Salamanca for the weekend: the golden city!

Let's begin by saying that I started 2022 thinking "this year is the year"...or at least I was hoping so! 🙈

What do I mean by this? I made a decision at the beginning of last year that I would travel every month. For a weekend, three days, or even a whole week but I wanted to know a new place every month of 2022, except for January.

This trip was the first one! On the first weekend of February, I and my boyfriend went to Salamanca, Spain and I am going to tell you everything about it in this post. If you want to know what to see and do in Salamanca, keep on reading.

Why Salamanca?

First things first: why we chose Salamanca? I'm not going to lie and say that I always wanted to visit Salamanca and stuff like that. Never even thought about it! There were a lot of other cities I had on my list and none of them was Salamanca. So you ask me "But Bárbara, how did you end up there?" and I'll answer "we delayed our decision on where to go for too long and there were no planes we could take".

I work until 6 pm and then I have to get ready, grab my stuff and leave the house for the airport which is almost an hour away. This means I need late planes on Fridays to fly to places...this time, we couldn't find one.

With this problem in hand, I was getting really discouraged until Claudio stated the obvious: "We could go by car! We choose a close Spanish city and we drive there". So we opened Google Maps and chose Salamanca. So no romantic "I always wanted to see the city" or "it was on my travel bucket list", it just happened to be close 😅

Nonetheless, despite the reason we chose the city, I really liked it. Once again, I had no expectations so all the amazing things we saw were unexpectedly beautiful!

DAY 1: FRIDAY

There isn't much to tell about this day. We left our house at around 7h30 pm, drove to Salamanca for 4 hours, checked in, organizes our stuff in the room, and went to sleep. We were very tired but so excited for the following days!!

Just to give you a bit of information about our accommodation, we chose not to stay right in the old town center. You can actually find affordable accommodations (I'll leave some links at the end) in the center but, as we were taking the car, I didn't want to have to pay to park it (it was quite expensive to park at the hotels' parking lots). So we chose a hotel right outside the center, just a 10 minutes walk away from the Roman bridge.

It had a parking lot that was actually the most affordable of the ones I checked but there was a lot of free parking in the street so we parked there.

DAY 2: SATURDAY

Our day started rather early for Spanish standards apparently because we were the first and only guests in the breakfast room. However, as we finished our breakfast, other guests started to arrive. This was a surprise for me because I thought we were so late already!!

Moving on, after a delicious and nutritious breakfast, we grabbed our bags and walked to the old town. Our first stop was the Roman bridge.

Roman Bridge/Puente Romano

This bridge represents the entrance to the city. It is a Roman bridge built in the first century A.D. and it crosses a wide stretch of Río Tormes. This bridge is 176m long and it's composed of 26 arches. However, not all of them are original roman arches, only the 15 arches closest to the city. The rest of the arches were reconstructed through the years due to floods in the river Tormes.

On one end of the bridge, you will find an ancient sculpture of a bull (or at least, everyone agrees that it resembles one). Both the bridge and the bull are so important to the city that they are represented in the city's coat of arms.

It is a pedestrian-only bridge which makes it very calm and peaceful. During the weekend, it is always packed with people crossing it, running, and riding bicycles.

Another tip I have for you about the bridge is to see it at night from across the city. The view of the bridge and the city illuminated is breathtaking.

Plaza Mayor

After crossing the bridge, we crossed the city and headed to Plaza Mayor. We saw a lot of the monuments we were going to see later that day and the next day on this walk but we wanted to start on the Plaza.

First thing I have to say about the Plaza: it is beautiful but packed! If you plan to take pictures there and you don't want people in your photos, be sure to go really early.

The plaza is beautiful and full of life with all the cafés and restaurants around. If you go there during the weekend, you may even find some street artists.

As soon as we got there, we went to the Tourism Office and asked for a map. I recommend you do the same as they give you not only the map but also a flyer with ticket prices and schedules. That is so helpful!

Unfortunately, we lost ours near the end of the trip so I can't show it to you.

Another great thing to do in the Plaza is go to Café Novelty. It is packed usually but I found it really cute. You can have a coffee or lunch as we did inside or outside. I recommend inside because the decor makes it look like an ancient coffee house and you don't get that outside.

Regarding the plaza itself, just go there and enjoy it. There is not a lot more I can say about it. I saw some really beautiful pictures of it at night but unfortunately, they didn't light it up that weekend.

In terms of information about this place, it is considered one of the most beautiful plazas in Spain. The city hall is located on the north side of the plaza in a beautiful baroque style.

Central Market/Mercado Central

Leaving the plaza through the west side, you find Mercado Central. I have to be honest on this one, I didn't find it anything special. The building itself had only one thing I liked: the windows. Besides that, it's a regular market. You can find a lot of meats there, you can eat there but that's it. We spent like 5 minutes there. The surroundings, however, are cute so take more time checking that.

