Toledo

Toledo can be seen in a single day trip from Madrid (a 30-minute high-speed train ride), enough to walk its walled, UNESCO-listed old town, the Primate Cathedral and the Alcázar. April-June avoids both the plateau's extreme cold and heat and the August crowds. It's cheaper than Madrid for lodging and food, though entry fees to the main sights add up quickly. Its trademark is the historic coexistence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures, still visible in the Mudéjar architecture of its churches and the old Jewish quarter.