# La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia

La Alberca, Mogarraz and Miranda del Castañar, the Peña de Francia and the Las Batuecas valley, an hour from Salamanca: walks, food and places to sleep.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/la-alberca · Revisado: 2026-11-12

The Sierra de Francia is the mountainous corner of southern Salamanca, on the border with Extremadura: chestnut trees, oaks and cork oaks, gorges with water almost all year and villages of stone and timber that preserve mountain architecture as in few places in Spain. La Alberca is the gateway and the best known: it was the first Spanish village declared a Historic Site, in 1940. Around it, Mogarraz with its portraits on the façades, Miranda del Castañar within its walls, the sanctuary at the summit of the Peña de Francia and the closed valley of Las Batuecas, with a Carmelite monastery and rock paintings. All of it is the Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia Natural Park.

## How do you get there from Salamanca?

By car it is about 75 km to the south, around an hour: you leave along the Vecinos and Tamames road and enter the sierra via El Cabaco. From Ciudad Rodrigo it is about 35 minutes. From Cáceres, along the A-66 and Béjar, allow about two hours, and from Madrid, nearly three. Without a car, Autocares V. Cosme has a scheduled bus from Salamanca station, on Sundays too: according to the town council, that day it leaves Salamanca at 10:00 and returns from La Alberca in the afternoon (at 18:20 on the winter timetable). Confirm it with the company before going.

## Where to park?

The old town of La Alberca has narrow stone streets, almost all pedestrian in practice. Leave the car in the car parks at the entrance to the village and walk in: the Plaza Mayor is five minutes away. On Sundays and long weekends, it is hard to find a space by mid-morning. If you sleep there, the Hotel Batuecas has private parking. In Mogarraz and Miranda del Castañar you also have to park at the entrance.

## How much time do you need?

One day covers La Alberca in the morning, lunch in Mogarraz and in the afternoon going up the Peña de Francia or down to the Portillo de Las Batuecas viewpoint. With two days you can do a proper walking route, such as the PRSA-10 to the Cabras Pintadas or the Camino de los Prodigios, and call at Miranda del Castañar. With three, combine it with Ciudad Rodrigo or with Las Hurdes, on the other side of the Portillo, already in Cáceres.

## When to go?

Autumn is the best time: in October and November the chestnut groves turn golden and at the Magosto festivals chestnuts are roasted in the street. Spring brings water in the fountains and the green. In summer it is hot at midday, but the nights are cool and the water of the gorges is welcome; La Alberca's main festival is on 15 August, with the Diagosto, and the village fills up. In winter there are foggy, cold days, and the Peña de Francia road may have snow: the park advises against walking up in snow.

## What to eat

The sierra is a land of Iberian pork, cured meats air-dried in the sierra, hornazo and kid. There are two dishes you will not see elsewhere: patatas meneás, with paprika and fried pork scratchings, and limón serrano, a cold salad of lemon, orange, boiled egg and chorizo. For dessert, turrón, wafers, perrunillas and local honey. In the shops of the Plaza Mayor you can buy them to take away.

## Dónde está
- Zonas: The Central System, Horse riding routes in Spain
- Cerca: Hervás and the Ambroz Valley (a 32.0 km), Ciudad Rodrigo (a 38.0 km), Jerte Valley (a 40.6 km), Salamanca (a 65.0 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Old Town and Plaza Mayor of La Alberca** (1 h 30 · Everyone; cobbled, sloping streets · Free): La Alberca was the first village in Spain declared a Historic Site, in 1940, and what you come to see is its sierra architecture: houses with a stone ground floor and timber-framed upper floors, each jutting out over the one below until the eaves of the houses opposite almost touch. That is why the streets lie in a half-light of lights and shadows, and why some have compared the layout to a Jewish quarter or the outskirts of Damascus. The walk is free, self-guided, and takes an hour or an hour and a half.
The dated lintels
Look at the doors. Many lintels have carved on them the date the house was built, along with crosses, inscriptions and religious monograms, as a profession of faith for all to see.
The Plaza Mayor, the axis of the village
Everything ends up at the Plaza Mayor: arcades on granite columns, façades with two rows of balconies, whitewash and the stone cross in the centre. At number 11 is the tourist office, which gives out the map of the urban route with the parish church and the place of the Moza de Ánimas. On the way out towards Las Batuecas is the Casa del Parque, open Friday to Sunday. To eat without leaving it, La Catedral roasts kid and lamb in a wood-fired oven.
Small museums
Besides the streets, the village has several house museums: the Sátur Juanela House Museum, the Museum of Traditional Albercano Dress and Oh! Espacio del Jamón. Ask at the tourist office what is open on the day of your visit.
The pig of San Antón and the festivals
In La Alberca a pig lives loose in the streets from June until 17 January, when it is raffled: it is the marrano de San Antón, a tradition the town hall describes on its website. The festivals with the most strength are the Diagosto, the August patron saint festival, with the traditional Albercano costumes, and the day of the Pendón, on the octave of Easter, which recalls the standard that the women of La Alberca in the 15th century seized from Portuguese troops.
Sloping streets
The streets are cobbled and sloping: wear comfortable shoes; with a pushchair, some stretches are heavy going. With a dog, on a lead.
From the village start the route to the Las Batuecas valley and the road to the Peña de Francia.
- **Peña de Francia Sanctuary** (1 h 30 · Everyone; narrow mountain road at the end · Free): The Peña de Francia is the summit of the sierra of the same name, at 1,723 metres, and at the very top it has a Dominican sanctuary. From above, on a clear day, you see the campo charro countryside to the north, and Las Hurdes and the Sierra de Gata to the south. The visit is free and you drive up from La Alberca in a little under half an hour.
A cave, an image and the Dominicans
According to tradition, in 1434, in the reign of John II, a French pilgrim named Simón Vela found an image of the Virgin hidden in a cave at the summit. Two years later, in 1436, the Dominicans settled here, who built the convent, enlarged the church and constructed the square and the viewpoints. With the confiscation of church property the sanctuary was abandoned, and the friars returned in 1900. It has been a national monument since 1956.
What you see at the top

