# Aguilar de Campoo and the Romanesque of Palencia

A castle, a monastery and a Romanesque museum at the gateway to the Montaña Palentina, a church carved into rock and bison, an hour from Palencia.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/aguilar-de-campoo · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Aguilar de Campoo is the large town of northern Palencia, at the foot of the Montaña Palentina, with a castle on a crag, an arcaded square and, on the way out of town, the monastery of Santa María la Real. It is the base for exploring the Romanesque of northern Palencia: within half an hour there is a church carved inside a rock, mountain collegiate churches and temples in villages of fifty inhabitants. To the south begin the loras, limestone plateaus that have been a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2017; to the north, the European bison of San Cebrián de Mudá.

## How do you get there from Palencia?

Along the A-67 towards Santander: a little over an hour. From Burgos, about 75 minutes along the N-627 and Aguilar. From Santander, along the A-67 southwards, also a little over an hour. From Valladolid, an hour and three quarters; from León, a little under two hours.

## Where to park?

In Aguilar, on the streets around the Paseo de la Cascajera and Avenida de Ronda, and go into the Plaza de España on foot. Santa María la Real, on the way out towards Cervera, has its own car park. In the Romanesque villages you park at the entrance: they are small and the churches are a step away.

## How much time do you need?

A day covers Aguilar, Santa María la Real and two churches nearby, such as Olleros and Mave. With a night, add the bison reserve in the morning and San Salvador de Cantamuda, or the KARST centre and Las Tuerces.

## When to go?

From May to October: the churches open for long hours, the meadows are green and the days are long. In summer the nights are cool. In winter it is mountain cold; the churches open less, the bison reserve only at weekends in the morning and Santa María la Real requires booking the guided visit.

## What to see in Aguilar

The monastery of Santa María la Real has a Romanesque cloister and the ROM museum, with models of the churches of the district: self-guided visit €4.50, guided €7.50. In the centre, the Plaza de España with the collegiate church of San Miguel (€2), and above it, the Romanesque church of Santa Cecilia (€2) and the castle. The KARST centre explains the geopark before you go to the rocks.

## The Romanesque around

6 km to the south, the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros de Pisuerga, a church excavated in a crag. A little lower down, Santa María de Mave. Towards the mountain, San Salvador de Cantamuda, with its enormous bell gable. The main ones have fixed hours, almost all close Monday and Tuesday and cost €2; the rest are opened by appointment on 616 520 509, with 48 hours' notice.

## The bison

At San Cebrián de Mudá, about 20 minutes away, a 20-hectare reserve keeps European bison in semi-liberty. The visit, guided, lasts two hours, on foot (€10.50), by electric bike or by calesa.

## Where to eat and sleep

El Valentín, more than sixty years old, is a hotel and roast-lamb restaurant in the centre, with a café from 7:30. The Posada Santa María la Real occupies part of the monastery and admits dogs, according to the official listing. For groups, the Goina hostel, beside the bison reserve. In Santa María de Mave, next to the Romanesque church, the restaurant of El Convento de Mave roasts lamb to order; it is open from late March to October.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Alto Campoo (a 29.7 km), Liébana and Potes (a 49.8 km), Comillas (a 66.1 km), San Vicente de la Barquera (a 66.4 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Santa María la Real Monastery and the ROM Museum** (1 h · Everyone · Self-guided ROM visit €4.50 · guided €7.50): Santa María la Real is on the way out of Aguilar on the Cervera road, a kilometre from Plaza de España. It was a monastery of Premonstratensian canons and is now the seat of the Fundación Santa María la Real, the institution that has spent decades studying and restoring the Romanesque of northern Palencia. The same building houses a secondary school, which is why the hours change in mid-September, when the school year starts.
Cloister, church and the ROM
The visit has two parts. The first is the cloister, from the 12th and 13th centuries, with capitals of plant and fantastic motifs that deserve to be taken slowly, and the monastery church. The second is the ROM, Románico y Territorio (Romanesque and Territory), the exhibition centre that has occupied the old sacristy and the church since 2006. It shows what life was like in a medieval town and displays wooden models of churches in the region and one of the merindad of Aguilar, which works as a map for deciding what to see next.
If you are going to spend a day or two on Palencia's Romanesque, start here: afterwards you recognise at Olleros, Mave or Cantamuda what you saw in the models.
Self-guided or with a guide
The self-guided visit to the ROM costs €4.50. The guided one lasts about 50 minutes and costs €7.50; it is the one that explains the cloister and the one we recommend if it is your first time. On winter Wednesdays, from 18:00 to 20:00, entry is free.
Opening hours by season

