Can anyone provides me with more info about these 2 towns?? which is more worthy to be explored?? my short trip to Madrid(3 days) only allows me to choose one of them. i m leaving tomorrow to Barcelona, pls reply me asap!!! tq!!!

If you have to choose, shame that you do, Toledo would have to be "the one". It's medieval, gothic, historic, and even a bit enchanting if you're able to overlook the Disneyland-like atmosphere. (i.e. long lines for entrance to the hot spots, gift shops and tour groups everywhere)

Still, that's the one anyone visiting Spain should see if possible.

You'll also find MUCH information in this forum about Toledo (as well as Segovia) by conducting a SEARCH using the city name as your keyword. Good luck and enjoy your time in Spain!

Saludos, MadridMan

LONG LINES?! BOOO...

How long? When can I go and find smaller lines? I hate making lines... Im going in the 1st 2 weeks of april.. many tourists???

Thanks

Joel

Yeah. In Toledo, lines are for almost everything worth seeing. I got into the Cathedral relatively quickly after waiting in line across the street at a gift shop that sells the entrance tickets to see ALL of the cathedral. There was a relatively short line at Casa/Museo de El Greco but that was worth it. I had REALLY wanted to go inside the San Telmo church but.. wow.. there were about 500 people outside waiting in a line that wasn't moving so I decided NOT to spend an hour of my valuable time there and push on. There was another place... a convent I think, which I didn't visit either because of the line. The Alcázar was closed for renovations when I was there last April so I didn't see how long the line would have been for that.

In Segovia, there was a relatively short & fast line to enter/tour the Alcázar and seems we walked right in the cathedral in Segovia too. Segovia is MUCH less touristy than Toledo but there are also fewer things to see. The Roman aqueduct is very very cool as is the Alcázar and the cathedral is interesting too but after that... there's their Plaza Mayor (don't think but don't recall if it's named as the "Plaza Mayor") and a number of cute, narrow old streets and some great restaurants but Segovia is really nothing like the scale of Toledo.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE to do in Segovia??? I think I did all the TOP things. Anyone have other interesting suggestions for Segovia?

Joel, you'll be in Spain/Madrid the same time *I'LL* be there!! (April 4th through April 18th) <pssst!><first, in a hushed voice...> Can anyone say.... <& now shouting> PARTY WITH MADRIDMAN IN MADRID!!!!?? Haven't decided on the exact date yet but will post that at the beginning of March.

Saludos, MadridMan

Saludos, MadridMan

I think that Segovia has a lot to visit. And if you don´t get up the hill to see the view of the Alcazar and Cathedral from OUTSIDE the city, you are really missing something spectacular.

Apart from the city of Segovia, which I myself never get tired of, there is La Granja which was the summer retreat for the Catholic Kings and Queens of Spain. Stunning gardens, a "summer palace" and an absolutely quaint town. Definitely worth a visit!

and don´t forget the cochinillo asado in Segovia. Absolutely one of the best dishes in all of Spain!

I have to agree with Chica on this one. I prefer Segovia. It's just a fun town to visit. I will agree that Toledo has tons of stuff to see, but Segovia seems like a more relaxed, casual town.

If you visit La Granja as well, it makes for a very full trip

I have to agree with Chica on this too. Segovia is enchanting. Take the scenic train ride from Madrid, spend the day and take the train back. Great way to spend a relaxing day, beautiful scenery, good food, etc.

As to choose between Toledo and Segovia...although difficult...without hesitation I would choose Segovia. There is nothing that compares to the aqueducto.

My husband is from Italy and on one of our visits to Rome, I pointed out some ancient stones and wanted to know what they were. His response: the ancient Aqueduct. "You're kidding, aren't you? How can you tell? There are just rocks!" His response...history.

Great...but when you see the aqueducto in Segovia, your mouth just drops open. And to realize that it still carries the water into the city is beyond belief.

Then, there is the Alcazar...also mind boggling. And since DisneyLand was mentioned in an earlier post...be advised that Walt Disney modeled his castle (the one from which TinkerBell flies out) after the Alcazar of Segovia.

