debbspero

which would be the best way to travel from madrid to toledo in the morning- bus or train? thanks!

Rastaguytoday

I've take both several times. As far as I'm concerned, there's not a lot of difference.

chapla

The difference is the bus is cheaper and it takes you into Toledo.
The train is more expensive and when you arrive you need to take a bus or taxi into Toledo.
I always take the bus to both Toledo and Segovia for those reasons. The bus is very comfortable, coach w/A/C

cruiseluv

When we went by bus we encountered lots of traffic. i now prefer train, just 30 mins.

MaineGG

When we did this, we intended to take the bus, but when we went to the bus station there was a strike, so we ended up taking the train. There was a bus waiting at the station that took us to the center of town.

An unexpected delight was the Toledo station. Quite wonderful architecture.

StuDudley

>>An unexpected delight was the Toledo station. Quite wonderful architecture.<<

I'll second that. We were there 3 weeks ago. Lots of photos.
The Madrid train station is "wonderful" also (a bit of construction going on - but no problem). Both of them are a good reason to take the train.

The train is cheap and the taxis are cheap also.

Stu Dudley

debbspero

thanks so much to you all for your extremely helpful replies! to those who recommend the train to toledo, how do you feel about getting to segovia?

BFGF

One thing to keep in mind is that the train to Toledo departs from Atocha and the train to Segovia departs from Chamartin. In Segovia there is a bus waiting at the train station and it takes you to the aqueduct in town. We picked up a bus timetable from the tourist info centre which is close to the aqueduct and bus stop so we knew which bus to catch back to the train station. It worked well for us. The train to Segovia takes 28 minutes. I don't know about the bus. Hope this helps with your decision making.

chapla

Another reason I don't like to take the train is my fear/nervousness of getting on/off the train! The steps are narrow,high and there's quite a space between the train and the platform.
The station Atocha is easy to get to but Chamartin is quite a far metro ride
The bus to Segovia-leaves from the metro staion Principe Pio-w/big mall,just follow the signs to the lower level and buy your ticket before getting on- drops you off in the center and it's an easy short walk down to the aqueduct.Whenever I visit Segovia with friends I always head back to the bus station and take a short-5 minute- bus ride to La Granja-beautiful little town w/fabulous and gardens based on Versailles-have only caughtthe fountains turned on once!The gardens are free to wander.There are lots of restaurants and little streets to walk around,stayed at the Parador once-great place often overlooked but so much calmer than Segovia.

robertino

Also a fan of the Toledo train station.

Once there, there is a regular bus that will take you up the hill to the city. There is also a sort of tourist bus that does the same thing at a greater price, but it makes a wonderfully scenic circle around the city first.

I would suggest buying a return / round-trip ticket at Atocha if you are planning to leave Toledo in the evening.

debbspero

all of you have been so helpful and sharing. much appreciated!

Christina

I just took the bus to Toledo a couple weeks ago and thought that was a fine idea. I don't even know where the train station is in Toledo (never saw it), but I did take a local bus from the big bus station into the center anyway, so maybe that's no difference.

I just thought it was a lot easier, I didn't have to do anything special about getting a train ticket (last time I had to buy one in Atocha, that took quite a while) and it only cost a few euro each way. And even though the guidebooks claimed the main advantage of the train was the time (which I really didn't care much about, saving 30 minutes), they were wrong in how long it took to get to Toledo. The guidebooks I read claimed it took 1.25 hours and it only took 45 minutes (both ways). YOu buy the bus ticket right at the metro station at a ticket clerk for the company (I think it is one floor below where the bus leaves).

I went on a weekday, about 9 am in the morning and returning around 5 pm or something like that. There are buses that are express versus some stops and I took the express both ways. There are plenty of them, also, about one every hour or so. You do have to go to the Plaza Elliptica metro station which is where the buses leave for Toledo.

You could walk from that main bus station into Toledo, but Toledo is up on a hill and that would be a bit of a hike. The local bus into Toledo is the bus no. 5 which you get on the level below where you will arrive from Madrid. That takes a few minutes, of course, but drops you off right in the central square.

PalenQ

Yes yes Toledo's Mudejar-decored train station, to reflect the dominating motif throughout the town is to me a top sight - one of the cutest train stations in Europe - small but sweet - it is not that bad a walk either as I recall from the town center - yup uphill but if into walking a snap. Maybe take the bus up into the hill town proper and then stroll down to the train station and train back to Madrid - trains are also more dependable on time as they do not encounter traffic snarls.

KirO

For those saying that the bus is better because the train station is much further away: I don't understand you as the train station is more or less in front of the bus station (in the other side of the river)... it's 10 minutes walking and 800 meters away.

Christina

It's not in front of it, it's on av de Castilla la Mancha on the other side of the river. 800 meters isn't exactly in front of something. The train station is on Paseo de la Rosas in the Santa Barbara area, I believe.

KirO

I consider it to be in front as there isn't any building between both stations, but ok, neither one of the stations are just next to the river... but it's 800 meters away just because you have to walk to the bridge to cross the river, but I doubt that people usually walk from one station to the other one...

Walking from the bus station to Zocodover it is 1.1Km and from the train station it is 1.3Km...

It is true that the train station is in another area... just because the river divides both areas... and yes, the train station is on "Paseo de la Rosa", the street which runs along the East side of the river from the South to the station where it diverts to the East.

So I don't consider the train station to be that far away compared to the bus station... in fact bot stations are very close to the center considering the orography of the city.

frankgold

Interesting thread. Let me ask another variation. We'll be arriving from Barcelona on the AVE train at Atocha, and we want to get to Salamanca. Should we take the metro or a train to Chamartin and go by train to Salamanca, or go by bus? Is the bus station anywhere near Atocha? Thanks for all replies.

StuDudley

We did the Atocha to Chamartin shuffle about 3 weeks ago. We took the cercanias "local" train that departed from the Atocha station. The Rick Steves book says that you can ride the train free if you "display" any train ticket into Madrid at the ticket window in the middle of the cercanias turnstiles. When we got to Atocha, there was a long line at this ticket window (which was not in the middle of the turnstiles - it was at the end), so we purchased tickets at the "machine" near the ceranias turnstiles. The "machine" was very easy to comprehend - actually more intuitive than the BART machines where I live near San Francisco (we don't read or speak Spanish). I think it cost 1.80E per person - so it is no major expense. There are 6 trains per hr & the trip took about 15 mins. It is easy to figure out which track the Chamartin train departs from - I think it was track 1 and 2 (The Steves book is not correct on the track #). There is a separate set of turnstiles for the ceranias trains. We were heading to Salamanca from Chamartin.

Stu Dudley

mariaperez

Hello, my name is María and I'm an official tourism guide in Toledo (Spain).
I would like to collaborate with you receiving tourists in my beautiful city. I can speak: Spanish, English and French and a little of Chinese.
It would be nice if you response me in order to know that you have received my mail.

My phne number is: (00 34) 649 22 35 93.
My mailepipedro @ yahoo .es

Thank you very much for your attention
Warm regards,
María

PalenQ

Hello, my name is María and I'm an official tourism guide in Toledo (Spain).>

What do you mean by "official" - you work with tourist office or what makes you "official"?