Salamanca in a Day

Salamanca is a small city but very attractive for a couple of reasons. The first, for its very interesting artistic and cultural heritage. And the second, because it is a renowned university city with students from all over Spain and the world and as such, it has a great leisure and party offer! Not to mention its gastronomy and its world-famous Iberian sausages and tapas.

But let's go in parts, let's start our whirlwind visit:

In the morning

Plaza Mayor of Salamanca

Let's start from Main Square. In addition to being the center of the city, it is a must-see for its great beauty, baroque style, its arches and its ornaments. Not to mention its tapas bars! But we left that for lunchtime. Now, if you haven't had breakfast, here you can have something and start the route.

Along the Rúa Mayor we take the path towards the cathedrals but first we stop at the Shell House, a striking Gothic and Plateresque building that now houses a public library. We can stop and count them, but we only have one day.

Further ahead and always towards the cathedrals, we will meet the University and its façade, well known especially for housing a frog in it. There are those who say that it gives luck in studies to those who find it. This is almost mandatory. Come on! Leave a few diopters and let it go.

Okay, we'll give you a clue. It's on top of a skull. Have you found it yet? No? Well, since it is always full of people, there will be no shortage of people who have already seen it or the typical local who eagerly offers to tell you where it is and tell you a story about the most famous batrachian in Spain.

The University can be visited inside. It is very interesting to see the old, almost intact classrooms where, among others, Fray Luis de León taught. But you can also visit its cloister and even the chapel.

Rest your eyes a little and we continue towards the cathedrals. We arrive at the new one and at the door we again find people looking and we don't really know why. Well, this is another of the nice spots in Salamanca. On the entrance façade of the New Cathedral, hidden among other things are an astronaut and a demon eating ice cream! Don't worry, this is the result of renovations over time and it is not as difficult to find as the frog. In fact, it's quite easy.

Already? What wasn't that big of a deal? Well, here we are, two options. We can see the cathedral from the inside or climb the tower and see the Ieronimus permanent exhibition. Apart from a piece of history that you can see as we go up, from the top of its 110 meters high we have the best views of the city, apart from walking along its walkways, capitals and gargoyles like Quasimodo around Notre Dame. Which #funplan do you like the most?

At noon

At this point and if we have seen everything calmly but without pause, we can consider eating something. If we prefer to eat from a plate or a menu, there is no shortage of inns and restaurants near where we come from. But if we want to eat tapas, as we have already said, Salamanca is a perfect place for it. If we return to the Plaza Mayor, which is not far away, in it and its surroundings we can enjoy succulent delicacies that come with our drink.

If you feel hungry we have the best restaurant recommendations

In the afternoon

Garden of Calixto and Melibea

We're back on track! We can go have a coffee at the Casa Lis cafeteria, a beautiful Art Deco – Art Noveau museum where we can also take a little time to see it, it's worth it!

Then we can see the famous Roman Bridge of Salamanca, illustrious location where part of the Vía de la Plata ran and famous for leaving it on the “Lazarillo de Tormes”. From there take a look at the stained glass windows of Casa Lis, spectacular!

Returning a little to the upper part of the city, it is very worth it to see the Garden of Calixto and Melibea where it is said that the protagonists of the famous novel by Fernando de Rojas “La Celestina” had their meetings. In that area, if you dare with a “darker” experience, we can find the so-called Salamanca Cave, an old crypt of a church that no longer exists where they say the Devil gave classes in necromancy (black magic related to divination by invoking spirits). Will you dare?

At night

I think we deserve a little leisure after an intense day of sightseeing and hiking, don't you think?

As a recommendation for dinner the Van Dyck Street area and surrounding areas It is literally full of very cheap tapas bars. It has a wide variety of skewers and portions that will help us regain strength after an exhausting day visiting the city.

If you later feel like going out in Salamanca to party, there are three key areas: Rods, Gran Vía and Embroiders. You will surely be able to find a university party and a pub or disco to your liking! If you prefer a brewery, in the Rúa-Plaza Mayor area you also have several places to choose from.

Ah! Don't forget to take something as a souvenir from the multitude of shops you'll find. From t-shirts, keychains, pins, to Iberian chorizo!

We hope you enjoyed your express visit to Salamanca!

*The published photographs have been provided by the Salamanca Tourist Office, Thank you!