space, including a gilded altarpiece and a sacristy filled with masterpieces by the likes of El Greco, Zurbarán, Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael.
At the end of your tour, you’ll have free time to enjoy lunch on your own and explore the heart of the city before you head on to your next stop.
To finish the day, you’ll return toward Madrid, winding your way into the countryside to a highly regarded local winery. After touring the historic cellars and learning about the production process, you can enjoy a short tasting before returning to your hotel in Madrid.
Start planning your tailor-made trip by contacting one of our Spain specialists
These activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences around where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can suggest tours and activities that will introduce you to the local ways of life.
Ávila and Segovia
You’ll visit two of the historic cities of Castilla y León — UNESCO World Heritage Sites Ávila and Segovia — on this full-day tour. You’ll stroll their winding streets and see their monumental medieval fortifications, palaces and cathedrals, and Segovia’s Roman aqueduct.
El Escorial and Valley of the Fallen
You can explore two very different periods in Spain’s history on this half-day tour from Madrid that takes in the monastery-palace of El Escorial as well as the poignant civil war memorial the Valley of the Fallen.
Museo del Prado and Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
You can explore the vast collections at the Prado and Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid on this guided half-day tour. It offers an expert’s insight into the history of Spanish art, as well as its most prestigious museums.
You can enjoy this activity as part of the suggested tours below, or we can weave it into a trip shaped entirely around you.