13 September to 8 December: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00, with guided visits every hour.
9 December to 14 March: Tuesday to Friday, from 16:00 to 19:30; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:30. Guided visits need a reservation; at weekends they leave at 11:00, 12:30, 16:30 and 18:00.
Closures: several individual days between 24 and 31 December and from 11 to 17 January.

At Easter and in summer it opens every day, morning and afternoon; confirm the exact dates on the booking phone, 979 12 30 53.
Eat and sleep without moving
In the same complex is the Posada Santa María la Real, with its restaurant, La Posada by Seasons. To continue the day, the castle and old quarter of Aguilar are fifteen minutes' walk away, and the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros 6 km.
- **Plaza de España, the Collegiate Church of San Miguel and the Castle** (2 h · Everyone · Walk free · collegiate church and Santa Cecilia €2 each): Aguilar is a fortified town on the banks of the Pisuerga, which Turismo de Castilla y León calls the capital of Palencia's Romanesque. Its old quarter is easily explored on foot in a couple of hours: manor houses with coats of arms, streets with palaces, arcaded squares and an old Jewish quarter, and up above, on the crag, the church of Santa Cecilia and the castle.
Plaza de España and the collegiate church
The centre is Plaza de España, long and arcaded, the place to start. On it stands the collegiate church of San Miguel, a 14th-century church that houses a museum with the parish treasure: goldwork, paintings and ivories. It opens Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:30, and on Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00; entry costs €2. In summer, the Fundación Nártex organises dramatised visits in the collegiate church on Thursdays in July and August, one at night and one for children aged five and over; the dates for each year are published in its calendar. The foundation's office is in the same square, at number 10.
Santa Cecilia and the climb to the castle
From the square you climb through the streets of the old quarter towards the crag. Halfway up is Santa Cecilia, a Romanesque church with a very distinctive tower, which opens on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays also from 16:00 to 18:30; entry costs €2. The pass accreditation for the northern Romanesque, at €2, is sold there. The phone number for the churches is 616 520 509.
Higher up, the 12th-century castle dominates the town from the Aguilón crag. It has been declared a Historic-Artistic Monument since 1949. From the top you command the Pisuerga valley and the reservoir. The climb is on foot and steep: wear comfortable shoes.
How long and when
Allow two hours for the square, the collegiate church, Santa Cecilia and an unhurried climb to the castle. If you want to see the churches inside, go on a Friday or Saturday, when the morning and afternoon hours coincide; on Mondays and Tuesdays Santa Cecilia is closed. Aguilar is also the biscuit town: the Gullón company was founded here in 1892, and Turismo de Castilla y León notes that the smell of biscuits has been part of its streets since the 19th century.
What to combine
At the edge of the town is the monastery of Santa María la Real, with its cloister and the ROM museum of Romanesque models, which completes the visit to the town. The KARST centre explains Las Tuerces before you head out into the countryside, and a few kilometres away are the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros and Santa María de Mave. For eating in the centre, the Valentín restaurant; for maps and opening hours, the tourist office, on paseo de la Cascajera, beside the river.
- **Rock-Cut Hermitage of Santos Justo y Pastor, in Olleros de Pisuerga** (30 min · Everyone · 2 €): In Olleros de Pisuerga, 6 km south of Aguilar, the church of Santos Justo y Pastor is carved inside a crag: aisles, arches and altar are all rock, and from outside only a small modern porch and the bell gable above the stone peek out. It is the village parish church and one of the most remarkable artificial caves in the region, in a setting with many caves inhabited since prehistoric times.
What you see inside