Nonetheless, I always recommend that you see things for yourself. I don't think the market has anything special but you might find it amazing for some reason. So, take five minutes just to confirm if you agree with me or not. I don't want to keep you from seeing things you might like just because I didn't.

Iglesia de San Julián y Santa Basilisa

I found this one rather similar to the market situation. It has some cute surroundings, the building itself is just another big church made of the typical Salamanca stone. Once again, check it for yourself. You may find it amazing because of something I actually didn't know how to appreciate.

Plus, it will only take you 5 minutes to see if you like it or not. You don't have to go a long way just to see that building so check it out. An important note: we didn't see the interior, it was closed. So maybe we lost the best thing about the church.

Torre del Clavero

Torre del Clavero is actually just the tower. You can't visit the building and see it inside. However, it is a beautiful tower and I recommend you see it. Once again, it will be a quick thing because you will be just checking it on the outside.

This tower was built as a part of the palace of Don Francisco de Sotomayor, who was Clavero Mayor of Orden de Alcántara. Its architectural style is gothic and it's the shape of the tower that is special. It has a square-shaped base but it becomes octagonal at the top with little towers on each side.

Right next to the tower, you can find the Plaza Colón.

Palácio de la Salina

Crossing the Plaza Colón, you will find Palácio de la Salina. This renaissance-style building is now the house of the Provincial Government offices. However, it used to be a place to store salt, hence the name Salina.

During the opening hours, you don't need a ticket to get in. The gate is open and you just enter. Don't expect to see the rooms and the interior of the building, you won't. All you will see is the courtyard decorated with figures of twisted bodies and arches on two sides of the place.

Once again, you probably won't spend a lot of time here, since you will only see the courtyard. I really liked seeing the place and taking a few photos both on the inside and outside of the building.

The good thing about this place is that you may find it empty…we did. It’s always a good thing to be able to see things without huge crowds, am I right?

Convento de San Estebán

San Esteban is definitely worth the visit! Every angle of this building is beautiful: inside, outside, from above…all amazing!

Beware of the opening hours of San Esteban (the same goes for Las Dueñas) because it is not open all day. We arrived way too early and lost a bit of time.

The main entrance (not the one you use to start your visit) is a delight for the eyes: you have intricate details on the wall around the gate and the gate itself is a patterned work of art, in my opinion. Inside, my favorite part was the cloister surrounded by narrow arches that reminded me of the gothic churches with tall columns and arches so typical of this style. Following this, you have the stairs that take you to the second-floor balcony.

I could try to describe every detail of this place but I think the best is for you to see and feel it for yourself so make sure to include it in your itinerary of Salamanca.

Convento de las Dueñas

Right next to San Estebán, you find the Convento de las Dueñas. It is not a huge place to visit but you should definitely pay it a visit as it has, for me, one of the most beautiful views of the Cathedral, especially during the golden hour.

The building is still home to the Dominican nuns in Salamanca and the amount you pay for the visit will be used to help them with their living costs. Besides the ticket (a very cheap one - 2€), you can buy sweets made by them in the store they have in the building. however, once again, you should check the working hours as it is not always open and we didn’t have the opportunity to check this little store.

Once you get into the Convento, you will be able to check the lower floor of the cloister with a cute garden and an amazing view of the Cathedral. Then, you can climb the stairs to find a room with many religious artifacts. Leaving this room, you have the balcony of the cloister with an even more amazing view of the Cathedral!!!

The last room is about the story of an important nun for these religious women…but I’ll give you no spoilers! You’ll have to check the room yourself ;)

Casa de las Conchas

Casa de las conchas has an incredible façade covered in stone shells. You cannot visit Salamanca without going to Casa de las Conchas! It is home to a public library and, by the time of our visit, it was hosting a photography exposition. It is cute inside, yes, but the main attraction of it is definitely the shells on the outside.

Igreja de San Benito e Palácio Monterrey

The church was closed so we only saw it from the outside and the palace was near its closing hour and we didn’t have time to visit it. Even though we didn’t check the inside of either of the buildings, the church didn’t impress me but the palace, on the other hand, was an imposing building! I just regret not having the conditions to fly my drone because I am sure that it would be just incredible to see it from above.

If you happen to visit Palácio Monterrey, let me know what you thought of it ;)

Convento de las Ursulas

This one was a disappointment for one reason: I didn’t get to see it as it was under construction so I cannot say much about it. It is located right next to Casa de las Muertes and just a short walk from Palácio Monterrey. As I didn’t get to see it, I cannot tell you if it is worth it or not so I let this one for you to find out ;) Let me know what you thought of it if you go there.

