Toledo Highlights Tour for Explorers from Madrid

We have toured through England, Italy, and now Spain and I can honestly say, very sadly, this was the worst tour we have ever taken. The bus was fine and the guide on the bus was fine, but then we were handed over to Maria, who was in a very big hurry. She flipped between Spanish and English very quickly, and it was hard to keep up. She also walked very fast and talked before the entire group had caught up to her, which meant most of us missed a lot of what she said. She only wore a little speaker and we did not have headsets like on most tours, so it was hard to hear her, even if you were right in front of her – and passing vehicles or loud people didn’t stop her from talking on. At the end, she told us that she had spent too much time with us already and took off. I feel like I didn’t learn much about the town and what I did see was a blur because we were running to catch up most of it– there was barely time to take photos of the things we did find interesting. I was disappointed in the constant flip-flopping between languages instead of one tour for Spanish speakers, and one for English speakers. I would like to visit Toledo again with a better guide because it seemed like an amazing place. It’s important to know that we are not even close to elderly. I have no idea how the people older than us got anything out of it, and suspect they didn’t. We also started the tour in a large square with about four other tours at the same time, and told this was our opportunity to use the facilities. But the only facilities were at a Burger King and a McDonald’s, neither of whose staff was thrilled to be inundated with potty-hunting tourists. I don’t understand why we didn’t go to the public toilets at the visitors center, which was much better equipped to handle all of us. This was our third Viator booking in a week and the only one that was really a disappointment – and it was truly disappointing. Sadly, I don’t recommend it.

Toledo is impressive and well worth a visit. Everything worked smoothly and Lydia was an enthusiastic tour guide.

Benito (Benny) did a good job of handling two languages and explaining the city to us all. We enjoyed the time after the tour to explore Toledo on our own.

Pick up point was easy to find in front of the bull ring in Madrid. The guide Lydia did not enforce mask wearing sadly on the coach. 45 mins free time on arrival before orientation tour seemed excessive to me. The guide advised that it would not be possible to get to the other side of the river to the normal viewing points due to a Sunday procession. Luckily I went anyway and there was a big festival going on with food/drink stalls and the BEST views back to the old city! Plenty of free time to explore. On arrival back in Madrid, again Lydia advised that Reina Sofia museum would be open and free for the last 2 hours. However, it closes at 1430 on a Sunday so was a wasted journey!

Bus was clean and left on schedule. Made a stop for a couple of panoramic pictures before taking an included walking tour. Guide gave us some tips on things to see during our free period. Had plenty of time to see Cathedral, El Greco painting and other sights. Pick up points in Madrid and Toledo were easy to find. Good combination of guided tour and flexibility to wonder on your own.. Excellent guide. I would recommend. Toledo is beautiful.