Cafés and Bars
Recommended cafés and bars in Valladolid
Believe it or not, not all bars in Spain do tapas. In Valladolid, you'll find coffee-shops in their own right, but these aren't many. A small minority of bars open exclusively after work, from late in the afternoon until 1 or 2 am. The 'café-bars' are decidedly the most numerous and do the whole lot: they open around 10 a.m., offer breakfast and afternoon coffee, may offer light snacks for lunch, and serve wines, beers, and sodas for the rest of the day, perhaps drinks and classic cocktails until night. Next follow a few samples of each type.
In the city centre and near your hotels
Plaza Mayor-Plaza Coca
Café, pastry, ice-cream, around Plaza Mayor, and music bars around Plaza Martín Monsó (Plaza Coca for locals). Both pedestrian areas.
Café Lion d'Or
Plaza Mayor 7
A café dating back to the 1910s and still keeping the old-fashioned ways of nice, peaceful, quiet service. Great for conversation. Terrace looking onto Main Square.
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Lencería 2
Beutiful artisanal ice-cream and turrón (nougat), sold from April through November. An Alicantinan-Vallisoletan family business established in 1957.
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El Sueño del Nebli
Platería 6
Try their hot chocolate and churros (fried pipe strips of dough) for breakfast or merienda (afternoon tea) time. Always a favourite for generations of Vallisoletans, the chocolate con churros is here perfected. Varieties of teas and pastries also available.
Pasaje Gutiérrez
A late 19th-century arcade of two halls that houses an art gallery, a bookshop, and four cafés and bars. Entrance through Castelar and Fray Luis de León streets.
Café Pigiama Bar
Serves breakfast coffee and afternoon coffee, beer and wines lunchtime, beer and cocktails by night. 10 am-2 am.
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La Sastrería
Great decor and excellent cocktails. Don't skip the gin & tonic. 4 pm-2 am.
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Candilejas
Beer and drinks afterwork. Open from 3:30 pm until midnight and beyond.
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La Negra Flor
Popular with students at night, like Pigiama, this café-bar has a more relaxed atmosphere during the day. 11 am-1 am.
Universidad-Catedral
The pedestrian streets around the Cathedral and in the Plaza de la Universidad are lined with terraces with privileged views to the Cathedral.
Sinners' Club
Plaza de la Universidad 11
Jazz club. Classic cocktails. Enjoy their exquisite selection of music. 6 pm-2 am.
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El Largo Adiós
Arribas 2
Named after Chandler's Long Goodbye, this café-bar is popularly known simply as el cafetín. Wooden chairs, marble tables typical of European tertulia (get-together) bars. Hammet, Artaud, Faulkner, Lowry hung on the walls, in a dive-casual atmosphere. The terrace at the foot of the Cathedral thrives with students and passers-by. Noon-3 am.
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Café Berlín
Arribas 3
A favourite of students and the arty type since 1986. Rock, 80s, 90s, pop, indie music in a casual atmosphere. All types of beers and wines. Sit outside and talk it over their specialty: bonbon coffee. 5 pm-3 am.
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Arribas 6
Right opposite the front entrance of the Cathedral, a mini-three-storey bar offering one of the greatest selections of beers and cocktails in the city. Exhibitions and concerts too. 4 pm-2 am.
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Núñez de Arce 1
Another bar with a literary resonance: Lowry's Under the Volcano. Until yesterday, the decor did not matter; the blues on the background set the scene for drinks. It looks much cooler after renovation and even offers snacks, but have your say as to its ambiance. 11:30 am-2 am.
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El Penicilino
Plaza de la Libertad 15
Founded en 1872, it is always voted by the casual young and nostalgic as one of the best spots in the city. Come for the mandatory penicilino (tonic wine) plus zapatilla (sugar-coated dry biscuit); admire the old wine taps, tiles and counter. 10 am-2 am.