On entering, the church opens into two aisles hewn from the rock, covered with barrel vaults, each ending in its own apse, with a quarter-sphere vault, as in Romanesque churches built of stone. The sacristy is considered the oldest part of the complex. There is also a funerary chapel with an anthropomorphic grave, like other hewn tombs found in the surroundings. The dominant style is Romanesque and the church is medieval, although there is no precise date for its origin. In 2009 the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) published the start of the procedure to declare it a Site of Cultural Interest (Bien de Interés Cultural), in the monument category.
The visit takes half an hour. Spend a while on the exterior too: from outside you understand how the church is set into the crag, because little more than the porch and the bell gable can be seen.
Opening hours and entry
According to the resource sheet from the Junta's tourist office in Palencia, updated in early November 2026, it opens on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:30. On Mondays and Tuesdays it is closed. Entry costs €2. Phone: 616 520 509, of the Fundación Nártex, which manages the openings of the northern Romanesque.
The Turismo de Castilla y León listing says that this timetable is the autumn one, from 16 September to 8 December, and that the church closes from 9 December to 28 February. If you go in winter, call first: out-of-hours visits can also be arranged on that number. At the church you can buy the pass accreditation for the northern Romanesque, at €2.
Getting there and what to combine
You reach it by car in ten minutes from Aguilar. The church is in the village of Olleros itself.
It is the natural partner of Santa María de Mave, a few kilometres away and with the same hours, and the two fit into a Friday or Saturday morning together with the KARST centre, which explains the rock landscape of Las Tuerces, very close. If you are staying in the area, the Hotel Valentín and the Posada Santa María la Real are in Aguilar. For the region's other churches, see the page on Romanesque visits.
- **European Bison Reserve in San Cebrián de Mudá** (2 h · 4 km · Families · Desde 10.5 € per person): In San Cebrián de Mudá, about 20 minutes from Aguilar, a 20-hectare plot of oak wood and meadow is home to several European bison in semi-freedom. The project aims to help recover a species that, as the reserve itself points out, by 1927 had no free-living individual left in the world. It is the animal outing in the Montaña Palentina, with reduced rates for children from 3 years old.
What the visit is like
The visit is always guided and lasts about two hours. It begins at the interpretation centre, which explains the species, and from there it is 2 km to the reserve, covered on foot, by bicycle or e-bike, in a four-wheel drive or in a horse-drawn carriage; in winter, if there is snow, also with snowshoes. Inside the reserve there are three observation points, and the guide chooses which to look from depending on where the animals are. The reserve clearly warns that it is not a zoo: what is guaranteed is the possibility of seeing the bison, not that you will see them.
Hours and prices
In winter it opens at weekends and on public holidays from 10:00 to 12:30, which is the time of the last visit. In summer it keeps that weekend schedule and, in June, July, August and September, also opens on weekdays with a single visit at 10:30, by four-wheel drive or e-bike.
On foot, general admission costs €10.50; over-67s and people with disabilities, €9.50; children aged 3 to 7, €5, and under-3s do not pay. With other means the price changes: bicycle, €14; e-bike, €18; four-wheel drive, €15; carriage, €15, with lower rates for children and over-67s. The carriage only runs if the weather allows. There is also a horses and bison visit for €25. If a small child occupies a seat in a hired vehicle, they pay.
Book online on its website or by phone, on 979 605 823 or 623 025 605. Groups of more than 15 people must call beforehand.
Tips
Go first thing: the hours are mornings only and in winter the visits end at 12:30. Wear warm clothes and country footwear, because most of the time is spent outdoors, and bring binoculars if you have them. If you are going with small children, the carriage or the four-wheel drive saves the 2 km each way.
What to do nearby
