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Sisters need MORE advice on Castilla - Leon itinerary

Sisters need MORE advice on Castilla - Leon itinerary

Old May 9th, 2008, 04:00 PM
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Sisters need MORE advice on Castilla - Leon itinerary

Thanks to great information from other Fodorites on this site, I am having some luck in narrowing our Castilla y Leon summer plans.

Again, we are two middle-aged sisters, who will have about 5 days in August to spend in the Salamanca region, starting out in the city of Salamanca, before heading to Madrid to catch a flight out. We are both fairly fit and experienced travelers, have decided to rent a car in Salamanca, and we would like to see Zamora, Medina del Campo, Avila and Segovia. Maybe others, if anyone thinks there is something we should definitely not miss.

Anyone who has traveled in this area - would you suggest staying in one hotel and using it as a base for day trips? Or maybe reserving hotel rooms in various cities, as to avoid any backtracking? If the second alternative sounds reasonable, which cities are worthy of an overnight stay, if any? Any routes between places that are more appealing than others? Any ideas of a plan as to the order of the cities?

This will be the first time I have visited Spain ... would like to see as much as possible, but I definitely don't want to be doing a lot of dashboard time going to and fro.

Thanks so much!



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Old May 9th, 2008, 04:22 PM
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From Segovia to Madrid by car take the road through Navacerrada pass, great scenery, and before the mountain pass at La Granja there is a palace that worths the visit even only for the gardens.
Las time i went it was free to enter the gardens, The palace was ok too, but not as good as Royal Palace in Madrid.
http://www.patrimonionacional.es/granja/granja.htm

I would spend nights at Salamanca, Avila and Segovia and visit the cities and the areas around.

Castilla y Leon is a big region and have many things to visit, preapare for a lot of advices.
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Old May 9th, 2008, 04:23 PM
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Five days? two home bases max; Salamanca and Segovia. My all time favorite hotel in Salamanca is NH Palacio de Castellanos
www.nh-hotels.com/NHCastellanos.

Favorite hotel in Segovia: Hotel Los Linajes http://www.loslinajes.com/

You are going to two of my top five favorites cities in the world. The light in Salamanca is just amazing. Just stand outside Plaza Mayor at sunset and you will know exactly what I mean.

Another rec for the area? Next door to Salamanca is Ciudad Rodrigo: DO NOT MISS.
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Old May 9th, 2008, 07:52 PM
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Hi scdreamer,
In responding to your other post about touring in the Sierra de Béjar and lodging in Salamanca, I remember that you'll be coming from a week of language school in La Alberca.

With only 5 nights afterwards, the easiest and most sensible thing, I believe, is just go to Salamanca, stay put for a while, using it as your base, or better still, 4 nights there and a final night in Segovia (at the Hotel Infanta Isabel right on the Plaza Mayor) before returning to Madrid.

In addition to the Infanta Isabel right on the square, there's the really lovely new 3 star Palacio de San Facundo, around the corner from the Plaza Mayor with garage.

www.hotelinfantaisabel.com
www.hotelpalaciosanfacundo.com

On my other post I had mentioned the NH Palacio de Castellanos in Salamanca which has rooms within your budget. It now has a new sister, the NH Puerta de la Catedral.

The distances from Salamanca to the other cities/towns you want to visit are very, very doable in day trips. No need to spend the night (Avila is easily reached from Salamanca in a day trip), except for that last night in Segovia, heading back to Madrid.

I would do a night in Segovia with the car so as to be able to visit the Bourbon dynasty summer palace of La Granja, just outside the city as victor suggests. You must visit the palace on a bilingual guided tour, but you can stroll the gardens at your leisure.

The order of places visited doesn't make any difference, again, other than saving Segovia for the last, as you make your way back to the flight home from Madrid.

You can drive north to Zamora, southwest to Ciudad Rodrigo, southeast to Avila and on your trip to Medina del Campo I would certainly continue northeast to Valladolid, a very interesting city. Do not miss the spectacular National Museum of Sculpture. A must see. http://museoescultura.mcu.es/
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Old May 11th, 2008, 10:00 AM
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Thank you all for the great ideas ... we have decided to spend three nights in Salamanca (I think maybe at the Abba), a night in Segovia, and then head back to the Madrid area for our last night, as our flights out the following morning are both at about 8:30 a.m.

We'll have a rental car for most of the time, and will explore many of the places you have recommended. We can drop the car off at the airport early in the morning before we catch our flights.

If anyone has an idea for a last night hotel near the airport ... obviously no need for anything more than clean and inexpensive ... I'm open to suggestions.

Again, thank you all for the great information! I am already getting very excited about this trip!
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Old May 11th, 2008, 10:51 AM
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Sound like a good plan.

For your airport hotel, consider the Clement Barajas.
www.clementhoteles.com

Gets very solid reviews.
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Old May 12th, 2008, 04:11 PM
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Another option 5 minutes from Barajas with FREE transfer to/from Barajas Airport is the High Tech Madrid Aeropuerto. We dropped the car at the airport the night before leaving, called the High Tech and they came got us (again, free!). The took us back to the airport the next morning. Strongly recommend this hotel; great rates. I remembered paying $116/triple.
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Old Sep 7th, 2008, 06:54 PM
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A short update/trip report ...
with many thanks to those who responded to the initial "sisters" query.

We had an amazing time! Three nights in Salamanca at the Abba Fonseca Hotel. The room was great, the hotel staff not so much, but we still enjoyed our stay in Salamanca. It took a couple days to figure out the street patterns, but we managed to se so much. What a lovely city!

We followed the suggestion to drive to Ciudad Rodrigo for a day, and found it to be well worth the drive. Seeing that the border with Portugal was not too far away, we ended up making an unanticipated drive to the medieval village of Almeida - I always think it's a good thing to add an extra country to a planned itinerary - and we thought it was really interesting. Very different architecture and culture was also very different, even so close to Spain. We ended up finding a small shop there with the best ceramics we had seen at very reasonable prices, and the people were friendly and warm.

Became completely lost on the way back to Spain, following road signs for "C. Rodrigo," thinking we would find our way back to Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain, but in actuality we were heading into the mountains toward "Castillo Rodrigo" in Portugal. Another TWO SISTERS adventure ... all's well that ends well.

After leaving Salamanca, we stopped in Avila on our way to Segovia ... very enjoyable. Stayed in the Parador in Segovia; there was another adventure involving a stop at a wine shop and a crazy taxi driver ... all was fine in the end, as usual. We loved the Parador - even though it is not historical, it is very comfortable, and the swimming pool and grounds are lovely. The night views of the cathedral in Segovia from our balcony were beautiful. Especially with the wine from the earlier adventure ...

We visited La Granja the following day. We were the only English speakers needing a guide, so after about twenty minutes in the waiting room, we were assigned to a private tour - with an wonderful young woman who was passionate about the history and especially the tapestries of the palace. One of the highlights of our trip.

Our last night in Spain - High Tech Hotel at the Madrid airport was pretty basic ... not bad for our final resting place before an early flight out, but nothing to write home about. We had dropped off the rental car the evening before, and their early morning shuttle was fine for what we needed.

Again, thank you to those who posted with such great advice - I have fallen in love with Spain, and am already planning another trip there next year.
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