The church, Gothic, with a neoclassical 17th-century façade and an 18th-century tower. In the camarín (shrine chamber), on the highest rock of the peak, is the image of the Virgin carved in 1890, which keeps remains of the original.
The square, arcaded, with the 16th-century rollo (justice column) and the coats of arms of John II and the Dominican order.
The Chapel of the Blanca, probably 16th century, in a corner of the square, over the cave where the image appeared.
The Santiago balcony, an open viewpoint between the arcades, where there was a chapel dedicated to the apostle.
The Santo Domingo viewpoint, circular and with a sundial, from 1975, at the end of the road.
The convent, around a small courtyard with the Pozo Verde, the cistern that collected the rainwater from the roofs.

Open to the public are the chapels, the cloister and a photography exhibition room. The guesthouse, from the 16th century, still operates; it is called the Hospedería Real because Isabella the Catholic, Charles I and Philip II stayed in it.
How to get up and when not to
By car, from La Alberca towards Monsagro and Serradilla del Arroyo, and then along the SA-203 to the turning for the sanctuary; the last stretch is narrow and winding. You park about 200 metres from the sanctuary. For much of the winter the summit road is closed from the Paso de los Lobos junction: with snow, do not go up.
On foot, the PRSA-8 climbs from El Cabaco: 8.7 km, about six hours and 760 metres of climb, with a reserve zone on the hillside in which you cannot leave the path.
With the rest of the sierra
The Peña fits into the same day as the old town of La Alberca, and from the village also leaves the route to the Las Batuecas valley. For lunch on the way down, La Catedral roasts kid and lamb on the Plaza Mayor of La Alberca.
- **Las Batuecas Valley and the Cabras Pintadas** (4 h · 8 km · Walkers in good shape; high difficulty): South of La Alberca, the road climbs to the Portillo pass and drops abruptly into the Las Batuecas valley, an enclosed valley with steep slopes, with rockroses, heathers, junipers, cork oaks and holm oaks. At the bottom is the Desierto de San José de las Batuecas, a Carmelite monastery founded in the late 17th century, and upriver, in the scree slopes, the shelters with schematic Neolithic rock paintings: goats, deer and human figures in ochre. You can get there on foot from La Alberca by the PRSA-10, a demanding route, or drive down and walk only along the valley floor.
From the pinewood to the Portillo
The PRSA-10 leaves La Alberca, next to the Casa del Parque, and climbs through a Scots pine wood to a firebreak that leads to the Portillo road. You cross it and follow a track of gentle gradient to the saddle, and from there a path to the pass, at about 1,250 metres. The view takes in the Las Batuecas valley, the Las Hurdes mountains to the south, the Francia valley and the Sierra de las Quilamas to the north and the Sierra de Béjar to the east. It is a good place to see griffon and black vultures.
The descent to the monastery
You cross the road again and the hardest stretch begins: a descent of almost 700 metres among quartzite crags down to the monastery. The monastery is private property and enclosed: it is seen from outside, in silence.
The Cabras Pintadas
From the monastery, a path goes up the Batuecas river to the shelters of the Canchal de las Cabras Pintadas and the Canchal del Zarzalón, a few metres from the posts that mark them. To the Cabras Pintadas it is about 8 km from La Alberca, between three and a half and four hours each way, 650 metres of climb and high difficulty. The return, if no one picks you up by car, is all uphill to the Portillo: allow the whole day.
The short version, by car
If you do not want the climb, drive down the Portillo road to the monastery car park and walk through the valley. There is an accessible path, Valle de Las Batuecas, 1.5 km and linear, beside the river, and the walk from the monastery to the painting shelters is short.
Rules and coverage
In the Las Batuecas valley and at the Portillo you may not leave the path: they are reserve zones. Mobile coverage fails on part of the route; download the track beforehand. Bicycles are not allowed on the route.
For the rest of the day, the old town of La Alberca awaits on your return, and if you want another summit, the Peña de Francia.
- **Mogarraz and its portraits on the façades** (1 h · Everyone · Free): About 7 km from La Alberca by road, Mogarraz is the village of portraits. Tucked away among the forests of the Sierra de Francia, it keeps narrow streets of sierra houses of stone and timber framing, and on its façades hang hundreds of faces of residents, painted from photos taken of them in the village in the mid-20th century. Strolling in search of faces is the plan, and it takes an hour.
The portraits on the façades
The portraits form the Retrata2/388 project, which the town hall links to on its website. The whole village thus works as an open-air exhibition: there is no entrance fee or timetable, and they are seen simply by walking the streets and alleys. For children it works as a game to look for faces and compare ages and expressions. Wander without hurry and in no fixed order, climbing up to the upper part of the village and coming down by a different street.
The Camino del Agua
If you want to walk, the Camino del Agua is one of the park's art-in-nature routes: circular, 6 km, about two hours and 255 m of ascent and descent, of low difficulty, which can be done on foot or by bicycle. It links Mogarraz with Monforte de la Sierra among oaks and chestnuts, with the sound of water always in the background, and has six works of art along the way. Castilla y León Tourism rates it as suitable in any season. The town hall publishes a map of the route on its website.
Practical information
The tourist office is at Plaza Mayor 4 (676 758 392); in Easter week it is open Thursday to Sunday and public holidays, from 11:00 to 14:30 and from 16:30 to 19:30, and the rest of the year it is best to call beforehand. The village's cooking, according to Castilla y León Tourism, revolves around Iberian ham and cured meats. In summer there is a programme of cultural activities and the patron saint festivities of the Virgen de las Nieves, and on 1 November the Night of Souls (Noche de Ánimas) is celebrated: the town hall publishes the programmes on its website each year.
For a meal, the Mirasierra restaurant, in the upper part of the village, has a dining room with views of the sierra and grilled meats; at weekends it fills up, so book.
What to combine it with
