Western Spain October 2023
Two weeks in Extremadura and adjoining regions
Mérida & Cáceres
We pulled into Mérida in style (seats 10A & 10B) on a Flix bus from Lisbon. 800m of our 2 km walk from the bus station to our accommodation was on a Roman bridge across the Guadiana River. We've gravitated to soft landings after long haul journeys and big time changes; the Apartamento Turistico Casa Museo fit the bill. Our host was waiting for us and he showed us around the spacious town house, just steps away from the Mérida arena. We went for a short walk and filled a few bags with groceries at the LIDL and the Dia supermarkets. It isn't every day that we walk past a Roman arena on the way back from shopping.
Mérida was a provincial Roman capital and we wandered the historic sites on our first full day including two aqueducts, the arena, the very impressive theatre, temples and we had a peek at the Roman racetrack but we couldn't see any chariots.
If you check the weather in Mérida on the web, you'll often be looking at a forecast for Mérida in the Yucatán, but there is a Mérida in Spain. It was the largest Roman settlement in Iberia, founded in 25BC. It now holds the most extensive Roman ruins in Spain.
Mérida house for 3 nights
Mérida aqueduct
Mérida arena
Mérida arena: gladiator entrance
Mérida theatre
Mérida theatre
We arrived in Extremadura only a few days after the summer heat had been replaced by cool, showery weather. We had a huge cloudburst during the afternoon of our first full day in Spain, followed by clear skies. We'd describe the weather during our Extremadura sojourn as active.
Plaza de Santa Maria, Mérida
Mérida bull ring
Mérida Alcazaba
I had booked a rental car from Cáceres, partly because of rates, but mostly because the Mérida agency wasn't open on week-ends when we planned to drop the car off. We caught an early train to Cáceres. We had the morning to wander the historic city before collecting the car at noon. However, it rained most of the morning so our Cáceres impressions were dampened on the 7km walk. I joked with the car rental agent that we would remember Cáceres as a rainy place. He said that it was the first rain in many months.
The Renault Captur had about 5,000km on the odometer and Spanish roads were a breeze to drive. The idea was to make a couple of stops on the return drive to Mérida. I had picked a route through Alcuéscar to reach the historic rural Santa Lucia chapel. However, we ended up in a steep, narrow section of Alcuéscar and it was quite tricky to navigate the narrow streets, squeeze through, work with an unfamiliar clutch etc. So, once we had extricated ourselves from a tight spot, we abandoned the Santa Lucia notion and opted for a visit to the easier to access Lácara Dolmen. It was a warm-up for the many dolmens (megalithic tombs) that we would visit the next day.
The Cáceres old town features a mix of Roman, Moorish and "conquistador" architecture. Riches plundered from the Aztecs financed some of the buildings in Cáceres. Like Mérida and Trujillo, the old town is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Train to Cáceres
Cáceres
Cáceres cistern from Moorish times
Rain in Cáceres
Parking among cork trees for the walk to the Lácara dolmen
Lácara dolmen
Chasing Dolmens in Extremadura
What a difference a day made with blue skies a contrast from the previous day's rain and drizzle. We checked out of our comfortable Mérida digs (we even had a garage for the Captur), and headed for Alburquerque. We wandered the old streets and then continued west towards the Portugal border area, parked the car in La Aceña de la Borrega for an 8km walk to string together half a dozen dolmens on dirt tracks and footpaths. It was quiet and enjoyable out there.
The town of Valencia de Alcántara was the next stop; it was quiet there too. That was followed by another 2km rural walk to the Tapias dolmens. We were running out of energy and we still had some driving to do, so we headed for our rural accommodation and arrived at Tia Maria in Mata de Alcántara just before dark. The owner, Laura. was helpful and colourful.
I located dolmens on Google Maps and suggested walking routes on Wikiloc. I am not aware of a "find-a-dolmen" website, but "The Megalithic Portal" is a useful resource.
Blue skies at Alburquerque
Inquisitive sheep
Our first dolmen of the day
Dolmen "The Twin"
Dolmen country
Valencia de Alcántara
Cork trees
Dolmem Tapias I
Rural house rental in Mata de Alcántara
Rural house owner ran the local supermarket
Mata de Alcántara main square
Continuing through Extremadura
We were still knackered by jet lag, so early mornings came easy. We left our accommodation in the dark and watched the sunrise over the famous Alcántara Roman bridge that serves the Ex-117 highway to this day, built to last.
We drove into the centre of Garrovillas de Alconétar to have a look at its quirky central plaza. Then it was off to the more quirky Museo Vostell Malpartida in an old wool wash house, centred around an old car. It felt Dali-esque. The museum is next to the Natural Monument Los Barruecos and we walked around the small lake on a pleasant 3.5km hike.
We drove the country roads back towards Cáceres and from there it was expressway all the way to Trujillo. We stopped in at a slightly disappointing but adequate E-Leclerc supermarket in Trujillo and then made our way to our accommodation of "El Postigo". We somehow managed to find Saturday parking by our unit on Plaza Guadalupe. El Postigo wasn't our best accommodation but we sure liked the central location. We never met the owner, Carlos, but we enjoyed his helpful messages.