In the same village, the project runs the stargazing viewpoint, a former charcoal drying shed from 1956 converted into an observatory in 2006, visited by appointment and with a minimum of six people, and the Goina hostel, a former rectory with 30 beds for sleeping next to the reserve. After the bison, the collegiate church of San Salvador de Cantamuda, with its bell gable, fits in well a short distance away, and on the way back to Aguilar, the castle and old quarter.
- **Romanesque Church of Santa María de Mave** (30 min · For Romanesque enthusiasts · 2 €): In Santa María de Mave, about 10 km south of Aguilar and beside the Pisuerga, the Romanesque church of a former monastery still stands. It is one of the classic stops on the northern Romanesque of Palencia: a large church of reddish stone, with a high dome over the crossing.
A little history
The monastery has its origins in the second half of the 9th century, when King Alfonso III created an abbey here and gave it several small monasteries from the surrounding area. In 1033 Mave and its properties came under the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador de Oña, in Burgos. Nothing remains of the pre-Romanesque building; the cloister and outbuildings were entirely rebuilt in the 18th century and are now a hospitality complex. The Romanesque church, however, has been preserved intact.
What you see
The church is a large building of red ashlar, with three aisles, a triple apse, a bell gable at the west end and a raised dome over the crossing. On the outside it is worth walking around to see the apse and bell gable; inside, the space of the three aisles under the crossing dome. The visit lasts about half an hour.
Opening hours and entry
According to the resource sheet from the Junta's tourist office in Palencia, updated in early November 2026, it opens on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:30. It does not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. Entry costs €2.
The Turismo de Castilla y León listing specifies that this is the autumn timetable, from 16 September to 8 December, and that the church closes from 9 December to 28 January. In those weeks a visit can be arranged at least 48 hours in advance on 616 520 509, the phone of the Fundación Nártex, which manages the openings of the northern Romanesque. The phone number on the listing is 979 123 611. As in the other churches in the area, hours of worship are respected.
Getting there and what to combine
You reach it by car in about fifteen minutes from Aguilar, heading south along the Pisuerga valley. The church is in the village itself.
Mave and the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros have the same hours and are a few kilometres apart: together they make the best Romanesque morning around Aguilar. Very close, too, is the rock landscape of Las Tuerces; to understand it before going, stop at the KARST centre, in Aguilar. In the town you can round off the day with the monastery of Santa María la Real, with its models of the region's Romanesque, and with the castle and old quarter of Aguilar.
If you want to plan the route, the Aguilar tourist office has the hours of all the churches and the page on Romanesque visits summarises which open at fixed hours and which by appointment.
- **Collegiate Church of San Salvador de Cantamuda** (30 min · For Romanesque enthusiasts · 2 €): About 40 minutes from Aguilar, in the municipality of La Pernía, the former collegiate church of San Salvador de Cantamuda has one of the largest bell gables in Romanesque architecture, outlined against the mountain. It stands apart from the village, among meadows, and that is precisely why it can be seen whole from outside, with no houses in front. It is the most mountain-flavoured stop on Palencia's northern Romanesque and lies on the way to the Piedrasluengas pass.
What you see
First is the bell gable, raised on the west facade as a single piece with the wall. It has two tiers with paired openings for the bells, each under a semicircular arch on small columns, and is topped by a triangular gable. Spain.info counts it among the most beautiful in Spanish Romanesque. The church has two doorways with simple pointed arches; the main one is protected by a modern porch.
Inside, it is a church with a single nave, a transept and three semicircular apses, the central one much larger than the side ones, and a deep presbytery. According to the Junta, it is a singular plan within Palencia's Romanesque, as are its vaults: the transept is covered with a rib vault with French-style webbing and the central apse is gadrooned. Look also at the corbels that hold up the eaves, with plant motifs, seated figures, balls, scrolls and animal heads, and at the altar slabs on columns. In 1123 the church became a monastery.