Mogarraz lies between La Alberca and Miranda del Castañar, about 9 km away, and the three villages go well together in a day by car. If you liked the idea of art and countryside, the Camino de las Raíces starts at La Alberca, another circular route with six land art works. To understand the park before walking, the Casa del Parque in La Alberca has a model of the whole sierra.
- **Miranda del Castañar and the Camino de los Prodigios** (1 h · Everyone · Free): Miranda del Castañar, declared a historic site, is walked from one end to the other along a main street inside the wall, between houses with wooden balconies, up to the castle at one end of the village. It is smaller and quieter than La Alberca and can be seen in an hour, at an easy pace.
The town and its wall
According to Castilla y León Tourism, Miranda was founded as a "villa y tierra" community around 1215, and its very well preserved wall must date from that time. It is more than 600 metres long and encloses an old town of cobbled streets, hermitages and sierra manor houses.
The castle is attributed to Pedro de Zúñiga, second Count of Miranda del Castañar, who probably built at least the keep. That tower joins a small enclosure that serves as a forecourt, next to a D-shaped tower and other remains that might belong to an earlier, smaller fortification. The circular gun loops are typical of 15th-century artillery. The story goes that, shortly before the death of Diego de Zúñiga, the Duke of Alba, García Álvarez de Toledo, seized the fortress claiming he had rights over it. Today the castle can only be seen from the outside.
The Camino de los Prodigios
It is one of the park's art-in-nature routes: circular, 10.2 km, about four hours and 475 m of climb, of medium difficulty. It links Miranda del Castañar with Villanueva del Conde through the Sierras de Béjar y de Francia Biosphere Reserve, among oaks, vines, olives, cork oaks and strawberry trees, with bridges, terraces and artistic interventions along the way. Castilla y León Tourism rates it as suitable in any season. Ask for the map at the Casa del Parque or at the La Alberca tourist office, and if you go in summer, set out early and take water, because it is four hours.
Practical information
The municipal tourist office is on Calle Los Llanitos, no number, and the town hall on Calle Alhóndiga; both answer on 923 432 001. The village's cooking revolves, as in the rest of the sierra, around Iberian ham and cured meats. The easiest thing is to leave the car at the entrance to the village and walk round it, because the streets within the walls are cobbled.
What to combine it with
Mogarraz, the village of portraits on the façades, is about 9 km away: the listing for Mogarraz also describes its Camino del Agua, shorter and easier than the Prodigios one. With the two villages and the old town of La Alberca you have a good day's drive through the sierra. If you are looking for a gentler route, the Camino de las Raíces starts from La Alberca: 8 km of low difficulty.
- **Camino de las Raíces (Roots Trail)** (2 h 45 · 8 km · Walking families): The Camino de las Raíces (Roots Trail) is an 8 km circular route that starts and ends at La Alberca. It is part of the Art in Nature Trails of the Sierra de Francia, with the code SA1: a walk through the village's municipal area that seeks the origin of its culture and traditions through hermitages, old buildings and natural monuments, with six land art works scattered along the way.
The route
It takes about two and three quarter hours on foot, with 162 m of climb and as much descent, and low difficulty. It can also be done by bicycle. Castilla y León Tourism points out as places of interest the hermitage of Majadas Viejas, the remains of the hermitage of San Marcos and the San Marcos lagoon.
The six land art works are interventions in the landscape itself that, according to Castilla y León Tourism, show human presence in it. They form an open-air art trail, with no hours or entrance fee: you see them as you walk, in the order of the path, and you can stop at each for as long as you like.
Before you set out
Ask for the map at the tourist office, on the Plaza Mayor, or at the Casa del Parque (Park House), on the Las Batuecas road, which has a model of the whole park to get your bearings. Bear in mind that the Casa del Parque, outside summer, is open only from Friday to Sunday, and that in January and until mid-February it is closed. The official listing gives the old town of La Alberca itself as the route's reference point, so you set out on foot from the village, with no need for a car.
It can be done all year, although it is most enjoyable from spring to autumn. One of the Castilla y León Tourism listings recommends it in summer; if you go in July or August, set out early and take water. It suits walking families: the climb is small and it can be shortened by returning the way you came.
Other art trails in the sierra
The Roots Trail is one of several of this kind in the area. From Mogarraz starts the Camino del Agua, circular, 6 km and 255 m of climb, with six more works among oaks and chestnuts, on the stretch towards Monforte de la Sierra; it is described in the listing for Mogarraz. From Miranda del Castañar starts the Camino de los Prodigios, longer and more demanding: 10.2 km, about four hours and 475 m of climb, of medium difficulty, through the Villanueva del Conde area. After walking, take a turn round the old town and Plaza Mayor of La Alberca, the first village in Spain declared a Historic Site, in 1940.
- **Horse riding in the Sierra de Francia** (1 h · Beginners; check the minimum age · Desde 38 € per person): The Hotel Abadía de los Templarios, on the outskirts of La Alberca, organises one-hour guided horse rides in the surroundings of the village, in the heart of the Sierra de Francia. It is a relaxing way to see the sierra landscape without having to walk, and the hotel also has a long list of activities for those who spend several days here.
The horse ride
The hotel advertises it as a one-hour guided route through the corners of the Sierra de Francia, at €38 per person. Its website does not publish hours, minimum age or whether experience is needed, nor does it make clear whether the activity is open to those not staying at the hotel. All that is asked when you book, on 923 423 107. If you are going with children, also ask whether there are ponies or whether they can be accompanied, and what clothes and footwear are best. As it is an outdoor activity, also ask what happens if it rains on the day of your booking.
Quads, buggies and other activities
If you prefer an engine, the hotel has guided quad routes with an instructor through natural areas, at €45 for a single quad and €60 for a double, and one-hour routes in a two-seater buggy, also with an instructor, at €70 for a single and €100 for a double.
For those who want to combine, the hotel's activities page also includes:

