Set your sites on Segovia and Salamanca for a huge heritage hit, a stone’s throw from Madrid

These two walkable, Unesco-listed cities in Castile and León put you on the very edge of wild Spain, says Eddi Fiegel

Salamanca

Salamanca has been called Spain’s ‘Golden City’ and looking at its honey-toned sandstone spires rising by the banks of the River Tormes, it’s easy to see why. Just two-and-a-half hours north-west of Madrid, this medieval centre of learning, famous for its university, has a Unesco-listed Oldtown that boasts Gothic, Renaissance, Moorish and Baroque Elements. With show-stopping cathedrals, grand plazas, and cafes and bars buzzing with students, it’s an eye-catching place to explore.

Salamanca is very much a walkable town, a place to amble leisurely while craning your neck to admire the architecture. Start at the cloistered Plaza Mayor before heading to the cathedrals: Salamanca has not one but two, adjoining each other and combining different styles. Also visit the 16th-century university, with its filigree facade, and the Casa Lis, an ornate Art Nouveau mansion with a fine collection of Art Nouveau and Art Deco exhibits.

About a 90-minute drive west of Salamanca, close to the border with Portugal, you’ll find the Arribes del Duero National Park, a ravine-cut landscape ideal for walking or cycling.with lakes, hills and some of the deepest gorges in Spain, not to mention golden eagles, black swans and other exotic flora and fauna, there’s plenty to take in when you visit. An hour’s drive further north is the impressive Pozo de los Humos, a waterfall that is taller than Niagara Falls.

This is meat country, with moreish acorn-fed jamón ibérico taking centre stage, alongside intense, dark morucha beef, wild boar, chorizo and black pudding.the streets around the Plaza Mayor are brimming with tapas bars and restaurants where you can sample these and other specialities. Also try the local hornazo – a latticed meat pie sold by the slab and filled with chorizo or ham and egg – as well as speciality mini doughnuts and sponge cakes. Stay at Hospes Palacio de San Esteban – just because you’re in a former 16th-century convent, you don’t have to sacrifice contemporary style. This five-star palacio, less than ten minutes’ walk from the main sights has an outdoor pool and views of the two cathedrals. Doubles from £76. www.hospes.com/en/palacio-san-esteban

Segovia

Sometimes described as ‘the most beautiful city in Spain’, Segovia has a lot to live up to, but it doesn’t disappoint.with its Unesco-listed Oldtown set against a dramatic mountain backdrop, Segovia has monuments aplenty, from a spectacular Roman aqueduct and Gothic cathedral to a medieval Jewish quarter and Moorish palace.with concerts in squares and art exhibitions in palacios, the city, around an hour north-west of Madrid, has long attracted artists and intellectuals.

Segovia is similarly a city to savour and its key sights are within easy walking distance of each other. The vast, towering, two-tiered Roman aqueduct dominates the city and from here it’s a gentle stroll to the part-moorish, part-19th century turreted royal Alcázar palace, supposedly the inspiration for Walt Disney’s fairytale castle. For another piece of the jigsaw of Spanish history, look no further than the narrow alleys of the medieval Jewish quarter.

The Sierra de Guadarrama range between Madrid and Segovia has long been a favourite with walkers and skiers, especially Madrileños looking for some clean air. Easily reachable as a day-trip from Segovia, these dramatic mountains are filled with pine trees, high ridges and granite peaks, famously the backdrop for part of Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. There are also three different-sized ski-resorts here: Puerto de Navacerrada, Cotos and Valdesquí.

If you’re a meat eater you won’t want to miss Segovia’s most famous dish, cochinillo (suckling pig). Cooked so tenderly that it’s almost falling off the bone, the pork is then theatrically carved for you at your table by the waiters. Other local specialities worth checking the menu for are wild mushrooms and smoky cantimpalo chorizo, served in all the restaurants and tapas bars around the Plaza Mayor and Paseo del Salon, or at the outdoor terraces by the aqueduct.

The five-star Eurostar Convento Capuchinos, in Segovia’s Old Town, is a former monastery and a wonderful place to rest tired feet – relax amid the old cloisters and visit the spa, complete with indoor pool and Turkish baths. Doubles from £66. www.eurostarshotelcompany.com/en/ eurostars-convento-capuchinos.html

Spanish streets (clockwise from top left) Dusk falls over Segovia’s Calle Juan Bravo and the city’s 16th-century Gothic cathedral with its 90m-high belltower; looking out over the Tormes River, Salamanca’s New Cathedral combines the 16th-century Gothic style of the original with Baroque touches from its 18th-century postearthquake reconstruction; cafes buzz in Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor – the ideal place to try local jamón as well as jeta (roasted pork cheeks); the Alcázar of Segovia has been a palace, a prison, a college and now a military museum; (far left) a view over Salamanca, including the Iglesia de La Clerecía