Getaways from Salamanca: day trips and destinations close by.

Two motorways cross and share out almost everything

Two motorways cross at Salamanca and share out almost all the routes. The A-66, the Ruta de la Plata, climbs north to Zamora and Benavente, where the A-52 continues to Sanabria lake; to the south it drops via Béjar to Hervás and Plasencia, the gateway to the Jerte Valley and Monfragüe. The A-62 leaves for Portugal and in about 90 km reaches Ciudad Rodrigo. The A-50 goes east, to Ávila, and via El Barco de Ávila you reach the Sierra de Gredos. The Sierra de Francia has no motorway: you go via Vecinos and Tamames, about 75 km to La Alberca.

Without a car there is little, but there is something. The medium-distance trains to Madrid stop at Ávila. To La Alberca a scheduled bus runs on Sundays, leaving the Salamanca station at 10:00 and returning in the afternoon; Mogarraz and the Peña de Francia have no bus that day, so without a car you stay in the village. To Hervás there is no train, and the valley buses are no use for a return trip on a Sunday.

The 11:00 tour of Zamora's Romanesque

Under an hour there is only Zamora (55 minutes): the 11:00 guided tour of the Romanesque, with the cathedral inside, the castle and the Duero walk to the Stone Bridge.

The bulk of the Sundays is between one hour and an hour and a quarter, in three directions. To the west, Ciudad Rodrigo (65 minutes), entirely walled, with the cathedral, the Parador inside the castle and the walk round the wall walk. To the south, La Alberca (65), with Mogarraz and its portraits on the façades, and Hervás (74), with the Vía Verde de la Plata and the Jewish quarter. To the east, Ávila (76), with the wall, the cathedral built into it and the Cuatro Postes.

Between an hour and three quarters and two hours the day gets tight: the Laguna Grande de Gredos (105 minutes), the Jerte Valley (110), Sanabria (115), with the town of Puebla and the lake, and Monfragüe (117), seen from the viewpoints or on a guided 4x4. Several work for two nights: Gredos, Sanabria lake or the birds of Monfragüe.

From two hours the trip calls for a night: El Escorial, monastery and forest (120 minutes), Segovia with a balloon at dawn (127), Peñafiel and the Ribera del Duero (135) and Sepúlveda and the Duratón Gorges (170). Monumental Cáceres, two hours twenty away, still fits into a long Sunday.

Ciudad Rodrigo fills up at Carnival

In winter the cities work: Zamora, Ávila, with the wall open 10:00 to 18:00 and closed on Mondays from the end of October to the end of March, and Ciudad Rodrigo, except at Carnival, in February, when the bull runs fill it. For snow, the ski and snowshoe weekend in Guadarrama is two and a half hours away.

In spring, between the end of March and mid-April, the cherry trees blossom and the Caozo waterfall runs between white orchards on the Sunday at Los Pilones. From March to May the birds of Monfragüe nest, and it is a good season for La Alberca and Ciudad Rodrigo.

In summer it is best to go up or get wet. The Laguna Grande is a five-hour route to do from May to October, with access to the Plataforma regulated: arrive before nine. In June and July there is swimming at Los Pilones, and at Sanabria, beaches on the lake. Cáceres is not recommended in July and August, and at Monfragüe it is best to bring the start forward and leave the afternoon for when the sun goes down.

Autumn is the season of the southern sierra. In October and November, the golden chestnut trees of La Alberca, Mogarraz and the Peña de Francia and the Vía Verde by bike to Hervás, with the Otoño Mágico of the Ambroz Valley. From mid-September to mid-October, the rut in the Sierra de la Culebra, with a guide and the date fixed beforehand.

The Ciudad Rodrigo cathedral tower at 13:30

• Under an hour: Romanesque Zamora on a Sunday. The 11:00 guided tour with the cathedral, the castle, Zamoran cooking and the Duero to the Stone Bridge.
• Towards the border: Ciudad Rodrigo, cathedral, Parador and wall. An hour along the A-62, the cathedral tower at 13:30 and the walk round the wall walk at dusk.
• With two nights: La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia. An hour away, to go down to Las Batuecas, climb the Peña de Francia and eat patatas meneás.