Hiking: routes through the Sierra de Francia and the Las Batuecas Natural Park, €16 per person.
Cycling: bike hire for routes in the surroundings, €15.
Archery: €27.
Tennis and padel: on the hotel's own courts, €11.
Canoeing: a descent of about two hours along the river Alagón, in a one- or two-seater canoe, €42.

For groups it also offers a children's treasure hunt and a visit to a cattle farm (minimum 15 people), a catamaran trip on the Alagón to the walled town of Granadilla, already in Cáceres (minimum 12), and a dramatised medieval dinner at the La Catedral restaurant, in La Alberca (minimum 30 people, with optional costume hire for €7 more). From six people you can even book a balloon flight, at €250.
How to organise it
Always book by phone and in advance, especially on long weekends and at weekends. If you are sleeping at the Hotel Abadía de los Templarios, the convenient thing is to leave the ride for first thing or the afternoon and devote the rest of the day to the village. The old town and Plaza Mayor of La Alberca can be seen in an hour or an hour and a half, and for an easy walk without a guide, the Camino de las Raíces starts from the village itself: 8 km of low difficulty among hermitages and works of art.
- **Las Batuecas Park House (Casa del Parque)** (45 min · Everyone · Free): The Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia Park House (Casa del Parque) is in La Alberca, on the Las Batuecas road, number 22. It is a stone building with a flat roof, designed to blend into the hillside. It has a model and a map of the whole park for planning your route, audioguides (also in an accessible version) and the calendar of festivals and activities in the sierra. Admission is free and the visit takes about three quarters of an hour.
What is inside
At reception there is a craft shop and a space for temporary exhibitions by local artists. A relief model presents the park, of more than 32,000 hectares between the Tagus and Duero basins, with its peaks, its protection designations and the origin of the name Sierra de Francia, as well as the cave paintings, the Roman and Visigothic traces and the legend of the Virgin of the Peña de Francia.
The first room has a map of the park on the floor and panels about the ancient Tethys sea and the formation of the sierra, with ammonite and trilobite fossils and the cruzianas, fossil tracks in the quartzite. Next come the park's mountains, forests and rivers, with their fauna and flora, and the famous beech of Herguijuela de la Sierra. For children there are puzzles of trees, trunks and leaves, flap panels for recognising animal tracks and an observation tower over a model of a hillside.
The second room brings together terrariums with the park's habitats, a table with feathers, a snake skin and a roe deer skull, videos of carrion-eating birds and a memory corner about basketry and sierra embroidery. From the windows you can see an abandoned terrace with large wooden animal sculptures by the Salamanca artist Vega Bermejo. The third room has an audiovisual about the natural and cultural heritage of the area.
2026 hours
In 2026 it opened on Friday 13 February. In low season (February to June and October to December) it is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00, and on Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00. In high season, from 15 July to 15 September, it is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00, and Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00. It also opens on long weekends and public holidays; for the rest of 2026, on 7 and 8 December. The rest of the year it opens for groups by reservation. Phone 923 415 421; email cp.batuecas@patrimonionatural.org.
Before setting out to walk
Here they advise on the park's routes, such as the Las Batuecas valley, along the same road; the climb to the Peña de Francia, or the art trails, such as the Camino de las Raíces, which starts from the village.

