A Travel Price Comparison for Families, Couples, and Backpackers Toledo vs. La Spezia for Old Town, Attractions, Food, and Couples

Should you visit Toledo or La Spezia?

Which is cheaper to visit? Which is more expensive for vacation?

If you're trying to decide where to visit between Toledo or La Spezia, this travel comparison, which includes costs, can help. The overall cost of travel is usually a consideration when deciding where to go next, and the cost comparison down below can help you decide based on the average prices from other travelers along with your own travel budget.

Toledo

Toledo is a medieval, fascinating, and beautiful city. It's a beautiful place to visit, too. Visitors also love the food, shopping, and museums.

La Spezia

La Spezia is a convenient, cultural, and lively town. Other reasons to visit include food, beaches, and shopping.

Toledo and La Spezia: Pros and Cons

Is there more to do in Toledo or La Spezia?

Visitors will generally find more to do in Toledo than La Spezia. While La Spezia is larger than Toledo, Toledo has more sights, attractions, and activities for tourists. Toledo is very popular for its museums, historical sights, and impressive beauty, while La Spezia attracts visitors for its beaches. Toledo is more touristy than La Spezia and is known for its medieval buildings, ancient landmarks, and fascinating history. It is also well known for the Catedral de Toledo. La Spezia is famous for being the gateway to Cinque Terre.

How is Toledo different from La Spezia?

Which is Better for a Holiday?

Let's take a look at the differences and similarities between La Spezia and Toledo. Then, you can decide for yourself which place is better for your next trip.

Are the Museums and Historical Sights Better in Toledo or La Spezia?

Toledo is a very popular place for its museums and history. However, La Spezia is lacking in good options for its museums and landmarks.

Visitors can fill many days exploring the museums and attractions around Toledo. This medieval city is filled with ancient landmarks including the iconic Catedral de Toledo. In the old town you'll find many many historic buildings and a fascinating Jewish Quarter. Other notable sights include the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, the Alcázar de Toledo, and the Museo de Santa Cruz.

La Spezia offers a handful of options for museums and historical sights. The highlight of the area is the surrounding natural beauty, but in town you can visit the Maritime Museum, The castle of San Giorgio, and The Amedeo Lia Art Museum.

Is the Food Better in Toledo or La Spezia? Which Destination has the Best Restaurants?

Picking the best cuisine and restaurants between Toledo and La Spezia can be difficult as they are each great in their own way.

The food selection at local restaurants is excellent in Toledo. The city offers a great cuisine at a reasonable price. The dishes are influenced by the city's diverse past. You'll find many meat dishes due to the area's long running tradition of hunting. There are also classic dishes like carcamusas, which is pork covered in a tomato sauce. Dishes in general tend to be heavy and saucy with filling and delicious flavors.

Eating is part of the travel experience when you visit La Spezia. The town has many local flavors that incorporate seafood and other local ingredients. Focaccia is popular, as is Farinata, which is a chickpea flour pancake. Anchovies and mussels are also common ingredients.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Nightlife?

The nice nightlife scene is relatively similar in Toledo and La Spezia.

With a handful of venues, visitors can find a fairly lively vibe in Toledo. Most tourists visit the town as a day trip, so things can quiet down somewhat at night. There is a large student population that frequents the bars around town and help keep things lively.

La Spezia has an active nightlife scene for those who seek it out. You'll find more bars and clubs around town than you do in the smaller nearby towns. Some people head into La Spezia for the evening to grab a drink and socialize.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Beaches?

La Spezia is a nice place to visit for its beaches. However, Toledo is not a beach destination.

La Spezia has a beach worth visiting. The beaches in the area tend to be rocky and pebbly. For the best beaches, head out of town to nearby areas.

Toledo is not a beach destination.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for its Old Town?

Toledo is very popular for its old town. Also, La Spezia is not quite as popular, but is fairly good for its historic old town charm.

Toledo has a world-famous historical area. Perched on a hill and spilling out around the cathedral, this Spanish old town is filled with historic landmarks.

La Spezia offers a nice historic old town area. The old town runs between the streets of Corso Cavour and Via Prione and is best explored on foot.

Is the Shopping Better in Toledo or La Spezia?

Shoppers can find a variety of nice stores in both Toledo and La Spezia.

Plenty of visitors enjoy shopping while in Toledo. Calle Comercio is the main shopping street in town and there are two major shopping malls in the new part of town.

La Spezia offers some nice shopping areas. There's a morning market at Piazza del Mercato as well as many clothing and souvenir shops around town.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Families?

Toledo and La Spezia are both nice destinations for the whole family.

Toledo is a family-friendly city. The ancient streets are fun to explore. There are city gates, ancient Arab walls, and older kids will be fascinated by a visit to the Toledo Torture Museum. The city is known for its swords, and there are shops that you can visit to learn about this craft.

You'll find plenty of kid-friendly things to do in La Spezia. Visitors often use La Spezia as a base for visiting nearby Cinque Terre. The surrounding region has many kid-friendly activities like hiking, swimming, and beaches.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Couples?

La Spezia is a very popular place for romance. Also, Toledo is not quite as popular, but is fairly good for its romantic activities.

La Spezia makes for a fun place to visit for a couple. It makes a nice base for visiting nearby sights if the more popular Cinque Terre area is too overwhelming.

