Places to visit: Toledo, Spain - UNESCO World Heritage site

Withthe Euro at an all-time low and summer fast approaching, foreign visitors willdescend on Spanish cities and beaches in droves during the coming weeks andmonths. The country will entertain students, cultural tourists andsightseers from a host of countries, comprising wealthy Russians,photo-snapping Japanese students and middle-class North Americans seeking sun,sea and sand.

PopularSpanish holiday destinations typically include Ibiza, Barcelona, Madrid and theCosta Brava, though likemany European travel hotspots, the sheer number of visitors can render the paceof holiday life to be all but relaxing. Many adventurous, savvyholidaymakers will seek out the unbeaten path in the hope of a tranquil andmore authentically Spanish travelexperience.

Cities like Toledo, situated some seventy-five kilometres south of the Spanish capital in Madrid, offer all the cultural and culinary delights of popular resort locales and metropolitan centres, though without the crowds, the tourist traps and the general feeling that one is being herded about like cattle rather than being able to enjoy one’s vacation like a civilized human being. The city boasts a variety of cultural and archaeological expositions and breathtaking architecture, and there are a number of world-class hotels in Toledo.

With fewer than 100,000 permanent inhabitants, a fraction of its metropolitan neighbour to the North, visitors to Toledo can expect a quiet getaway rather than more of the hustle and bustle they sought to escape in the first place. Notable attractions in the Castillan city are virtually innumerable. Toledo was inscribed as a Historic-Artistic Site in 1940 and a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986 and its buildings, its cuisine, and the day-to-day life of the city reflect its rich, diverse fifteen-century long heritage

Situated amongst a number of ultramodern Toledo hotels is the Castillo de San Servado, a medieval Cathedral which serves as a kind of symbol for the shared Christian, Islamic and Jewish history of the city itself. Cooking and lifestyle in the region exhibit a similar diversity of historical influence, with the end result being something to suit the tastes of every visitor, at a pace that makes for an agreeable holiday rather than a hectic weekend away. Booking yourself into one of the many fine rental apartments or hotels in Toledo may be the best decision you make toward ensuring a pleasant summer vacation.