Frankly, both places are wonderful.

There is one other aspect...most of Segovia can be viewed from the outside...and if it's a nice day, you may prefer to stay out. Most of Toledo is viewed from within. In either case, there is a lot of walking...more, however, in Segovia.

Sheryl

So KUNGFUKId, which one did you pick?

I always spend a couple days in Toledo relaxing and exploring when I first arrive in Spain. It is large enough to provide you with good rainy day places and wonderful sunny day activities as well. The bridges and puertas into the city are great. Most people only enjoy Toledo as a day trip and never stay around to discover the 'real' city.

Hope you enjoyed your trip to Spain!!

Yes! I too would like to know which place KungFuKid chose. Segovia or Toledo?

Last spring (2003) I chose Toledo. This spring (last week, in fact!) I chose Segovia.



Overslept a bit on a sunny Tuesday morning (April 13) in Madrid and took the metro to the Princípe Pío metro/train station, exited the station to the Paseo de la Florida, 11 and crossed the same Paseo de la Florida towards (towards the right) the Hotel Florida Norte , passed the doors to the hotel and the next door is the La Sepulvedana bus station. La Sepulvedana (web: http://www.lasepulvedana.es/ ) You pass the exiting bus garage and then enter the door and walk down.. down... down... to the ticketing room.

I arrived there at about 9:10 a.m. so I'd just missed the 9am bus - buses run EVERY half hour starting at about 6:30 a.m. - so I casually bought my "Ida y Vuelta" (round trip) ticket at the ticket window. The ticket (which I can't find now) was only about 8 Euros and on it is the number of an assigned seat. I asked the ticket counter attendant when I could return and he said, "Anytime you like." Perfect! Absolute flexibility!

I took my round-trip ticket and went downstairs to the bus platform. There's a waiting room but I found everyone outside along the walkway and got in line.

The bus loaded at about 9:20 a.m. (I know. I know.. I'm MUCH too detailed in recounting my daytrip - I'm famous for this) and took ANY seat as I had not yet noticed the seat was assigned. Luckily, once I realized it (because one passenger told an American couple they were sitting in her seat and they promptly moved, not realizing - like me - that the seats were assigned) I looked around and saw that all the passengers who were getting on were already on and so I stayed where I was. The bus left promptly at 9:30 a.m. and drove through the Madrid morning traffic out of town, past the large hillside cross of the Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen), 1-minute drive through the tunnel passing under the snow-topped Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, and popped out the other side to a very VERY cloudy and much colder conditions.

We arrived at the Estación de Autobuses in Segovia almost exactly one-hour after leaving Madrid.

I stepped out of the station to the low-lying clouds and frigid temperatures and thought, "Oh great. I was hoping for a SUNNY day! Hmph!"

Getting my bearings I crossed the street to a kind of flag-fronted government building and from there could see the aqueduct in the distance. So I walked down the mainly pedestrian Avenida de Fernández Ladreda to the foot of the aqueduct and immediately found the I tourist office.. - well, it was more like a portable tourist closet than an office but I entered the tiny cube and waited my turn for information and maps, which I got. I got the main, colorful Segovia guide, in English (I already had the Spanish version thanks to Antonio) which detailed and outlined (aren't these two words synonyms?) 4 different walking itinerarys with historical stops along the way. I did 3 of the 4 itineraries (the 4th one, which I did not take, was actually OUTSIDE the city walls and did go to the Iglesia de la Vera Cruz, which I'd always wanted to visit but simply didn't have time or energy this trip) and found them just fine.

I won't go into much more detail of the exact things I saw along the walking-itineraries but will say that I went into all the churches along the path, including the Cathedral, (entrance fee was 3 Euros, I believe) and took a number of inside photos until a gruff attendant told me, by shaking his finger back-and-forth, that NO photos were allowed in the cathedral. I asked him in Spanish, "What? No photos at all? Not even without flash?" But no. None were allowed at all. I hadn't seen the sign at the door - if there was one.

