Cuenca

Plaza Mayor, San Pablo bridge and the Hoz del Huécar paths

Two days cover Cuenca well: the cathedral, the Museo de Cuenca, the abstract art museum in the hanging houses and the San Pablo footbridge on the first, ending with sunset on the ridge, then the gorge paths of the Huécar and Júcar and the rock shapes of the Ciudad Encantada on the second.

Come up to the Plaza Mayor on bus 1 or 2 on the first morning and start with the cathedral, whose Gothic interior is far better than its reworked front suggests (ask at the ticket desk before taking photos, as the rules have long been strict). The Museo de Cuenca next door has Roman finds from the province and needs about an hour. Walk on to the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art in the hanging houses, where Fernando Zóbel gave single canvases whole walls and some windows open straight onto the drop.

After lunch, cross the iron San Pablo footbridge for the classic view back at the houses, then follow the ridge north to the castle and the Arco de Bezudo. Stay up top for sunset, when the limestone turns orange, and walk down to the new town for dinner.

Day two belongs to the gorges. Take the path along the Hoz del Huécar in the morning, looking up at the houses from below, then loop round to the Júcar side. In the afternoon, drive or join a tour to the Ciudad Encantada, a field of weathered rock shapes in the pine forest north of the city, and be back for a last evening on the Plaza Mayor.

Morteruelo, zarajos and a glass of resolí

Try morteruelo first, a warm spiced paste of game and liver, then ajo arriero and grilled zarajos, and finish with alajú and a glass of resolí. Cuenca's cooking is hearty upland food built on game, garlic and bread, and the best kitchens are in the new town, away from the Plaza Mayor lunch menus.

Morteruelo is a thick, spiced paste of game and liver, served warm in a clay dish with bread for scooping. Ajo arriero blends salt cod with garlic, oil and potato into something between a dip and a purée. Zarajos, lamb intestines wound round a vine stick and grilled until crisp, are the bar snack that divides visitors; order one to share.

For dessert there is alajú, a centuries-old sweet of honey, almonds and breadcrumbs pressed between wafers, and to finish, a small glass of resolí, a sweet liqueur flavoured with coffee and spices that families still make at home around Christmas.

Where you eat matters. The restaurants around the Plaza Mayor and below the cathedral serve set lunch menus aimed at day visitors, convenient but rarely memorable. The best kitchens are down in the plainer new town, among the streets where locals go out at night. Book a table on Fridays and Saturdays, when the Madrid weekend crowd arrives.

Frosty Januaries, Holy Week drums and the best months at 1,000 m

Late May, June and September are the best months for Cuenca, with highs of 21 to 27°C in early summer and about 26°C in September. Winters at close to 1,000 m are properly cold, and Holy Week, with its drums and dawn procession, sells out rooms months ahead.

Altitude shapes everything here. The old town sits close to 1,000 m, so even the hottest months average highs of about 31°C in July and August with nights dropping to around 16°C, and those two months are the driest of the year at 10 to 20 mm of rain. Winter is properly cold: January highs reach about 10°C and the average low falls below freezing. October is the wettest month at around 60 mm, which can make the gorge paths muddy.

Holy Week is Cuenca's big moment. The Semana de Música Religiosa fills churches with concerts, and the Good Friday dawn procession up to the Calvary is accompanied by the turbas, crowds beating drums and blowing trumpets through the steep lanes. In September the city celebrates San Mateo, marking the Castilian conquest of 1177, with young bullocks run through the Plaza Mayor. Rooms sell out for both, so book months ahead.