Salamanca

Salamanca's hidden frog, the two cathedrals and a tapas round

Two days cover Salamanca. Spend the first on Plaza Mayor, Rúa Mayor, the university with its hidden frog and the New and Old Cathedrals, and the second on the Roman bridge view, the Convento de San Esteban and a long tapas round that ends on Calle Van Dyck.

Begin with coffee under the arcades of Plaza Mayor, then follow Rúa Mayor past the Casa de las Conchas and the twin-towered Clerecía to the university. Find the frog on the facade before going in to see the old lecture halls and library. After lunch, take the combined visit of the New and Old Cathedrals and, if the tower route is open, climb up for the view across the roofs.

On day two, cross the Roman bridge early for the classic view back at the city, then visit the Dominican Convento de San Esteban and its cloister. Spend the evening on a slow tapas round, starting near the plaza and ending on Calle Van Dyck, where the bars are cheaper and almost entirely local.

Lunes de Aguas, Virgen de la Vega and Salamanca's plateau weather

Spring suits Salamanca best, with Semana Santa processions and the Lunes de Aguas picnics by the Tormes, and early September brings the Virgen de la Vega fiesta. Summer days reach 31°C with cool nights, and winters are cold and bright, with January highs of 9°C.

The plateau climate swings hard. With little summer rain the sandstone soaks up heat all afternoon. Nights still drop to about 13°C, which is why the terraces of Plaza Mayor come alive after ten. Winter is the opposite: frosty nights and bright skies more often than rain.

Semana Santa brings hooded brotherhoods carrying their floats through the old town after dark. Eight days after Easter Sunday comes Lunes de Aguas, when families picnic along the Tormes; the custom is said to recall the 16th-century return of the town's prostitutes, sent across the river for Lent and welcomed back by the students.

Early September belongs to the fiesta of the Virgen de la Vega, the patron saint, with concerts, a fair and fireworks, and the students return later that month to fill the bars again. In December, watch for the Nochevieja Universitaria, when students stage a rehearsal New Year's Eve in Plaza Mayor before heading home for the holidays.

Hornazo, Guijuelo ham and cheap student tapas in Salamanca

Start with a hand-sliced plate of jamón ibérico from Guijuelo, 50 km south, then work through the pork that fills Salamanca's menus, from chorizo to crisp jeta, and buy hornazo, a bread pie stuffed with meats, from a bakery. For value, eat on Calle Van Dyck, where the tapas crowd is almost entirely local.

The province's best-known product hangs from bar ceilings all over town. Guijuelo, about 50 km south, cures some of Spain's finest jamón ibérico, and a plate of it sliced by hand is the obvious first order. Pork runs right through the menu: chorizo, ribs, jeta (crisp pig's cheek) and pincho moruno, skewered pork marinated in paprika and garlic. For something with more bite, try chanfaina, a spiced rice dish with liver or blood, and in Ciudad Rodrigo's orbit the soft sausage called farinato, often fried with eggs.

Bakeries sell hornazo, a bread pie stuffed with chorizo, ham and pork loin. It is a year-round picnic food, but the city eats it in earnest on Lunes de Aguas, eight days after Easter Sunday, when families and students carry it down to the banks of the Tormes.

Where you eat matters. Mesón Cervantes on Plaza Mayor gives you the arcades and the view, and the tables around the square are lovely on a warm night. For value, walk north to Calle Van Dyck, where a string of bars serve tapas to a crowd that is almost entirely local. Vegetarians will find the traditional menus hard going, though a few places keep a proper meat-free choice.