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Toledo and Segovia are the two day trips everyone takes from Madrid, and most people spend them looking at cathedrals. They're also two of the best days of eating within an hour of the capital, as long as you plan the day around the food instead of fitting lunch into the gaps.
They're very different trips. Toledo is a sweet-and-savory town in La Mancha wine country, and the best version of the day ends at a winery. Segovia is about one thing, roast suckling pig, and the best version of the day is a long lunch. Here's how to do each.
The short answer:For Toledo, take a tour that adds a winery: the Toledo Tour & Vineyard Experience from Madrid is the one to book, at €75, with three wines, Iberian charcuterie and Manchego. Buy marzipan at Santo Tomé before you leave. For Segovia, skip the tour, take the train, and book cochinillo for lunch near the aqueduct.
| Toledo | Segovia | |
|---|---|---|
| Famous for | Marzipan, carcamusas, Manchego and La Mancha wine | Cochinillo, roast suckling pig |
| Train from Madrid | About 33 minutes | About 25 to 30 minutes, to a station outside town |
| Best as | A wine tour with the city attached | A long lunch with the city attached |
| Tour or DIY? | Tour: the winery is the hard part to reach alone | DIY: book lunch yourself |
Toledo: marzipan, carcamusas and La Mancha wine
What to eat
Mazapán. Toledo's marzipan is protected by a geographical indication, and the rule is at least 50% almond. The convents have made it for centuries, and the convent of San Clemente claims to have been at it since 1212. The shop to know is Santo Tomé, making marzipan since 1856, with branches on Calle Santo Tomé and on Plaza de Zocodover, where the window is full of marzipan sculptures. You can buy a single piece or build your own box.
Carcamusas. Toledo's own tapa: lean pork stewed in a mildly spicy tomato sauce with peas, served in a small clay dish with bread. It's said to have been created at Bar Ludeña on Plaza de la Magdalena, and that's still the place to order it.
Perdiz a la toledana. Partridge stewed slowly with onion, garlic, bay and vinegar. It's usually one of the most expensive things on the menu, and the most traditional.
Manchego and La Mancha wine. Toledo is in Castilla-La Mancha, so the cheese is Manchego, made from the milk of Manchega sheep, and the wine comes from the vineyards around the city. That's what makes a winery visit the natural second half of the day.
The tour to book
Toledo is easy to reach alone. The vineyards around it are not, and that's why I'd take a tour here. This is the one I send people to: a guided walk through the old town and the Jewish quarter, two hours free for lunch, then a 200-year-old winery in Bargas for a guided visit and a tasting of three wines with Iberian charcuterie and Manchego.
It's rated 4.9 on more than 3,000 reviews, it costs €75, and it leaves from in front of the Mercado de San Miguel at 9am, so you can combine it with the morning you were going to spend there anyway. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.
See the Toledo Tour & Vineyard Experience, from €75
The bigger day: Toledo, windmills and a Manchego lunch
If you'd rather someone else picked lunch, this is the full La Mancha day. A small group, capped at 15, tours Toledo, then drives out to the windmills of La Mancha, stops for a five-course lunch of traditional Manchego dishes in an old pottery converted into a restaurant, and finishes with a tasting at a family winery. It's rated 4.9 on 115 reviews and costs €240, with lunch included.
See the Toledo, windmills and lunch tour, from €240
Doing it yourself
The high-speed train from Madrid takes about 33 minutes. Toledo's station is outside the old town, so take a bus or taxi up the hill. Have carcamusas at Bar Ludeña, buy marzipan at Santo Tomé, and you've done the food half of the day. You'll miss the winery.
Segovia: the suckling pig
What to eat
Cochinillo asado. Roast suckling pig, crisp outside and soft enough inside to be cut with the edge of a plate, which is exactly how it's done at the table: the waiter carves it at the table with a plate. The ritual is credited to Cándido López, the innkeeper whose name is on Mesón de Cándido. It's very rich. A quarter shared between three or four people, with other dishes alongside, is plenty.
Judiones de La Granja. Huge white beans from the royal town of La Granja, stewed with chorizo and pork belly. The thing to order while you wait for the pig.
Ponche segoviano. The local cake: sponge layered with pastry cream and wrapped in marzipan.
Where to have it
Mesón de Cándido, on Plaza del Azoguejo at the foot of the aqueduct, founded in 1895, is the classic. Ask for a table on the second floor, which looks out at the aqueduct. José María, on Calle Cronista Lecea, is often ranked among the best for cochinillo in Spain, with a more modern menu. Neither is cheap. For better value, Mesón Don Jimeno on Calle Daoiz is the one to know.
Why I'd skip the tour
I haven't found a group tour from Madrid that's built around a proper cochinillo lunch. Most combine Segovia with Ávila or Toledo and spend the day on monuments, and lunch is whatever fits. For Segovia, the food is the trip, so do it yourself: the high-speed train from Madrid's Chamartín station takes about 25 to 30 minutes, though it stops at Segovia-Guiomar, about 5 km out, so you'll need a bus or taxi into town. Book lunch for 2pm, walk the aqueduct and the old town before it, and take the train back when you're ready.
If you want a guide and a glass of wine, the small-group tour that pairs Segovia with a winery visit is rated 5.0 on 89 reviews. It costs €159 and lunch is at your own expense, so book the cochinillo yourself.
See the Segovia and winery tour, from €159
Prices checked 23 October 2026, per person. Rates change with the season.
If you only have one day
Go to Toledo if you want a whole day out with wine at the end of it. Go to Segovia if you want the best single meal within an hour of Madrid. If you have two days, do both, and leave Segovia for the day you're hungriest.
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More on eating in and around Madrid: what to eat in Madrid, cocido madrileño, the Mercado de San Miguel, and Ribera del Duero wine tours from Madrid. The full city guide is on the Madrid page.