## Dónde comer
- **Mirasierra Restaurant** (Restaurant, Mogarraz, €€). Qué pedir: patatas meneás and limón serrano to share, and spit-roast kid or grilled morucha T-bone; ask for La Salita.
- **La Catedral, grill inn** (Restaurant, La Alberca, €€€). Qué pedir: grilled kid or wood-fired roast lamb shoulder; to start, the La Alberca bean casserole.
- **Las Bóvedas Restaurant** (Restaurant, La Alberca, €€€). Qué pedir: a wood-fired roast from the seasonal menu.

## By car: La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia by car
The car is the natural way to tour the sierra: La Alberca, Mogarraz, Miranda del Castañar, the Peña de Francia and the Portillo de Las Batuecas are all less than half an hour from each other. From Salamanca it is about 77 km, a little over an hour.
Presupuesto orientativo: 70–130 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Hotel Abadía de los Templarios** (Spa hotel, desde 138 € / night): The Abadía de los Templarios is a ten-hectare complex a little over a kilometre from the Plaza Mayor of La Alberca, inspired by a medieval abbey: a superior four-star hotel and 47 villas among gardens and lakes, with the Sierra de Francia and the Las Batuecas Natural Park all around. It has a thousand-square-metre spa, an outdoor pool, four restaurants and organised activities.
Rooms with fireplaces
All the hotel's rooms have a fireplace; lighting it is a separate service, requested at reception until 22:00 and costing €15. The published prices are indicative, from:

Attic room: 25 m², sloping wooden ceiling, from €155 a night.
Junior suite with balcony: 35 m², with living room and a balcony facing the sierra, from €182.
Junior suite with terrace: 35 m², with a terrace facing the sierra, from €193.
Two-bedroom suite: 50 m², living room with fireplace, a double bedroom with balcony and another with two beds; designed for families, from €285.
Presidential suite: 120 m², two bedrooms, round hot tub, a 150 m² terrace and a 40 m² private pool, from €500.