Opening hours and entry
According to the resource sheet from the Junta's tourist office in Palencia, updated in early November 2026, it opens Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00, and on Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00. Entry costs €2. Phones: 979 879 028 and 626 598 193. The Turismo de Castilla y León listing adds that in winter it closes from 9 December to 28 January; on those dates, and outside hours, a visit is requested at least 48 hours in advance on 616 520 509, the booking phone for the northern Romanesque. The address is calle Rollo, s/n, in San Salvador de Cantamuda.
Allow half an hour for the visit, a little more if you want to walk around the outside of the church to see the apses and corbels.
Getting there and what to combine
You get there by car, in about 40 minutes from Aguilar. It is a half-day outing that combines well with the European bison reserve in San Cebrián de Mudá, which is on the way: if you do the bison first thing, you reach the collegiate church mid-morning, within opening hours.
If you are interested in the region's Romanesque, in Aguilar you can first see the models at the monastery of Santa María la Real and, on the way back, the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros or Santa María de Mave. The opening hours of all the churches in the area are on the page for Romanesque visits and at the Aguilar tourist office.
- **KARST Centre of the Las Loras Geopark** (45 min · Families · 1 €): The loras are limestone plateaux cut by canyons south of Aguilar, and since 2017 they have formed the Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark, between Palencia and Burgos. The KARST centre, in Aguilar, is the new Park House (Casa del Parque) that the Junta de Castilla y León opened in autumn 2026 to explain these landscapes: how the rock labyrinths of Las Tuerces and the Covalagua waterfall were formed, and what makes them special enough to be protected. It is a short, cheap visit that makes the rest of the region much easier to understand.
What it explains
The centre works as an interpretation space for the karst landscapes of the Montaña Palentina, those shaped by water dissolving limestone. Las Tuerces is a protected landscape and natural monument: a heavily eroded limestone surface, with a labyrinth of corridors and narrow alleys between blocks of rock, stone mushrooms, natural bridges and arches. Covalagua, in Pomar de Valdivia, at the source of the river Ivia, has its own protection status as a protected landscape and natural monument of the waterfall. The centre also serves as a gateway to the geopark, which brings together these and other places of geological interest in the area.
Allow about 45 minutes. It is a good first stop if you are spending a weekend in Aguilar and want to head out into the countryside, and also a useful plan with children on a rainy day.
Opening hours and entry
According to the resource sheet from the Junta's tourist office in Palencia, updated in early November 2026, from 16 October to 31 December it opens on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00, and on Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00; it closes on 25 December. Monday to Thursday it does not open in this period. Entry costs €1. Phone: 659 04 67 47. That sheet only publishes the hours up to 31 December; for 2027, ask at the Aguilar tourist office.
After the centre: Las Tuerces and the surroundings
The natural next step is to head from here to Las Tuerces. The most usual access is from Villaescusa de las Torres, in the municipality of Pomar de Valdivia, from where a 3.3 km circular route runs along the river Pisuerga, of medium difficulty, taking a little over an hour. From Olleros de Pisuerga you reach the La Horadada canyon, cut by the Pisuerga, and the Monte Cildá viewpoint, with the remains of a pre-Roman settlement and a Roman fortress. Wear walking footwear: the labyrinth is rocky ground.
In Olleros there is also the rock-cut hermitage of Santos Justo y Pastor, dug into the crag, and a few kilometres further down, Santa María de Mave. In Aguilar itself you can carry on with the castle and old quarter or the monastery of Santa María la Real. For lunch after the walk, the Valentín restaurant is in the centre of the town.

