Pedro

This has been a really wonderful trip full of great moments. Our friends enjoyed a lot as I did too. Four days seeing absolutely off-the-beaten track beautiful landscapes and villages. Cuenca and Albarracin are well worth the trip. If you have any question I would be glad to share with you all the best places we have found during this trip.

Mariarosa

Hola Pedro! I always love reading your posts! Can you tell us your itinerary for those 4 days? Were you able to stay in Cuenca properly (I know that there are feew accomodations in Cuenca itself)? I really hope to visit this area some day!

Pedro

Thanks Maria Rosa for your kind feedback. We left Sevilla early in the morning and after 5 hours and 20 minutes driving with just a short break along Don Quijote route to eat finally arrived to Cuenca city. The arrival there does not make justice of what it really is. We stayed in a small hotel nothing remarkable except by its wonderful situation just at the foot of the Old City by Huecar small stream. It was nice to get to know after some enquiry among the locals that the place we were staying was the number one for almost everybody there. After unpacking we decided to walk up the old city, a bit tiring but since it is extremely unique ( recently included in UNESCO heritage list ) we enjoyed a lot. There are several art workshops and galleries, and it seems the city has an special concern about culture. We got to Plaza Mayor, had a nice drink there and had fan crossing the iron bridge that connect the old city with the PArador offering the best views over the cliffs and Huecar River Valley. After this first-time walk around we had a shower and went out to have dinner, but this time by using local transportation that let us skip the steep stairs and streets. After having dinner in one of the small cafes at the Plaza Mayor we decided to go back again to San PAblo Bridge and it was incredible!! What a view!! The gorge was illuminated since they do in weekends and it was Friday. The breeze coming down from the nearby mountains and the Old Monuments illuminated was definitely something unforgettable. It was easier to walk back to our hotel since it was way down but before reaching it we stopped at we we heard it was the Gremial Feast, curious and atmospherique, a bunch of people all dressed in medieval stuff doing what it was supposed they used to do that time and a band playing jazz as well. <BR>

Pedro

Next day we had planned to drive from Cuenca to Albarracín, and so we did, but making some stops. The first, roughly 35 kms away from Cuenca was the Lagunas ( 7 circular turquoise lagoons among the forest )de Cañada del Hoyo, really impressive and absolutely off-the-beaten track since it is not even signed the turning in the main road. But they are really well worth the visit and strongly recommended for a good hike. We had a delicious self-prepared lunch and had a swim in unpolluted small Cabriel River and then proceed into Teruel province. The road was almost desserted and we could not imagine that in August we were able find such an scenic waterfall as Cascada Batida near Calomarde village, just 14 kms outside Albarracin. I had known Albarracin in my childhood and I remembered it beautiful in the late afternoon, reflecting the sun over the reddish and pink houses and roofs. I will not describe this city since it must be seen to believe its incredible beauty ( It is going to be the next spanish proposal for UNESCO world heritage list ). The fact is that the town is really well preserved and it is deeply adapted to the surrounding landscape ( www.albarracin.org, just in Spanish so far ). We checked in the only hotel that we could have got, but it was wonderful, its name, La Casa del Abuelo, absolutely new and well decorated. Not far from the town, just crossing the bridge, in fact a nice walk there. In general accommodation in Albarracin is cheap and recommendable since it has not so far visited by mass tourism due to its situation. We enjoyed a walk up and down its narrow alleys, then a nice dinner at Restaurante Azuara in the heart of old city and back home. <BR>

Pedro

Next day we drove into the high Serrania de Cuenca, beautiful mountainous landscape, not populated at all, and reached the Nacimiento del Rio Cuervo (Cuervo River Source), a surprisingly delicate waterfall and nice forests around. It is one of those places you can not expect until you are there. Our next stop was to have lunch in the middle of the forest, to make after that a stop at LA Ciudad Encantada ( a well-known rocky chaos, really a strange landscape, the best time to visit is in the late afternoon when the temperature is more bearable, we did it so ( it was open until 9:00 pm ) and had fun among all those rocky figures. <BR>Arrived at Cuenca by 9:00 pm, stayed at Posada de San Jose, a nice small hotel perched at the top of the old city offering views over the cliffs and valley. We were told we could eat quite well there but instead made up our mind to have some tapas/raciones at a nearby outdoor restaurant, La Tabanqueta, nothing fancy. We could not see anyone of the several museums in Cuenca especially the most renowmed of them, The National Museum of Abstract Art located in a wonderful ensemble of old houses. But we had an unforgettable meal at Posada Tintes, where we slept the first night, it was an splendid closing for our nice trip to Cuenca/Albarracin, then back to Sevilla,stopping in Guarroman ( Jaen province )to buy some delicious pastries in Hermanos Moreno to bring back home.

Mariarosa

Gracias Pedro for such a wonderful and detailed report! I have added Albarracin as a must-see on my next visit, and I'm a little intrigued by the Ciudad Encantada (cool name!). Did you have advance reservations for Posada de San Jose? I read that it's one of the few modestly priced places to stay high on Cuenca, and I'm wondering how hard it is to get a reservation there.

Pedro

We only could get a couple of rooms at Posada de San Jose on Sunday but it was absolutely full during the weekend ( Friday and Saturday ). Its situation just in the middle of a pedestrian narrow alley by the Cathedral is perfect and the majority of the rooms overlook the gorge as the restaurant does. It is simple but cozy and nice. The Parador is on the other hand the best reference to stay there, with its extraordinary situation within the walls of the old San Pablo convent and facing the Casas Colgadas ( the hanging houses ). La Ciudad Encantada is really an strange place where the landscape is almost unreal, it was nice in August specially as I said before, in the late afternoon but it must be even better in winter, spring or fall.