By now, late morning, while still very very cold the clouds were parting and lifting and blue filled the majority of the sky for the rest of the day.

Going on, I was anxious to revisit the Alcázar, the palace which everyone says Walt Disney used as a kind of model for his Disneyland Castle.



While not often mentioned, this castle was rebuilt relatively recently after it burned to the ground sometime in the last 200 years. These recently reconstructed structures always give me a kind of let-down. (this reminds me of visiting Roman theater in Mérida during Semana Santa and seeing the tall, sculpted pilars and statues all about and thinking, 'Wow. Just beautiful!' and then saw the photos of 100 years ago and how it was in absolute ruin, not a pilar standing, totally flattened and then I thought, 'Well! This is just a *recreation* of how they believe it once looked'.)

When I got to the Alcázar and after having snapped a bunch of photos and hearing construction noises, I saw posted on the information board that the tower was CLOSED. ARGH!!!! The views from up there of the city, the cathedral, the mountains, and the valley below are just beautiful. I could have just taken the tour and skipped the tower but my disappointment got the better of me. Besides, it was already about 1:45 p.m. and I had to make my back to the city center, TO Restaurante DUQUE for lunch. :p

Ahhh... Duque. What a great place - arguably the best, finest restaurant in all of Segovia city. Their official name is simply Duque: Maestro Asador de Segovia (web: http://www.restauranteduque.es ) but it's also shown as Resaturante Duque and Casa Duque on the front.



By now it was about 2:10 p.m. and there was only one other couple in the restaurante. I thought, 'Oh. It is only a Tuesday so there won't be many people here today.' I was right..... until about 3:15 p.m. where most of the downstairs dining rooms were full.

I easily chose for lunch, the Menu Típico Segoviano (28.00 Euros) which included:

Sopa Castellana (or salad, I think)
COCHINILLO!!! (roasted suckling pig - mine had the crinkled ear, shoulder, and front right leg including the hoof)
bread
half-bottle of red wine
dessert - I chose the strawberries with cream

PLUS: They brought the nearly obligatory bottle of water (1.50 Euros - I could have instead asked for "agua de grifo" (tap water) but didn't think of it) and I also had a café con leche (1.20 Euros).

All totalled, with tip and IVA, was about 36 Euros (about $43 US) for one person. Wow. Pricey, yes, but it was SO DELICIOUS! The cochinillo was.... wow.. absolutely fantastic. My mouth watered so much I could have skipped the bottled water!

No cutting of roasted, suckling pigs with plates here. You see that image on their ads but I didn't see a single pig cut with a plate while there, including mine since it was only a quarter pig. But in the past, when with a group, the waiter cut the piggie with a knife.



After finishing and feeling stuffed and happy I went upstairs to use the restroom and snapped a couple photos of their other very beautifully decorated (and empty at the time) dining rooms. Then, after paying the bill, I took another stroll around the aqueduct and shot many many other photos from all angles against a perfectly clear blue sky.



By now it was about 5:00 p.m. and decided I'd seen enough and my feet were beginning to ache. So I made my way back to the bus station the same way I came earlier in the morning and found a bus loading for Madrid. Once I reached the door the bus driver took my ticket and told me I had to go BACK to the bus station's ticket window for a new ticket. I thought. 'Hmmm.. That's odd. I have a round-trip ticket. So I went back to the LINE at the ticket window, looking over my shoulder at the bus as well as my watch several times while waiting, then get my NEW ticket which also had an assigned seat. The bus was FULL. Every seat was taken.... EXCEPT THE ONE NEXT TO ME! Hehehee.. Just an hour earlier, at about 4:30 p.m., I finally found the temperature warm enough to take off my jacket and this bus was HOT!

The trip back to Madrid took about 1 hour and 15 minutes because of traffic. And it would have taken longer except it stopped at the Moncloa metro station where several people got off. I decided to get off there too and simple take the direct metro route "home".

Great trip and was fortunate to have had good weather. Segovia is a beautiful place for a daytrip and is QUITE distinctive from, say, Toledo. I highly recommend it.

Saludos, MadridMan