## Dónde comer
- **Restaurante Valentín** (Restaurant, Aguilar de Campoo, €€). Qué pedir: the roast lechazo, the house speciality.
- **La Posada by Seasons** (Restaurant, Aguilar de Campoo, €€€). Qué pedir: something from the wild tuna section and, for the local flavour, the oven-roast shoulder of lechazo.
- **El Convento de Mave restaurant** (Restaurant, Santa María de Mave, €€€). Qué pedir: the roast lechazo, ordered the day before; if you have not ordered it, the Pisuerga trout or the stewed lamb.

## By car: By Car from Church to Church
The northern Romanesque of Palencia is spread across dozens of small villages: without a car you can't link them. Aguilar is the base, on the A-67 between Palencia and Santander, and almost everything is within 40 minutes.
Presupuesto orientativo: 60–110 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Hotel Valentín** (Hotel): The Hotel Valentín is at avenida de Ronda, 21, in Aguilar de Campoo, about three hundred metres from Plaza de España. It is the town's big hotel: 50 rooms in a completely renovated building, with 24-hour reception and the restaurant and café run by the same family, who have been in the village for more than sixty years.
On foot to the square, by car to the mountains
The location is the reason to choose it. In the evening you leave the car and walk down to the arcaded square, the collegiate church of San Miguel and the riverside walk; the tourist office, on paseo de la Cascajera, is about four hundred metres away. In the morning you set off by car towards the Montaña Palentina without crossing the old quarter: the monastery of Santa María la Real is a kilometre away, the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros about 6 km and the bison reserve in San Cebrián de Mudá about twenty minutes. Santander, Palencia, Burgos and León are an hour's drive away, according to the hotel itself.
Rooms with a terrace onto the garden
The 50 rooms have a full bathroom, heating and television. Some have a terrace with a view of the garden; if it matters to you, ask when booking, because not all of them have one. The website does not detail room types, extra beds or rates: the price appears when you book on its page, where they apply a 10% discount compared with other channels.
Eating without going out
The Valentín restaurant, in the same building, is known for its roast lechazo. The café opens at 7:30 and on Friday and Saturday evenings sets up an informal dining area, useful if you arrive late from a walk. If you prefer to eat in your room, the kitchen prepares takeaway dishes.
What the website doesn't say
It does not publish check-in and check-out times, nor whether dogs are admitted, nor conditions for children nor the price of breakfast. Ask on 979 12 21 25 or at reservas@hotelvalentin.com before confirming the booking.
- **Posada Santa María la Real** (Small hotel): The Posada Santa María la Real occupies part of the monastery complex of the same name, on the way out of Aguilar de Campoo on the Cervera road, a kilometre from Plaza de España. The inn building went up in the late 18th century and preserves Romanesque elements of the monastery; in the renovation the stone, oak, brick and adobe were left exposed. The cloister and the ROM, the Romanesque centre, are a few steps away.
Waking up beside the cloister
Sleeping here has an advantage you notice in season: you are first at the door of the monastery and the ROM when they open, without looking for somewhere to park. From the inn, Plaza de España and the climb to the castle are about fifteen minutes' walk away, beside the Pisuerga, and by car you head straight out towards Cervera and the Montaña Palentina, the way to San Salvador de Cantamuda and the bison reserve.
Twenty-two doubles
The inn has 22 double rooms, 44 beds in all, with wifi, television, minibar, hairdryer and telephone. The Castilla y León tourism register classifies it as a posada and gives it the Tourism Trust Seal (Sello de Confianza Turística). Room bookings are made through its Booking page, linked from the house's website; there you see the price for each date.
It has a garden and terrace, a meeting room and free parking, and accepts cards.
Coffee at home, dinner at Seasons
The inn's café has its own hours: in July and August, Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 to 15:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00; from 1 September, Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00 and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 15:00. It closes on Tuesdays. For lunch or dinner, the house restaurant is La Posada by Seasons, with signature cooking, wild tuna and lechazo; it is booked separately, on 661 54 04 53.
With a dog
The official tourism listing says dogs are admitted. The conditions (surcharge, size, whether they can be left alone in the room) are not published: ask on 689 73 79 92, which also answers on WhatsApp.
- **Goina Hostel, in San Cebrián de Mudá** (Hostel): The Goina hostel is the former rectory of San Cebrián de Mudá, a village in the Montaña Palentina about twenty minutes by car from Aguilar de Campoo, renovated to sleep 30 people. It is run by the same project as the European bison reserve and the village's stargazing viewpoint, and is booked through them: it is the way to spend the night next to the bison rather than twenty kilometres away.
The house: kitchen, dining room and four bathrooms
Inside there are 30 beds, a kitchen, a sitting room and dining room with television, four toilets, heating and hot water. The website does not detail how the beds are divided or whether you need to bring sheets or a sleeping bag, nor does it publish prices: all of that is asked when booking. With the kitchen you can make your own meals: bring your shopping from Aguilar or Cervera.
By size and the way it is set up, it suits groups: families travelling together, groups of friends, mountain clubs or school groups coming to the reserve.
The bison, at the door
The European bison reserve is in the same village. The visit lasts about two hours and is always guided, on foot, by e-bike, by four-wheel drive or in a horse-drawn carriage, and in winter also with snowshoes. On foot it costs €10.50; €5 for ages 3 to 7 and €9.50 for over-67s. In winter it is open at weekends and on public holidays, with the last departure at 12:30. Sleeping at Goina you can join the first slot without a road ahead of you.
Telescopes in a former coal loading bay
The other reason to stay the night is the stargazing viewpoint, a 1956 coal loading bay converted into an observatory, with a dome, 12- and 8-inch telescopes and high-magnification binoculars. The visits are at night, with a tour of the building, projections and telescope observation, and are booked in advance for groups: €15 per person for 10 to 14 people and €10 for 15 to 20. The visit includes entry to a mine, a reminder of the valley's mining past.
How to book
By phone, on 979 605 823 or 666 229 574, or by email to miradorsancebriandemuda@hotmail.com or bisontesancebrian@mundominer.es. If you are going to combine hostel, bison and observatory, ask for it all in the same call.
For a meal on a day of walking, the Valentín restaurant in Aguilar is the nearest table among our listings.

