Toledo

Toledo is the perfect gourmet day trip from Madrid, the city has all the ingredients that you need for a perfect tour: culture, history, it is a World Heritage Site, great food, wine and it is only one hour drive from Madrid or 30 minutes train ride with the High Speed Train, AVE.

“A tapas tour is a very good option for lunch or dinner”

The city of Toledo is also known as the city of the three cultures, because Jewish, Christians a Muslims lived there in harmony until XVI century. This mixture of cultures has the legacy of a very interesting medieval city, with lots of things to discover and a very gourmet town as well, when you look at the gastronomy and the wine, a foodie city.

One of the most representative products of Toledo food scene is marzipan, a sweet made with almonds and honey, which according to the legend was invented by some nuns during times of hunger to feed people. Almonds are used a lot for cooking in Spanish and Arabic cuisine. One of the main pastry shops in Toledo has a Don Quixote made of marzipan, which is the largest in the world according to the Guinness Book of World records.

There are also dishes made with game, like Partridge in a Toledo style. A very popular tapa in Toledo is Carcamusas, a pork stew with tomatoes, paprika and spices. In Toledo you can find many traditional and gourmet restaurants, and also a lot of tapas bars, so a tapas tour is a very good option for lunch or dinner. A wonderful town for foodies.

“Toledo is as well a great wine region, with a few wineries close by that you can visit and do a wine tasting”

One of the most popular spices is Spain, saffron, is also produced in the Toledo region, in Consuegra, a town very close to Toledo, where they have a saffron festival in October. Olive oil, one of the most important food products in Spain, is also present in Toledo, as well as cheese from La Mancha, the famous manchego cheese. You could visit an olive oil mill where you can do an olive oil tasting, and a cheese factory to have a complete food tour.

Toledo is as well a great wine region, with a few wineries close by that you can visit and do a wine tasting. You can combine the visit to Toledo with a winery visit and wine tasting, making the perfect wine tour out of Madrid for a wine aficionado.