Roman bridge Alcántara
Garrovillas de Alconétar
Museo Vostell Malpartida near Cáceres
Museo Vostell Malpartida
Natural Monument Los Barruecos
Trujillo
After we settled into our home for a couple of nights, we wandered the old town of Trujillo. Our jaws dropped when we reached the Plaza Mayor. We later joined a small number of Spanish visitors to the castle and then climbed up the towers of the Santa Maria church. The following day, after a morning visit to Montfragüe National Park, we returned for more wandering of the ancient Trujillo streets, unaffected by the drizzle that ensued.
Trujillo was our favourite city on the trip. It's Amazing.
Trujillo packs a lot of history and marvelous architecture compared to its modest size. Like most cities in the region, it was once a Roman centre, and the castle was originally built by the Moors, back in the 10th century, but the city came into its own during the "Age of Discovery" and mercenaries, called conquistadors, conquered Latin America. Fransisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo. The conquest of the Inca empire is attributed to Pizarro and that blood money funded the building of much of Trujillo, including the wonderful Plaza Mayor. The gold & silver extorted from the Incas made our visit a bittersweet experience. Pizarro's statue dominates the main square (no remorse there) and deeper in the back streets is a bust of Fransisco de Orellano, another conquistador who accompanied his cousin, Pizarro. de Orellano also travelled from coastal Equador over the Andes and was the first European to travel the length of the Amazon (not the e-commerce one).
Trujillo house rental "El Postigo"
Trujillo Plaza Mayor
Pizarro statue, Trujillo
Trujillo old quarter
Fransisco de Orellano statue, Trujillo. He accompanied Pizarro and later travelled the length of the Amazon.
Trujillo castle
Entering Trujillo castle
Trujillo castle
View from Trujillo castle
Church of Santa María La Mayor, Trujillo
Trujillo view from church
Trujillo castle from church bell tower
Plaza Mayor, Trujillo
Trujillo by night
Trujillo was rock solid
Puerto del Triunfo
Trujillo walls
Trujillo walls
Montfragüe National Park
Montfragüe made for a good day trip from from Avila (we left town in the dark). We parked the car and started walking uphill and completed a 7km circuit. It was pleasant, though not overwhelming.
Montfragüe National Park
Montfragüe National Park
Montfragüe National Park
From Trujillo onto Avila
It was another departure in the darkness from Trujillo, heading north on the A5 expressway. We turned off the highway after half an hour to reach the shores of the Valdecañas reservoir to look at the Mármoles temples, the only remnants of the Augustobriga, a Roman settlement now submerged. Small roads delivered us to the southern foothills of the Gredos mountains and a stop at La Guaña Park. Thereafter, we stopped at the towns of Arenas de San Pedro and Mombeltrán. Clouds were low and we drove through fog at higher elevations until we dropped down on the north side of the mountains. I had spotted Manqueospese castle on Google Maps, and we made an interesting walk/visit to the private castle before carrying onto Avila.
Roadside Los Mármoles temple
La Guaña Park
Standing stones at La Guaña Park
Viewpoint below Manqueospese castle
Hike to Manqueospese castle near Avila
Clouds over Gredos foothills
Avila
I had conversed with our accommodation (" Morgan") managers on WhatsApp; I texted in Spanish and the answers all came back in English. The instructions were to meet at the garage at the south end of Plaza del Ejercito. It turned out that neither Belind or Javier spoke English but that was OK, until the tempo of their Castellano picked up. It was all very exciting because the parking garage featured a couple of car elevators and some tight corners that required multi-point turns. Once the Renault was parked, our hosts helped us carry our luggage and groceries across the square and to the second floor apartment. We loved both the unit and the location, but mostly the drama of parking the car.
We had a full day in Avila and made it a car-free day. The walls seemed to be more impressive by night than by day.
Avila's medieval centre is surrounded by 2.5 kmof intact walls that average 3 metres in thickness. You can walk on about half of the walls. The old town is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Avila apartment hosts
The Avila apartment
Avila walls
Avila gate
Plaza del Mercado Chico, Avila
Climbing Avila walls
Avila from the wall
Avila walls
Avila walls
Avila Basilica by day
Avila Basilica by night
Church of St. Peter the Apostle was right outside our front door
Avila walls
Exiting the car elevator, Avila
Gredos Mountains
I juggled the itinerary with another wave of rain expected and dropped one mountain area in favour of another.. The north side of the Gredos mountains is drier than to the south, so we opted for a trip to the Circo de Gredos. It was a cold day: 3C in Avila and fresh snow on the peaks of the Gredos. We didn't really have the clothing for winter, so it was a cold 9km walk. Judging by comments on "Alltrails", the hike and parking lot can be packed in summer, but we only met a few people on our way out. We saw many more ibex than people.