The villas, with your dog
The 47 villas are two-storey houses with a living room and fireplace. The standard, of 100 m², is for two or three people (from €138); the deluxe, of 125 m², for two to four (from €182). The villas accept pets, with a charge of €12 per night; the website does not offer this in the hotel rooms.
Acueducto Spa
The spa has a ninety-minute thermal circuit: foot bath, dry sauna and steam bath, cold plunge pool at 10 ºC, showers, jacuzzi at 36 ºC, thermal pool at 31-32 ºC and a flotarium with Dead Sea salts. There are massages and à la carte treatments. Book on 923 423 116, from 10:30 to 13:30 and from 16:30 to 20:30.
Pool, courts and children
The outdoor pool, El Lago, imitates a natural pool. There are free tennis and padel courts, a gym, a reading room, a children's playroom and play area, and a nightclub set apart from the rooms. The hotel organises quads with an instructor (€45 single, €60 double), buggies, one-hour horse rides, archery, bicycles and, for groups, canoeing on the Alagón or balloon flights.
Eating
In the complex, the Las Bóvedas restaurant, facing the sierra, and the Mudéjar café; on the Plaza Mayor, the grill of the same group, La Catedral, with kid and lamb from the wood-fired oven.
Conditions
Check-in from 15:00 and check-out before 12:00. A card is taken when you book; cancelling with less than 72 hours' notice incurs the full charge. On offers, children under 12 sleeping with two adults get a 50% discount.
To explore the area, the old town of La Alberca is a walk away and the Peña de Francia half an hour by car.
- **Hotel Doña Teresa** (Hotel): The house
A hotel a hundred metres from the Plaza Mayor, right in the historic centre of La Alberca, the first village in Spain declared a historic-artistic site. From several rooms you can see the sierra and, from some, the sanctuary of the Peña de Francia. It is decorated with cabinet-made headboards and furniture, hand-embroidered bedspreads, paintings by Salamanca artists and local crafts, so that the interior follows the aesthetics of the village.
The rooms
The website distinguishes four types, all with a full bathroom with shower, wooden floor and beamed ceiling. The matrimonial has a double bed and an embroidered linen bedspread. The standard double can have a double bed or two beds. The room with a balcony adds just that, a balcony over the village, and some look onto the Peña de Francia. The superior is larger, with a double bed and, in some cases, also a balcony.
The prices it publishes are indicative and start at €79 a night for the matrimonial, €110 for the standard double, €121 for the balcony room and €131 for the superior; they change according to the date, so it is best to check them on its booking engine. The website does not detail the number of rooms, check-in and check-out times, parking or pet policy: it is best to ask by phone, especially about where to leave the car, because the old town is pedestrianised.
Eating and the spa
It has its own restaurant, La Abuela Carmen, with typical dishes of the area, and a café for a relaxed drink. It belongs to the same group as the Abadía de los Templarios, whose spa with thermal circuit and massages is a kilometre and a half away, as is its Las Bóvedas restaurant. In the village, the group also has the La Catedral grill, on the Plaza Mayor, about 300 metres away, with roasts cooked over oak embers, and the El Castillo restaurant, serving home cooking, about 200 metres away.
Who it suits
It suits those who want to sleep inside the village and walk out to dinner or stroll at night in the square, the Crucero. It works well for couples and for those who arrive without a car. From here you drive up the Peña de Francia, go down to the Las Batuecas valley or visit Mogarraz and Miranda del Castañar.
- **Hotel Batuecas** (Hotel): The house
The Hotel Batuecas opened in 1959 and was La Alberca's first hotel. It is on Avenida de Las Batuecas, a few metres from the historic centre, so you walk to the Plaza Mayor but sleep away from the bustle of the narrow streets. It now has new management and keeps its traditional air, with a stone façade and porch, a social lounge, reception, café, a panoramic terrace with tables and sofas, a garden with tables and even a ping-pong table.
The rooms
There are 34, spread over five types. The family junior suites have a living room and sleep up to four people, with views of the garden or the countryside; the superior doubles take two or three; the standard doubles are air-conditioned and have different layouts; the basic doubles have a double bed or two beds, and the singles measure 16 m². The hotel provides cots free of charge in all rooms if you ask when booking, which, together with the suites, makes it practical for families with small children.
Services and hours
It has no à la carte restaurant: it serves only breakfast and a café. Breakfast is a buffet, from 8:30 to 10:30, and costs €10. The café is open from 9:00 to 24:00, with no table service or service on the terrace. Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out until 12:00. Pets are not accepted.
What is most appreciated in La Alberca is its private car park, because the old town is pedestrianised and parking in season is hard. It is paid and the website itself gives two different rates for the weekend (€2 on other days), so confirm it when you book. It also has four electric-car chargers. The website states that the online rates are the same as by phone.
Who it suits and what is nearby
It suits those travelling by car who want to get around the Sierra de Francia without struggling to park, and families who need a large room. For dinner you will have to go out: the Plaza Mayor and its restaurants are a short walk away.
From the village itself starts the Camino de las Raíces, a circular route of about 8 kilometres and low difficulty among oaks and chestnuts with open-air works of art, one of the sierra's Art in Nature Trails. By car, nearby are Mogarraz, Miranda del Castañar, San Martín del Castañar and Sequeros, all historic sites, the climb to the Peña de Francia, at 1,727 metres, and the Las Batuecas valley.
- **Al-Bereka Campsite** (Campsite, desde 6.5 € / night): Al-Bereka is a holiday complex 2 km from La Alberca, on the Salamanca road, inside the Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia Natural Park. It brings together on one 15,000 m² estate, with plenty of shade from oaks and chestnuts, a campsite with spacious pitches, apartments in the main building, stone bungalows in La Alberca style and wooden houses. The house boasts more than fifteen years of experience.
The campsite: March to October
The campsite is open from 15 March to 15 October. The 2026 rates, per night, VAT included:

Adult: €6.50; child: €5.
Tent, car or caravan: €6 each.
Motorhome or pitch: €12; the pitch includes one vehicle and one tent or caravan.
Electricity: €4.
Pet: €3.

