Toledo, Castile-La Mancha

Day 1

• Primatial Cathedral of Santa María

  One of the masterpieces of Spanish Gothic, the primatial seat of Spain: enormous, with the baroque 'Transparente', a sacristy that's a picture gallery (El Greco, Goya, Caravaggio) and a vast treasury.

• Alcázar and the Tagus view

  The square fortress dominating the hill, today an army museum and library. All around, the alleys drop towards the Tagus, which encircles the city on three sides.

• Church of Santo Tomé (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz)

  It holds El Greco's masterpiece, painted for this very place: one of the rare cases where you see a famous painting exactly where the artist conceived it.

Day 2

• Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes

  Isabelline Gothic at its peak, built by the Catholic Monarchs (1477-1504) as their mausoleum: from the outer wall still hang the chains of the Christian slaves freed at Granada. The two-storey cloister is among Spain's finest.

• Marzipan and damascening workshops

  In the convents and historic pastry shops you buy artisan mazapán year-round; in the centre's workshops you still find damascened objects with hand-inlaid gold thread.

Day 1

• Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca✦ hidden gem

  Built as a synagogue by Muslim craftsmen in Mudéjar style, later a church: horseshoe arches and white columns tell Toledo's three cultures in a single building.

• Synagogue of El Tránsito and Sephardic Museum✦ hidden gem

  A 14th-century synagogue with splendid stucco decoration, today a museum of Spanish Jewish culture in the heart of the old judería. Often quiet compared with the cathedral.

• Mirador del Valle✦ hidden gem

  From the other bank of the Tagus, the spot from which you see all of Toledo perched on its spur, as in El Greco's paintings. Magnificent at sunset and at night with the city lit up.

Day 2

• Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz✦ hidden gem

  A small mosque from the year 999, among the best preserved of Islamic Spain: nine brick vaults, each different, and caliphal horseshoe arches. A five-minute visit worth a whole art-history textbook.

• Puente de San Martín✦ hidden gem

  The 14th-century bridge over the Tagus on the west side, with fortified towers at each end: a free panoramic walk over the river gorge, and for the bold a zipline crossing the Tagus right alongside.

Day 1

• Marzipan and damascening workshops

  In the convents and historic pastry shops you buy artisan mazapán year-round; in the centre's workshops you still find damascened objects with hand-inlaid gold thread.

• Carcamusas✦ hidden gem

  Pork stew in tomato sauce with peas and a spicy touch, born in the 1950s at Bar Ludeña, which still serves it: the most Toledan tapas dish there is, to be mopped up with bread.

• Perdiz estofada and game cooking✦ hidden gem

  Partridge stewed with onion, garlic, vinegar and white wine is the historic speciality of the Toledo mountains, hunting country: exceptionally tender meat and deep flavours, in the traditional restaurants within the walls.