Casa de las muertes

I saw this house at night (when the buildings assume a unique beauty) and checked only the façade. I have to say that I was not especially impressed because it had some beautiful elements but, when compared to other buildings in the city, it was not amazing. I am not sure if you can visit its interior but for the outside, you just need five to ten minutes to check the details.

DAY 3: SUNDAY

Casa Lis (Los Libreros)

Casa Lis was one of the attractions I was most excited about because it looked astonishing in the pictures I saw on Google. As soon as I saw the colored glass in the ceiling and windows of the building and those beautiful stairs, I started planning the photos and videos I would make inside and on the stairs. None of that happened however because you are not allowed to take pictures inside and you do not have access to the stairs which means all of my photographic plans were in vain. After the initial disappointment, I decided that, well, it's life and went inside to visit the museum.

It is not a huge-Louvre-style museum, it is actually quite small but the beauty of it is not small at all! For me, it is the mix of metal and stained glass that creates this colorful but not super bright environment that was so characteristic of this place and that I loved so much.

It is filled with little collections of decorative art, from porcelain little dolls to bronze horses and vintage photographs. You will not be disappointed by this museum and the two floors of this work of art building are definitely worth the ticket.

In terms of more practical info, check the opening hours, as usual, because they change (closes at 2pm on Sundays) and the ticket is 5€. However, there is one day of the week (Thursday) when the entrance is free.

All the info you need is here ;)

Universidad de Salamanca

Salamanca has one of the oldest universities in the world and the oldest one in the Hispanic world so, naturally, it became a landmark and you cannot pass it if you visit Salamanca.

As soon as you reach the entrance of the main building, don't find it odd when you see people staring at the facade of the building like they're hypnotized by it. They´re just looking for the frog on the wall, is one of the greatest secrets of the city.

You will see ancient classrooms and one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever seen. Downside? You cannot actually enter the library, you see it through the glass but it's still incredible.

Make sure not to visit only the main building of the university but also the gardens. Important info: they do not accept any other payment besides cash so make sure you have cash with you when buying the tickets. They were about 10€/person.

Catedral Vieja e Nova

The Cathedral of Salamanca is the high point of the city in terms of monuments. You can see it from almost everywhere around the historical center and it just stands as the imposing construction it is!

It is composed of two different buildings: the old cathedral and the new one. This happens because the old building became insufficient for the necessities of a growing population so, between the 16th and the 18th centuries, a new one was built. However, instead of demolishing the old to build the new one, they decided to keep the original building and just attached the new one to it. The wise decision of do so allowed the two constructions to coexist and the beauty of both remains preserved today, giving us the privileged of seeing and feeling it.

Tickets will cost you 6€ and you can buy them there or you can buy them online here.

Scala Coeli

Another educational institution that you can visit in Salamanca is La Clerecía. However, there are two attractions in this building: la Clerecía and Scala Coeli. The first is the Pontifical University of Salamanca and the second one is the tower that gives you a 360 view of the city.

Fortunately for us, they operate in different time schedules. The university closes a bit earlier than the tower. Make sure you check the schedules here.

You won’t see a lot besides the amazing view. So, if one tour is enough for you, you might want to skip this. However, I really loved the Scala Coeli, especially because you have two different viewpoints and you can see all around.

Ieronimus

When you visit the Cathedral, you don't get to climb its tower and rooftops. To do so, you have to buy a ticket at the Ieronimus on the side of the cathedral. We got to visit it without paying but I have to say that I'm not sure why...maybe it was because it was nearly closing time.

For me, totally worth it even if we had to pay! It gives you a great view of the surroundings and it's filled with history. Be ready to climb quite an amount of stairs though (in some cases there are even traffic lights to control when you can go up or down because the space is so tiny that only one person can pass at a time).

Plaza de Anaya

Plaza Anaya is the plaza right outside the Cathedral, it is quite central so you'll probably pass by it multiple times. That's what happened to us.

Don't expect a huge garden where you can spend hours. It is just a small but very beautiful square where you can just relax next to the trees between the Cathedral and the big columns of Palacio de Anaya, which we didn't get the chance to visit. If you do, let me know how it was! ;)

Huerto Calixto y Malibea

The gardens you will find look like they came out of a medieval Disney movie, they're just so intimate and actually quite romantic. Even though I'm far from being a very romantic person, I loved walking through the garden and watching the sunset with my boyfriend. It was our last stop before leaving Salamanca and definitely a great way to end your trip.

Conclusion

As you can see, Salamanca is an amazing place to spend a few days. It is quite cold in the Winter, but I imagine it to be even more beautiful in the summer. If it had all the life it had at night during a winter of really cold nights, imagine how it would be in the summer!

I have to say it was one of our favorites getaways of 2022 and I think you can see why :)

If you want to see more travel destinations, don't forget to check our other travel posts here.

XOXO,

Bárbara