If you arrive in Toledo by train, as we did, your sightseeing would begin at the very moment you step foot on the train station ..
It is a beautiful building with an old, historical feel to it. Toledo was one of the first Spanish cities to receive rail service. The station itself is not as old as it looks. It was built in 1919 - 1920, but in the Neo-Mudéjar style, which fits perfectly to the authentic town's atmosphere.
Some guides recommend taking a bus, or a taxi from the station to the historical center of Toledo, because of the uphill walk and the many stairs. If you ask me, the walk is pretty short and pleasant and the stairs are not that many anyway. So just trust your feet and follow the sign to the "casco histórico".
The first sights that you will see are the arch bridge "Puente de Alcántara" and the town spreading behind it. The cityscape is dominated by the huge stone fortress Alcázar, located on the highest hill.
On the opposite side of the river Tagus you could see "Castillo de San Servando" - a medieval castle, built as a monastery, occupied first by monks and later by the Knights Templar.
The sad true is that you could not possibly see everything that Toledo has to offer only for a day (at least not the right way, with dedicating enough time to all the sights). So we decided to choose a few places of interest to visit thoroughly and to save some hours for walking around, feeling the uniqueness of the small charming town.
As we passed through the Alcantara Gate on the way to the old center several nuns walked past us, all dressed in white.
In the morning the streets were still quiet, with just few people wandering around ...
And then there were the tourists ... individual travelers and many organized groups ...
All coming to see the Gothic "Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo" for example ...
... or the "Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes":
To me, the visit to the monastery, located in the west end of the old town, was a nice, cool escape from the June midday heat. And if you are lucky enough and are one of the few guests at the time, you could almost feel the holy serenity of the past days.
Toledo is known as the "City of the Three Cultures", having been influenced by a historical co-existence of Christians, Muslims and Jews. Therefore, there are plenty of temples of all of the three religions that you could visit.
I found "Cristo de la Luz" quite interesting. It is a former mosque, the only one of the ten once existing in the city which remains largely as it was in the Moorish period. It was built in 999 over a Visigothic church and later, in 1186 the mosque was converted to a Christian chapel.
Next to the small building there is a beautiful garden and from there - a nice view to the Northern part of the city.
Situated nearby is "Puerta del Sol" - one of the may city gates, interrupting the walls, that are surrounding the old city:
Here is another one - Cambrón Gate in the west end:
If you step aside from the well-trodden tourist routes, you could still find nice quiet places and meet some of the local people.
What I really loved about Toledo is:
... the narrow charming streets ...
... including the Devil's street /it is said to be quite creepy at night/...
... the ceramic artworks ...
... the graffiti paintings on the central streets ...
It truly is a great place to get lost in :)
