castille & leon : help
 

we will be staying in the house of friends near soria and wondering if anybody has been to that area; and how you liked it ?
we have planned going to visit the wine region up east, and enjoy the nature...
any advice on do's and don'ts ??
tx

lotje,

We travelled to Castilla/La Mancha in Spring of 2001 and enjoyed a lot of great places. I think you can find our trip report by searching using Castilla and La Mancha. I will try to locate it and top it for you. If you have more questions, just post them and I will do my best.

Maria

I also topped our trip report to Northern Spain which included Castilla Leon.

Maria

Lotje,
we were two weeks ago in Soria.

I have posted a report, and I'll top it for you. There isn't a lot of info about that province here, but I have posted a couple of links that might help you.

The wine region ... I guess you are speaking about La Rioja ... I'll try to find more posts for you.

Cova

tx for your help -
i was starting to wonder if we were insane going on leave to a place no-one else seems to bother going !

Hi Lotje,

do you know the name of the place where the house of your friends is located?

Soria has very different landscapes and I feel that it is greatly underrated, even among spanish people. We found more french or german visitors. It simply doesn't fit the flamenco image of Spain :)

The Castilla-La Mancha and Northern Spain reports from Maria are quite good :
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34374869
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...amp;tid=102314
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34503835

If you have enough time, I would think about going to Albarracín and Teruel (two other forgotten places ...).

Rgds, Covadonga

Soria is a fair size village/city along the quiet part of the Duero river and on the edge of a national reserve. It's not bad if you enjoy the out-of-doors activities like hiking and climbing, but I've never been there when the Duero was running deep enough to enjoy a splash in the water. It can be very warm at mid-day during the long summer months, but tolerable in the shade. The Parador de Soria is scheduled to reopen within the next couple of weeks after being closed for renovations the last two years and should still be an excellent place to sample the local cuisine.

The main wine regions you mentioned are to the north, about 100 Kms distance. Here you'll find La Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa (Basque Country), and the Navarran Rioja. Some of the bodegas welcome walk-in visitors, but most require you to call ahead to schedule a tour. If you get a chance, try to have lunch at the Restaurante Marixa in Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa), or Restaurante Toni in San Vicente de la Sonsierra (La Rioja). Both offer excellent examples of the local cuisine. There is also the small, family run Restaurante/Jatetxea Ariño in Labastida (Rioja Alavesa) which we found to be an excellent and inexpensive place to enjoy lunch.

we will be staying in espejo de soria; and since we will be there for 2 weeks (as from 27 july) - i'm sure we will have time enough to visit (if the weather isn't too hot !)