There are so many pretty towns all across Spain with their magnificent Cathedrals, winding Old Town streets and snapshot views straight from a fairy tale . . . but they often feel either super touristy or half deserted as they are no longer a functioning non-tourist town.
Salamanca is different because it is fortunate to have a university right in the beating heart of the Old Town. This gives the visit a far more genuine feel and it’s actually quite magical wandering through the narrow lanes all around the UNESCO World Heritage listed Cathedral Nueva, finding local bars and restaurants full and then spilling out into the wider plazas like the Plaza Mayor. Super underrated place to visit and one of the best Old Towns experiences you can find anywhere in the world.
Top Tip – as with so many Old Towns, its best just to head in and get lost in the vibe of the place, find yourself a restaurant, have a few drinks and do a steady explore to find what lurks behind the next street, rather than following a guidebook. There is enough to Salamanca to give you this experience and I’d recommend doing so around dusk time when many fellow tourists have left and the restaurant scene starts (slowly!) to come alive.
Accommodation tip – for a hotel right near the Old Town, with stunning views of the Cathedral from its garden pool and Monastery from its rooms, beautiful courtyards and generally top quality, I’d really recommend the Hotel Hospes Palacio de San Esteban. Expensive, but great place.
Valladolid has some nice spots like the Plaza de San Pablo, the Cathedral and the Campo Grande Park, but overall is a far less impressive version of the nearby pretty towns of Burgos and Zamora, the wonderfully atmospheric Salamanca (see travel entry – Salamanca’s Old Town) with its Old Town and, of course, Madrid.
I’d put it far down the list of towns to visit in Spain.
Whilst the wines from Rioja are known throughout the world, the wine region itself is relatively underrated compared to other regions with such a famous name. This is a real plus because in addition to the spectacular views along the mountain ridge-line and the oh-so-pretty small villages perched on top of the various rocky-outcrops, you don’t tend to get the huge hoards of fellow tourists you normally associate with such regions . . . nor the prices.
I only spent a very short time in the Rioja Wine Region, so I won’t go into much detail for tips, except:
Tip #1 – visit the Eguren Ugarte winery. Both the winery itself and its surroundings that look over the valley are simply stunning. They do wine tours and tastings and really reasonable overnight staying options.
Tip #2 – try to stay in the wine region itself. We stayed in Burgos which, although it was nice and had the UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral, felt a bit too far away from . . . well . . . any sign of vineyards!
Dune du Pilat is Europe’s tallest sand dune and, on the face of it, sounds a bit dull . . . I mean, it’s just a sand dune right? Seen heaps of them . . . but . . . it’s actually a better experience than you’d initially think. For one, the views from the top at 110m / 360ft are pretty impressive as you look across the various sand bars offshore and the giant spit of the Cap Ferret bending around in the distance. Secondly, the contrast between the turquoise island paradise to the west, the evergreen forest to the east and the bright white / yellows of the sand dune are one of those sites it’s fun to gorp at for a while. And finally, the whole walking along a giant sand dune largely on your own away from fellow tourists (see top tip below) is just cool. Very much makes sense to be down as one of the Lonely Planet’s top highlights of France
Top tip – the vast majority of fellow tourists get to the top of the dune from the stairs that lead up from the main northern end car park, walk around a bit in that area and then head back down the stairs again to the car park. I can see how this would be a tad underwhelming. Instead, start to walk southwards along the top ridge of the dune – after a short time you’ll have it largely to yourself, have better views of the surrounding forest and find that walking along the ridge is far easier than the sand you’ll have been waling on before. We walked along maybe 2/3rds of the way and then ran down the dune (which was fun) and the walked back along to the northern point of the dune via the shoreline, where we were able to walk around the dune on paths back to the carpark (you could of course just avoid this shoreline-route and walk back along the ridge if don’t fancy the longer route). Whole walk from car park back to car park, including stopping a couple of times, took us around 2.5 hours.
Extra tip – go barefoot. Far easier on the sand
Bordeaux is nice – the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town is pleasant and big enough to get enjoyably lost in; the Place de la Bourse is impressive with its mirrored effect looking from the fountains; and of course you have some of the best wines in the world to sample in the various wine bars and learn about in the museum La Cite du Vin.
But the highlight of this part of France is the vineyards themselves . . . such as the likes of the Saint Emilion area (see Sampling wines in Saint Emilion for more detailed tips). So, spend an afternoon if, as you likely will be, passing through, but not at the expense of time in the vineyards
Tip – the museum, La Cite du Vin, is surprisingly good. It’s out of town a little, but only a 15min tram ride on the main route, plus it has views over the city with your choice of some free wine to compliment the view and the nearby Les Halles Bacalan is a market of tapas restaurants where the food is wonderful.
Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear called the Transfagarasan Highway “The best road in the world” and you can see why. Looking from above it looks like a child’s perfect Scalextric set as it impossibly winds up over the Transylvanian Alps and leaves you marvelling at the effort and engineering skill that have been put into making it. Great fun to drive and a must if driving your way from Transylvania to Bucharest.
Key thing to be aware of is the limited opening times – the most interesting piece of the route and the tunnel through the pass is closed late October/early November to late June or early July due to snow. So this is really a summer / early autumn activity.
The first time I visited Bucharest I think I left with the views of it being one of the worst capital cities I’ve been to and “never going back!”. Perhaps that is a little harsh as, on second time visiting, and wandering through the Historic Centre I saw there are actually some impressive historic buildings and taking a tour to understand the history of Romania post WW2 is quite interesting. It also comes down to if you go mid-week or at the weekends – the Historic Centre seemed to come to life at the weekends as the entire area was pedestrianised and had more of a party atmosphere.
That being said, I think you only really need a day in Bucharest and I’ve listed some top tips below for how to make sure your experience is like my second visit rather than my first! Big one is, if in Romania, use Bucharest as the entry point for exploring the highlights such as Transylvania’s Fortified Saxon villages and exploring Bran Castle and driving the wonderful Driving the Transfagarasan Highway of the Transylvanian Alps.
Was disappointed with Bratislava. There is an ok old town, the castle is worth a look and there are nice spots to walk along the river, but it is a far poorer version of some of the magnificent spots nearby like Vienna, Prague and Budapest, or other “cute old towns” such as Ljubljana or Krakov.
My suggestion is to allocate the time you have to those cities rather than making the trip to Bratislava.
Then again, if you’re on a stag do / bachelor party, I could see the appeal as it looks well set up for this. A few drinks in the square, boat party and then on the lash, happy days. Less so for anything else.
Extra tip – watch out for the taxi drivers charging high prices, especially from the station or airport. They’ll tell you it’s a minimum charge of €20 / €40, which is nonsense. Should be less than €10 from the station and and around €20 from the airport.
Ljubljana is a lovely city to wander around for a day with its pedestrianised streets looking over the river, the famous 3 bridges and in particular the Ljubljana Castle area which is a delight to walk around. Max you need though is a day and I would prioritise the idyllic picture-prefect lakes near Lake Bled ahead of it.
If you’re staying around the Duoro, or maybe Porto, I’d really recommend this 5 hour roundtrip hike from the beautiful mountain town of Ermelo to the waterfalls in the heart of the Alvao National Park. Clearly signposted all the way, you’ll get some great views over the nearby mountains, walk through some of the gorgeous forest and reward yourself at the top with a swim in the natural pools and waterfalls. Best of all, you’ll have it largely to yourself as, from what I saw, there are only see a few people along the way.
Overall a great hike for a break away from the various wine tours!