Hot water and the pool are not charged separately. There are toilets, one of them accessible, a laundry, wifi, a barbecue and swings. If you want to leave a caravan all year, they have seasonal prices: ask.
Bungalows all year
Outside the campsite season, the bungalows stay open. The three-person bungalow is a semi-detached little house of a single refurbished space, divided at mid-height: one area with a double bed and a single, and another with kitchen and dining, plus a bathroom with shower. It has a garden and terrace furniture, heating, fridge, microwave, utensils, sheets and towels, and free parking at the door. It costs €85 a night in low season and €100 in high season. There is a five-night offer, Sunday to Friday, for €375 in low season and €450 in high season, except 7 to 20 August.
For two, the studio apartment in the main building has a low-season offer with a minimum of two nights.
Café and two pools
The café is at the entrance and is open every day from 9:00 to 22:00, with free wifi, breakfasts with toast to your liking and raciones, including La Alberca cured meats. It has a large terrace. The two pools, one for adults and one for children, are open from late June until early September and are free for guests; next to them is a playground.
From the campsite
By car you are a few minutes from the old town of La Alberca and the villages of the sierra: Mogarraz, Miranda del Castañar, San Martín del Castañar or Sequeros. The Peña de Francia is about half an hour by car, and the descent into the Las Batuecas valley starts from La Alberca.
- **Hotel Antiguas Eras** (Small hotel): The house
A small, quiet three-star hotel on Avenida de Las Batuecas, sunny and surrounded by trees, about a five-minute walk from the Plaza Mayor of La Alberca. The architecture is that of the sierra: chestnut beams, stone and wrought iron, with a shared lounge with a wood-burning fireplace and a terrace with a garden of native plants. It is run by its owners, and it shows in the service and in the recommendations for getting around the sierra.
The hotel is proud of its environmental commitment: it has a European sustainable tourism certificate and belongs to the Spanish ecotourism association. It also works with services for cyclists and motorcyclists, useful in an area of mountain passes and winding roads.
Rooms
There are four types: double and special for two people, triple for three and single. All have a private bathroom, television and views of the surroundings, with rustic decor in keeping with the rest of the house. The website does not publish sizes or fixed prices; rates appear when you check dates.
If you book on its website, breakfast is included, with fair-trade arabica coffee and organic and local products, and there is a discount for stays of two, three or more nights, though it does not state the percentage. It also does not publish check-in and check-out times or whether pets are accepted, so it is best to ask beforehand.
Parking and getting around
Parking is free and right at the hotel door, a clear advantage in La Alberca, where the old town is pedestrianised. There is access for people with reduced mobility. The hotel estimates about 55 minutes by car from the south of the province of Salamanca, 35 to Ciudad Rodrigo and under 20 to Las Hurdes, already in Extremadura.
Who it suits
It suits couples and walkers who want a quiet base in the sierra, and those who do the area by bike or motorbike. From La Alberca start walking routes such as the Camino de las Raíces, and in under half an hour by car are the Peña de Francia, the Las Batuecas valley and villages such as Mogarraz or Miranda del Castañar. For dinner, the Plaza Mayor is a short walk.

## Car-free: La Alberca without a car
There is a scheduled bus from Salamanca every day, also on Sunday, and La Alberca is toured on foot. What you cannot reach without a car is the Peña de Francia or the Las Batuecas valley, except by walking the waymarked paths that leave the village.
Presupuesto orientativo: 60–110 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir without a car
- **Hotel Doña Teresa** (Hotel): The house
A hotel a hundred metres from the Plaza Mayor, right in the historic centre of La Alberca, the first village in Spain declared a historic-artistic site. From several rooms you can see the sierra and, from some, the sanctuary of the Peña de Francia. It is decorated with cabinet-made headboards and furniture, hand-embroidered bedspreads, paintings by Salamanca artists and local crafts, so that the interior follows the aesthetics of the village.
The rooms
The website distinguishes four types, all with a full bathroom with shower, wooden floor and beamed ceiling. The matrimonial has a double bed and an embroidered linen bedspread. The standard double can have a double bed or two beds. The room with a balcony adds just that, a balcony over the village, and some look onto the Peña de Francia. The superior is larger, with a double bed and, in some cases, also a balcony.
The prices it publishes are indicative and start at €79 a night for the matrimonial, €110 for the standard double, €121 for the balcony room and €131 for the superior; they change according to the date, so it is best to check them on its booking engine. The website does not detail the number of rooms, check-in and check-out times, parking or pet policy: it is best to ask by phone, especially about where to leave the car, because the old town is pedestrianised.
Eating and the spa
It has its own restaurant, La Abuela Carmen, with typical dishes of the area, and a café for a relaxed drink. It belongs to the same group as the Abadía de los Templarios, whose spa with thermal circuit and massages is a kilometre and a half away, as is its Las Bóvedas restaurant. In the village, the group also has the La Catedral grill, on the Plaza Mayor, about 300 metres away, with roasts cooked over oak embers, and the El Castillo restaurant, serving home cooking, about 200 metres away.
Who it suits
It suits those who want to sleep inside the village and walk out to dinner or stroll at night in the square, the Crucero. It works well for couples and for those who arrive without a car. From here you drive up the Peña de Francia, go down to the Las Batuecas valley or visit Mogarraz and Miranda del Castañar.
- **Hotel Batuecas** (Hotel): The house
The Hotel Batuecas opened in 1959 and was La Alberca's first hotel. It is on Avenida de Las Batuecas, a few metres from the historic centre, so you walk to the Plaza Mayor but sleep away from the bustle of the narrow streets. It now has new management and keeps its traditional air, with a stone façade and porch, a social lounge, reception, café, a panoramic terrace with tables and sofas, a garden with tables and even a ping-pong table.
The rooms
There are 34, spread over five types. The family junior suites have a living room and sleep up to four people, with views of the garden or the countryside; the superior doubles take two or three; the standard doubles are air-conditioned and have different layouts; the basic doubles have a double bed or two beds, and the singles measure 16 m². The hotel provides cots free of charge in all rooms if you ask when booking, which, together with the suites, makes it practical for families with small children.
Services and hours
It has no à la carte restaurant: it serves only breakfast and a café. Breakfast is a buffet, from 8:30 to 10:30, and costs €10. The café is open from 9:00 to 24:00, with no table service or service on the terrace. Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out until 12:00. Pets are not accepted.
What is most appreciated in La Alberca is its private car park, because the old town is pedestrianised and parking in season is hard. It is paid and the website itself gives two different rates for the weekend (€2 on other days), so confirm it when you book. It also has four electric-car chargers. The website states that the online rates are the same as by phone.
Who it suits and what is nearby
It suits those travelling by car who want to get around the Sierra de Francia without struggling to park, and families who need a large room. For dinner you will have to go out: the Plaza Mayor and its restaurants are a short walk away.
From the village itself starts the Camino de las Raíces, a circular route of about 8 kilometres and low difficulty among oaks and chestnuts with open-air works of art, one of the sierra's Art in Nature Trails. By car, nearby are Mogarraz, Miranda del Castañar, San Martín del Castañar and Sequeros, all historic sites, the climb to the Peña de Francia, at 1,727 metres, and the Las Batuecas valley.
### Servicios
- **La Alberca – Salamanca bus**: Autocares V. Cosme · 923 120 800 · Also on Sundays