Toledo makes for a fun place to visit for a couple. It's an ancient city that is filled with fascinating history and impressive historic sights. Couples will enjoy wandering the medieval streets and visiting the ancient gates.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Backpackers and Budget Travelers?

La Spezia is a very popular place for backpackers and budget travelers. Also, Toledo is not quite as popular, but is fairly good for backpackers.

La Spezia is very popular with the backpacker crowd. It's more affordable than the nearby towns in Cinque Terre, but they're still easily accessible from town.

Toledo is a good city to visit for backpackers. Many travelers visit Toledo as a day trip from Madrid, but for backpackers who want to spend more time, there are a handful of hostels in town.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Students?

Toledo is a very popular place for its student-friendly activities. However, La Spezia is not popular with students.

Many students visit Toledo. The city is popular with students, and you'll find many activities and a lively atmosphere both during the day and at night.

La Spezia is not popular with students.

Is Toledo or La Spezia Better for Public Transit? Which Is Easier to Get Around Without a Car?

Visitors will find nice public transit in both Toledo and La Spezia.

Toledo has some public transit options. There is a good bus system through town.

You'll find some public transit in La Spezia, but it may not be enough to take you everywhere. Buses, trains, and ferry boats offer the main forms of transportation in the area.

Is Toledo or La Spezia a more walkable city?

Toledo and La Spezia are great when it comes to walkability.

Toledo is very walkable. It's a compact and easily walkable city, particularly within the old town. The bus and train stations are also about a 15 or 20 minute walk from the city center.

La Spezia is a very walkable city. The town is easy to walk around and you'll find a pedestrian-only area downhill from the train station.

For even more information, also check out Is Toledo Worth Visiting? and Is La Spezia Worth Visiting?.

Should I spend more time in La Spezia or Toledo?

How long in Toledo or La Spezia?

Visitors can find plenty of fun things to do in both Toledo and La Spezia. With generally more activities and things to do, visitors tend to spend more time in La Spezia than in Toledo. Usually, 1-2 days is a good amount of time for Toledo, and 2-3 days is enough time in La Spezia.

Families should spend more time in Toledo than La Spezia. Because of the many family-friendly attractions and fun things to do for kids in Toledo, it's a great place to visit with the whole family.

Couples should spend more time in La Spezia than Toledo. You'll find plenty of romantic sights and fun activities in La Spezia that are perfect for a weekend getaway or a longer couple's trip.

Backpackers and budget travelers should spend more time in La Spezia than Toledo if your budget allows for it. With a larger number of budget-friendly sights, good nightlife, and active things to do, anyone traveling on a budget would have a good time in La Spezia.

One day in Toledo or La Spezia?

You'll find shopping and museums around the city of Toledo. Visiting the old town is also a must. One day is a great amount of time to relax and see the many things that Toledo has to offer. It has many unique tourist attractions and fascinating things to do.

Many travelers enjoy the food and shopping when visiting the destination of La Spezia. But since there are so many activities, you'll likely want to spend more than one day exploring.

A weekend in Toledo or La Spezia?

You'll find museums and nightlife around the fascinating destination of Toledo. The old town is one of the main draws for visitors. This is a popular place to visit for a weekend.A weekend should give you a good understanding of everything this city has to offer. This city offers a variety of activities to choose from.

La Spezia is a great place to explore. It is common to spend a weekend here. With all of its activities, you can easily fill a weekend here. Your budget might influence how long you stay.

Five days in Toledo or La Spezia?

Travelers enjoy the nightlife and food when visiting the beautiful city of Toledo. The length of your ideal trip is an individual decision. Exploring the old town is a popular activity. Five days is plenty of time to see everything, even with extra days to spare.

It's hard to know how much time to spend in La Spezia. Five days may feel like too much time unless you plan to do a lot of relaxing. It has many unique tourist attractions and fascinating things to do.

A week in Toledo or La Spezia?

Toledo is a popular choice for travelers. Make sure you visit the old town while you're here. One week is usually plenty of time to spend here with extra days to spare. With this much time, visitors often visit nearby destinations or take day trips. It will give you the chance to have new experiences.

Travelers enjoy the food and shopping when visiting the lively destination of La Spezia. This town offers a variety of activities to choose from. Most people find that one week is more than enough time to see everything.

For some great organized tour ideas, see The Best Adventure Tours to Spain, The Best Sightseeing Tours in Spain, The Best Family-Friendly Tours to Italy, and The Best Hiking & Trekking Tours in Italy.

When we compare the travel costs of actual travelers between Toledo and La Spezia, we can see that La Spezia is more expensive. And not only is Toledo much less expensive, but it is actually a significantly cheaper destination. So, traveling to Toledo would let you spend less money overall. Or, you could decide to spend more money in Toledo and be able to afford a more luxurious travel style by staying in nicer hotels, eating at more expensive restaurants, taking tours, and experiencing more activities. The same level of travel in La Spezia would naturally cost you much more money, so you would probably want to keep your budget a little tighter in La Spezia than you might in Toledo.

If you're trying to decide if either of these two destinations are within your price range, also see Is Toledo Expensive? and Is La Spezia Expensive?.

Which is Bigger, Toledo or La Spezia?

La Spezia has a larger population, and is about 22% larger than the population of Toledo. When comparing the sizes of Toledo and La Spezia, keep in mind that a larger population does not always imply the destination has more attractions or better activities. So, always research the type of place that you want to visit along with the activities and attractions that interest you.