Avant train Madrid – Toledo

The Avant is the medium-distance high-speed train that links Madrid-Atocha with Toledo. According to the Town Council, it leaves roughly every hour and takes about 25 minutes, which makes Toledo the easiest day trip from Madrid. Prices and times can be checked on the Renfe website and app.

Toledo station

The station is on the Paseo de la Rosa, outside the old town, on the other side of the Tagus. It is a neo-Mudéjar building declared a Site of Cultural Interest, worth a look before you leave. The municipal tourist office that was inside is temporarily closed, so you will find tourist information up in the tourist office opposite the cathedral.

How to get up to the centre

On foot it takes about 20 minutes: you cross the river and use the escalators in the Plaza del Granadal, which save you the hardest hill. By taxi, there is a rank at the station door and the Town Council estimates about €6 to the Plaza de Zocodover. By city bus, the stop is outside the station and lines 5, 511, 61 and 62 drop you at Zocodover. The ticket costs €1.40 and is paid in cash only: cards and mobile payment are not accepted, and the driver does not accept notes over €5. If you are going to use the bus a lot, there is a rechargeable card with a minimum top-up of €5, and the app of Unauto, the city service operator, gives the timetables.

Alternative: bus from Madrid

ALSA buses leave from Plaza Elíptica every 30 minutes. The direct ones take an hour, and those that stop on the way, an hour and a half. They take longer than the train. Toledo bus station is closer to the old town: it is about 12 minutes' walk with the same Granadal escalators, and city bus line 5 runs from its bays.

Tips for the day

If you are coming for the day, plan your visit around the last Avant you want and leave time to get down to the station, because the slopes are deceptive. To leave your suitcase, there is a private left-luggage service right opposite the station, on the Paseo de la Rosa. If you want to see the whole city from outside before going up, the Valle Viewpoint and the Tagus path are on the other side of the river. Once in the old town, the Primate Cathedral and the Alcázar are a few minutes from Zocodover.

Taxis

To order a taxi by phone: Radiotaxi, 925 25 50 50 or 925 22 70 70, and Servitaxi, 925 66 50 60. The flag fall is €1.80, and €2.10 at the special rate, which applies at night, at weekends and on public holidays.