Albarracín Castle, the Alcazaba of the Banu Razín

The visit to Albarracín Castle begins down below, at the Albarracín Museum on Calle San Juan: from there the Fundación Santa María guide takes you up to the rocky promontory where the alcazaba of the Banu Razín stood, the Berber family that gave the city its name. You can only enter with a guide. It takes 50 minutes and costs €4.50.

Andalusi houses with a courtyard, latrine and underfloor heating

The alcazaba was the first element in the defence of Islamic Albarracín; then came the watchtowers and the two circuits of wall that you now see climbing the hillside. Up top you walk around an excavated site of more than 3,000 m² with the homes of the Andalusi social and military elite. They were entered through a bent corridor, so that the courtyard could not be seen from outside. Around the courtyard remain the kitchen, the latrine and the main room, which in the 12th century was reached through a double door. At the very top, the main dwelling had a hypocaust, a system that heated a bath from beneath the floor.

The restored wall walk gives views over the whole town and the valley. The finds from the excavation are displayed in the Albarracín Museum, the same building the visit leaves from, so it makes sense to see it afterwards.

Winter sessions and what it costs

The Fundación publishes sessions at 13:00 and 16:30 from 9 November, and warns that it may change them. In its November 2026 sales calendar, almost every day shows only the 13:00 session, on Saturdays there are two and on some days there is no visit. Buy with a date on its website or call the Information Centre (978 704 035), in the stables of the Episcopal Palace, beside the cathedral. Present your ticket at the museum at least 15 minutes before.

• General admission: €4.50.
• Pensioners and customers of partner establishments: €4.
• Under-10s: free.
• With the castle ticket, the Albarracín Museum costs €2.50 instead of €4; the discount cannot be combined with others.

The explanation is in Spanish only; for other languages there is an audioguide. If you also want the cathedral and the museums, the Fundación sells at the ticket office or by phone a €16 pass that combines its visits.

With children, in the cold and with the rest of the day

A house with a latrine and heating beneath the floor is understood at any age, and under-10s do not pay. The Fundación does not publish accessibility information: it is a site at the top of a rock, so with a wheelchair or pushchair ask first. Up top the wind bites in winter even if it does not seem so in the town's streets.

The 13:00 session leaves the morning for the guided visit of the old town and cathedral and the afternoon for climbing on your own up the Andador tower. The two-night getaway from Valencia combines it with the cathedral, the tower and the legends visit.