40.66° N · 4.70° W
The complete medieval wall that you walk along the top, the fortress cathedral and San Vicente, an hour and a half from Madrid: opening hours, prices, where to eat and sleep.
Part of The Central System
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Visit · 1 h 30 · €8 · You walk along the top of a complete medieval wall of 2.5 km and 87 towers; stretches at Puerta del Alcázar, Carnicerías, Carmen and Puente.
Viewpoint · 30 min · Free · The 1566 wayside shrine across the Adaja, with the whole city wall in front of you; best at dusk.
Visit · 1 h · A church and fortress in one: the apse is the sturdiest tower of the city wall; altarpiece by Pedro Berruguete and the tomb of El Tostado.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Getaways from Ávila
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
Spring and autumn. Ávila is at over 1,100 metres and in winter it is very cold; in summer, the evenings are cool. The wall is closed on Mondays from late October to late March.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Ávila is 113 km from Madrid along the AP-6 and AP-51. The city is explored on foot: the car is for getting there and for the Cuatro Postes viewpoint.
Ávila has a train station and a bus station next to the old town, and everything you visit is within walking distance.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
The wall of Ávila is a medieval playground: you walk along the top, between the battlements, and see the city's rooftops. It is what children remember most.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
© ParadoresHotelWhy we like it: 16th-century Piedras Albas palace, inside the wall next to the Puerta del Carmen, with garden, restaurant and parking for guests.
Why we like it: Four-star hotel in a palace on Plaza de la Catedral, with limited parking that cannot be reserved in advance.
Why we like it: Three-star hotel in a 15th-century inn on calle Cruz Vieja, with 14 rooms with rustic furniture; the top-floor ones have sloping ceilings.
Why we like it: Charming hotel on calle Francisco Gallego, with rooms of stone and exposed brick, each with its own story.
Why we like it: Guesthouse in a 17th-century building next to the Puerta del Alcázar, with single, double and triple rooms overlooking the wall or the street.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: Castilian cooking in the courtyard; in season, a table at Los Patios de la Catedral.
© ParadoresWhat to order: El Barco beans and veal rib steak; for dessert, yemas de Santa Teresa.
What to order: Ávila cooking a couple of steps from the wall; ask about the menu.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
40.59° N · 4.15° W
By carCar-free
40.35° N · 5.17° W
By carOn footCampingBy campervan
40.95° N · 4.12° W
By carCar-freeBy campervan
40.78° N · 4.00° W
By carCar-free
Tips
There are fewer groups and the light comes in sideways on the battlements.
At dusk, with the wall lit up.
The wall closes and so do many visits.
It is at Avenida de Madrid 39, next to San Vicente, and is open every day.
Ávila is the city of the wall. Its medieval enclosure, 2,516 metres long with 87 towers, is complete and you can walk along the top for a good part of its perimeter. Inside are the cathedral, which is both temple and bastion, granite palaces and the places of Saint Teresa; outside, the Romanesque basilica of San Vicente and the monastery of Santo Tomás. It is a compact visit, an hour and a half from Madrid, which can be done in a day and is better with a night, because the wall lit up from Los Cuatro Postes is the image everyone comes looking for.
By car, along the AP-6 and AP-51: it is 113 km according to Ávila Turismo and around an hour and a half of travel. From Segovia it is 81 km along the N-110, one hour; from Salamanca, 96 km along the A-50, about 75 minutes, and from Valladolid, 140 km. Without a car, Ávila has a train station on Paseo de la Estación and a bus station on Avenida de Madrid, both a walk from the old town.
The walled old town is narrow and almost everything is done on foot: leave the car outside. If you sleep at the Parador or the Palacio de los Velada, they have their own parking with limited spaces. For motorhomes, Aparkarea, at the foot of the north stretch of wall, has 40 spaces with water and electricity five minutes from the centre.
A day covers the wall-walk, the cathedral, San Vicente and lunch, and going up to Los Cuatro Postes at dusk if you head back late. With a night you add Santo Tomás and the Teresian convents without rushing, and stroll the empty city. Ávila combines well with Segovia, an hour away, or with the Sierra de Gredos, to the south.
Ávila cooking is spoon dishes and the grill: beans from El Barco, Ávila beef chuletón, suckling pig and, for dessert, Santa Teresa egg-yolk sweets. The Parador has them all on its menu; inside the wall, the Hostería Las Cancelas serves in a 15th-century courtyard and the Puerta del Alcázar is at the foot of the wall-walk. None publishes its hours: call first, especially on Sunday.
Ávila is one of the highest capitals in Spain and it shows: in winter it is cold with the odd snowfall, and in summer the evenings call for a jacket. Spring and autumn are the best times to walk the wall. From late October to late March the wall is closed on Mondays; in summer it is open every day until late and some stretches until 22:00.
Questions
About an hour and a half by car along the AP-6 and AP-51, 113 km.
€8 general admission and €5 reduced.
Mondays, from 25 October to 26 March, apart from some public holidays. The rest of the year it is open every day.
From Los Cuatro Postes, on the other side of the River Adaja, especially at sunset.
Yes: there are train and bus stations next to the old town, and the city is explored on foot.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/avila
