MADRID & TOLEDO, SPAIN
Madrid has a rich, age-old café culture; Madrileños are loyal to their local coffee shop
PHOTOGRAPHS: ARTUR STANKIEWICZ PHOTOGRAPHY, GUNNAR KNECHTEL NAIF/CAMERA PRESS
Though separated by only a few miles of rolling Castilian hills, the cities of Madrid and Toledo are very different beasts: the former home to grand boulevards and raucous nightlife that invariably stretches into rush hour the following morning; the latter an older, quieter town of winding alleyways, Moorish courtyards and sedate café-lined plazas. Both however share an abundance of good restaurants and a soft spot for fine wine, hence Wine Tourism Spain launching a new gastronomic self-guided trip straddling both locations. In Madrid, look out for cocido madrileño – the city’s signature gut-busting stew of chickpeas, pork and vegetables – while visitors to Toledo should snack on tapas of Manchego, produced from sheep’s milk in the surrounding countryside.
MAKE IT HAPPEN
Wine Tourism Spain now offers a three-day, selfguided Madrid & Toledo Gastronomic City Break tour, which runs throughout 2017. The rates include accommodation in a four-star hotel in the capital, two meals and high-speed rail transfers between the two cities (from £340pp based on two sharing, not including flights; winetourismspain.com).