## As a family: La Alberca with children

Children like La Alberca for its storybook feel: half-lit streets, houses that lean together at the top, a pig that wanders loose through the village and faces painted on the façades of Mogarraz.

### What works best
Looking for the pig of San Antón in the streets, from June to January

The portraits of Mogarraz, ten minutes by car

The Casa del Parque, with the model of the sierra

The accessible 1.5 km path in the Las Batuecas valley

A one-hour horse ride with the Abadía de los Templarios

### Where to sleep
Al-Bereka Campsite, with a children's pool and playground

Hotel Batuecas, with suites for four

The villas of the Abadía de los Templarios

### Where to eat
Patatas meneás and hornazo, which everyone likes

### Bear in mind
The streets are stone and sloping: better a baby carrier than a pushchair

The PRSA-10 to the Cabras Pintadas is long and has a lot of climbing: not for small children

### Qué hacer as a family
- Old Town and Plaza Mayor of La Alberca
- Peña de Francia Sanctuary
- Mogarraz and its portraits on the façades
- Miranda del Castañar and the Camino de los Prodigios
- Camino de las Raíces (Roots Trail)
- Horse riding in the Sierra de Francia
- Las Batuecas Park House (Casa del Parque)

## With teenagers: La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia with teenagers

For a teenager, the Sierra de Francia is better on a route than in the village: going down to Las Batuecas to look for rock paintings, climbing the Peña de Francia or going out on a quad.

### What works best
The PRSA-10 to the Cabras Pintadas, four hours with 650 m of climb

The Peña de Francia, with views of the campo charro and Las Hurdes

Quad or buggy routes with an instructor from the Abadía de los Templarios

The Camino de los Prodigios, with art among the chestnut trees

### Where to sleep
The villas of the Abadía de los Templarios

### Where to eat
A grill at La Catedral, on the Plaza Mayor

### Bear in mind
In Las Batuecas you may not leave the path

### Qué hacer with teenagers
- Old Town and Plaza Mayor of La Alberca
- Peña de Francia Sanctuary
- Las Batuecas Valley and the Cabras Pintadas
- Mogarraz and its portraits on the façades
- Miranda del Castañar and the Camino de los Prodigios
- Camino de las Raíces (Roots Trail)
- Horse riding in the Sierra de Francia

## Consejos

### Arrive before eleven
On Sundays the village fills up at midday. First thing you find parking and empty streets.

### Book for lunch
The restaurants of the sierra fill up at weekends, especially in autumn.

### Ask at the Casa del Parque
It is open Friday to Sunday and gives you the map and the state of the routes.

### Wear thick-soled shoes
The stone streets are slippery when it rains.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How long does it take from Salamanca?
An hour by car, about 75 km. There is a scheduled bus on Sundays too.

### What is there to see in the Sierra de Francia in a day?
La Alberca in the morning, lunch in Mogarraz and in the afternoon going up the Peña de Francia or looking out over the Las Batuecas valley.

### Can you drive up the Peña de Francia?
Yes, along a mountain road, in a little under half an hour from La Alberca. The last stretch is narrow.

### Where are the rock paintings of Las Batuecas?
In the shelters of the valley, upriver from the monastery. The PRSA-10 goes from La Alberca to the Cabras Pintadas.

### Can you go with a dog?
In the streets and public paths, yes, on a lead. In the Las Batuecas valley you do not leave the path. The Al-Bereka campsite and the villas of the Abadía de los Templarios admit pets.

### Do you have to pay to enter La Alberca?
No. The village, the Casa del Parque and the Peña de Francia are free.