Driving to Gredos mountains
Circo de Gredos hike
Circo de Gredos hike
Passing by Iberian ibex on the Circo de Gredos hike
Circo de Gredos
Iberian ibex
Iberian ibex
Segovia
We checked out of our Avila apartment in the dark and drove east for about an hour to reach Segovia. The free parking lots were all full but we located a fee parking garage and then walked the old town centre. It was our first sniff of mass tourism. There were a number of bus tour groups touring the city. They all seemed to have specific itineraries, because they all disappeared and the centre of Segovia was quiet before long. After we had our fill of ancient buildings, we drove to the NW of town for a walk that offered views of the castle followed by a short drive to the 13th-century Vera Cruz church with a unique 12-sided exterior built by the Knights Templar.
We had a three hour drive ahead of us, so we left Segovia around 1:00pm. We drove back through Avila and it wasn't long after before we hit the expected rain.
Segovia features a real jumble of architecture from thousands of years. The Roman aqueduct that is in use today features 166 arches. The Moors left their mark, and there was immense building efforts to construct the cathedral. The castle that was once for defensive purposes was repurposed as a palace and more recently as a tourist attraction. It is often referred to as a "Disney Castle". The Segovia old town and aqueduct are UNESCO world heritage sites.
Segovia aqueduct
Plaza Oriental aqueduct
Segovia aqueduct
Plaza de Medina del Campo Segovia
Segovia cathedral
Plaza de Medina del Campo Segovia, soon after the tour groups left
Segovia museum painting
Segovia castle
Templar church, Segovia
Hill towns south of Gredos Mountains
We made El Torno our base for two nights and we stayed at the "Chaparrina del Jerte" apartment hotel. The owner was super friendly. We were the only people staying there at that time (off-season).
We had a full day to drive narrow, twisting roads on the southern flanks of the Gredos Mountains. We had a mixture of fog, rain, drizzle and sunshine through the day. We visited Garganta la Olla, Cuacos de Yuste, and Villanueva de la Vera but our highlight was the Monastery of Yuste. There were just a handful of other visitors and we enjoyed the ambience of the monastery. Charles V, the last emperor of Europe, retired there. We visited his bedroom but weren't sure if it was the actually bed that he died in.
El Torno itself didn't hold much of our interest, but we drove past and stopped at the Mirador de la Memoria a few times. The statues are dedicated to the forgotten victims of the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship. It left us with an uneasy feeling.
Hills of Extremadura
Garganta la Olla
Garganta la Olla
Yuste monastery
Yuste monastery
Cuacos de Yuste
Villanueva de la Vera
Roman bridge (Puente de Cuartos)
Civil war memorial, El Turno
Plasencia & Zafra
We had to return our rental car before noon, so we got off to an early start. We had time to stop and walk around Plasencia, which like most Spanish cities, was pretty quiet on a Saturday morning. We dropped the car off with my buddy in Cáceres, next tot he bus station. We had planned to eat out for lunch but most restaurants don't serve lunch till 2:00pm, so we ended up buying some goodies at Panadería Desavío and then we headed for the train station to catch the Seville bound train.
The train passed through Mérida and we disembarked at Zafra. There was plenty of active weather going on, but we walked to our accommodation of Las Palmeras Hotel without rain. We had the late afternoon to have a look around the town and couldn't wait till 8 or 9:00pm for dinner, so we ended up eating in a kebab house. The atmospheric Las Palmeras was the only hotel that we stayed at in our entire Spain trip. Apartments and self-catering suited us better.
Plasencia walls
Plasencia main square
Train to Zafra
Zafra main square
Hotel Las Palmeras
Hotel Las Palmeras
Zafra
Evening light in the main square
Leaving our Zafra hotel with my buddy Melchor.
Seville
We had a few hours on the train from Zafra to Santa Justa, Seville. We had a half hour walk to the San Andres apartments. We spotted a restaurant that was actually serving food at noon, so we ate a mediocre Indian lunch. Of course, we soon found out that many restaurants have earlier opening times in tourist areas such as Seville.
We quite enjoyed Seville. We covered a lot of ground in our one and half days. The volume of people and tourists was a novelty compared to the back waters of Extremadura, except for when we had to wait in long queues to enter the Cathedral and Alcázar the following day. When we were visiting the cathedral interior, we followed the flow and went through a side door and a narrow staircase that lead us to the roof. It seemed odd that they had visitors going up and down such a narrow spiral staircase, but it turned out that someone must have left a locked door open and none of us was supposed to be up on the roof at all.
We caught the airport bus for our Vueling flight, VY3160, to Lanzarote on October 31. I don't think Vueling made money on our 25 Euro (including seat selection) fares for the 2 hour flight.
Welcome to Seville
Our apartment was around the corner from the Setas de Sevilla
Tapas bar: Baco Victoria Eugenia
Triana market
Seville bullring
Torre de Oro, Seville
Plaza de Espana, Seville
Plaza de Espana
Tourists began to arrive in larger numbers at the Plaza de Espana, Seville
Seville plaza
Tomb of Cristopher Columbus, Seville Cathedral
Seville Cathedral roof top
Seville Cathedral roof top
Seville Cathedral roof top
Seville wanderings
Seville tile work
Seville tourist area
Narrow street, Seville
Lining up to visit the Alcázar
Alcázar, Seville
Alcázar inscription
Alcázar
Alcázar, Seville
Alcázar, Seville
Photo Album