## As a family: Bison, a Church Inside the Rock and a Castle

Romanesque only bores children if it is one church after another. Mix it up: a church dug into a crag, the bison of San Cebrián, the climb to the castle and the ROM museum, with models.

### What works best
The European bison reserve, on foot or by carriage; children aged 3 to 7, €5

The rock-cut hermitage of Olleros, a church carved into the rock

The ROM museum at Santa María la Real, with models

The climb to the castle in Aguilar

### Where to sleep
Hotel Valentín, in the centre

Goina Hostel, for several families together

### Where to eat
Valentín Restaurant: lechazo to share; the café, for something quick

### Good to know
In winter the bison can only be seen at weekends in the morning: last visit, 12:30

The churches close at midday from 14:00 to 16:00

### Qué hacer as a family
- Santa María la Real Monastery and the ROM Museum
- Plaza de España, the Collegiate Church of San Miguel and the Castle
- Rock-Cut Hermitage of Santos Justo y Pastor, in Olleros de Pisuerga
- European Bison Reserve in San Cebrián de Mudá
- KARST Centre of the Las Loras Geopark

## With teenagers: Bison That Nearly Became Extinct and a Geopark

For teenagers, what works here is what has real history behind it: an animal that in 1927 had no free-living individual left, labyrinth-shaped rocks, a church inside a crag.

### What works best
The bison reserve, best by e-bike

The KARST centre of the Las Loras Geopark, before going to Las Tuerces

The rock-cut hermitage of Olleros

The guided visit to Santa María la Real

### Where to sleep
Hotel Valentín, in the centre of Aguilar

### Where to eat
The Valentín café, combination plates and burgers

### Good to know
The reserve's e-bike must be requested when booking

### Qué hacer with teenagers
- Santa María la Real Monastery and the ROM Museum
- Rock-Cut Hermitage of Santos Justo y Pastor, in Olleros de Pisuerga
- European Bison Reserve in San Cebrián de Mudá
- KARST Centre of the Las Loras Geopark

## Consejos

### Do the churches in the morning
Almost all close from 14:00 to 16:00, and in winter many do not open in the afternoon.

### Book Santa María la Real in winter
From 9 December to 14 March guided visits are by compulsory reservation.

### Do not go on a Monday or Tuesday
Olleros, Mave and Santa Cecilia are closed on those days.

### The bison, first thing
In winter the last visit leaves at 12:30.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How long does it take from Palencia?
A little over an hour along the A-67. From Burgos or Santander, also about an hour and a quarter.

### How much does it cost to enter Santa María la Real?
€4.50 for the self-guided visit to the ROM museum and €7.50 for the guided one, of 50 minutes.

### Which Romanesque churches can you see without an appointment?
Olleros de Pisuerga, Santa María de Mave, Revilla de Santullán, San Salvador de Cantamuda and, in Aguilar, the collegiate church and Santa Cecilia, with fixed hours. The others, by appointment on 616 520 509.

### Where can you see bison near Aguilar?
In the San Cebrián de Mudá reserve, about 20 minutes away, with a guided visit.

### Is it a good plan with children?
Yes, if you mix things up: bison, the church inside the rock, the castle and the ROM models.