# A deer-rut weekend in Sanabria and the Sierra de la Culebra Two nights in Puebla de Sanabria to go out with a guide to see the deer rut in the Sierra de la Culebra, climb to the Laguna de los Peces and see wolves at Robledo. Mid-September to mid-October. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castile-and-leon/sanabria-lake/itineraries/sanabria-culebra-red-deer-rut-weekend · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Dónde: Lake Sanabria and Puebla de Sanabria In the Sierra de la Culebra, between Sanabria and Aliste, live some of the best-known deer and wolves in the Peninsula. From mid-September to mid-October the stags come into rut and bellow at dawn and dusk: it is the berrea. Puebla de Sanabria, half an hour from the sierra, is the perfect base: a medieval town with a castle, good tables and, a short way off, the lake and the glacial lagoons. With two nights you do the guided rut-watching unhurried and have the rest of the weekend for everything else. ## Where to sleep AccommodationWhereFor whom Parador de Puebla de SanabriaLower part of the town, with parkingFamilies and anyone returning late by car from the sierra Posada Real La CarteríaInside the town, on the RúaCouples: eight rooms, sauna and dining rooms in wine cellars Motorhome areaEl Pinar sports area, 800 m awayMotorhomes: €5 for 24 hours ## If you prefer dawn The stags also bellow at daybreak. If you choose the Saturday-morning outing, change the order: rut early, a siesta, Laguna de los Peces in the afternoon. Go to bed early and lay out your clothes the night before: at those hours, in the sierra, it is cold even in September. ## El plan ### Friday · 19:00 · Arrival and dinner in the town Leave the car below, beside the Tera, and walk up to the Plaza Mayor. Dinner at La Cartería or at La Posada, which serves dinner by reservation. ### Saturday · 10:00 · Laguna de los Peces Drive up via San Martín de Castañeda to the lagoon. From there, an easy walk in the Sierra Segundera, among glacial lagoons, without pushing: the afternoon is long. ### Saturday · 14:00 · Lunch at La Posada and San Martín de Castañeda Broad beans and Sanabria beef on the Plaza Mayor. Then the Romanesque monastery above the lake, for €1. ### Saturday · 18:00 · The rut with a guide in the Culebra From Puebla to Villardeciervos is about 40 minutes. AHERCA organises rut-watching outings at dawn and dusk during the rutting weeks: the guide will tell you the meeting time. You watch from afar and in silence. Drive back slowly: deer cross at night. ### Sunday · 10:00 · Iberian Wolf Centre, in Robledo Two hours guided round the semi-wild wolf enclosures, booked and paid online: €8, free up to age 7. ### Sunday · 12:45 · Puebla castle, lunch and the drive back The keep for €4 and lunch at the Parador before heading home. ## Un consejo más Fix the date with the guide before the hotel: the rut depends on the year, and the first week of October can be better or worse than the last of September. ## Cuándo no ir Outside the rutting weeks: you won't see the rut. For the rest of the year, AHERCA has wolf-watching outings from €40. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### When is the rut in the Sierra de la Culebra? From mid-September to mid-October, depending on the year. ### How much does the rut outing cost? AHERCA gives the price when you book. Its wolf-watching outing costs €40 per person. ### How far is the Culebra from Puebla de Sanabria? Villardeciervos, the starting point of the excursions, is about 40 minutes by car. ### Is it a good plan with children? With older children who can keep still and quiet. The Wolf Centre and the castle appeal to all ages. ### Do I need a car? Yes: the sierra, the lagoons and Robledo can only really be reached by car. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Parador de Puebla de Sanabria**: The Parador de Puebla de Sanabria is a stone building from the mid-20th century, built for the old State Roadside Inns Network, on Avenida del Lago, in the lower part of the town. It is not a monument like other Paradores: its strengths are the garden, the pool and the setting, with the medieval town above and the Lake Sanabria Natural Park, the largest glacial lake in the peninsula, about 12 km away. Avenue below, castle above From the Parador you walk up to the medieval old town, on the hill surrounded by the rivers Tera and Castro: the Plaza Mayor, the Azogue church and the castle, whose keep houses the fortifications interpretation centre and gives the best views of the surroundings. By car, the lake and its beaches are about fifteen minutes away. On the A-52, it lies between Madrid and Vigo, with exits 79 and 85. Forty-two rooms There are 42 rooms of four types: standard double, superior double, junior suite and accessible double. They have flat-screen television, minibar, a safe with room for a laptop and air conditioning, and you can order breakfast in the room. The hotel has a lift, free wifi and laundry and ironing service. Rates are on the Paradores website, room only, with breakfast or half board. Garden, pool and padel for the children The building is surrounded by a large garden with a seasonal outdoor pool, playground and padel court, and inside there is a children's games room. With small children, they have somewhere to run around without leaving the hotel. Car, bike and electric charging There is free outdoor parking and, for a fee, covered parking and a garage. It has an electric-car charging point and is set up for cycle tourists. The dining room of habones and octopus The restaurant serves Sanabrian cooking, with Castilian, Galician and Portuguese influence: habones, trout, Sanabrian-style octopus, Zamora cheeses, local cured meats and soupy venison rice. Breakfast is from 8:00 to 11:00. In winter, lunches from 13:30 to 15:30 and dinners from 20:30 to 23:00; in summer, from 13:30 to 16:00 and from 21:00 to 23:30. The café is open from 11:00 until 23:30, or until midnight in summer. Winter closure The Parador closes from 3 January to 1 March 2027. - **Posada Real La Cartería**: La Cartería is a Posada Real on the Rúa, the street that climbs through the historic centre of Puebla de Sanabria, tucked inside the walls of the castle of the Counts of Benavente and looking out over the River Tera. The building dates from the 18th century: it was the house where the Cistercian monks of San Martín de Castañeda collected the tithes and later the region's post office, which is where the name comes from. Inside the walls, above the Tera Sleeping here means having the medieval town at your door: the castle, the cobbled streets, the Plaza Mayor and the Giants and Big-Heads Museum are a few steps away, and at night you do not need to take the car. The lake is about 12 km away. You get here by the A-52: exit 79 coming from Madrid and 85 coming from Galicia; from Portugal, via Calabor or Rihonor de Castilla. Eight rooms, five of them suites There are three standard doubles and five suites, one of them a family suite. The adobe, stone and wood walls sit alongside designer furniture. Number 1 has a gallery over the Tera; 5 and 8 are in the attic, with a large bed beneath the roof's structure of poles and reed lath. All have television and minibar, and wifi is free throughout the house. Bookings are made through the booking engine on its website. Sauna, Turkish bath and library The inn has a wellness area with gym, sauna, Turkish bath and Scotch shower. There are two guest lounges with a reading area, television and a computer with internet, and a terrace towards the wall. Eating in cellars cut into the slate The dining rooms are former medieval cellars cut into the slate on which the town sits. The cooking is home-style and local: habones, beef, Tera trout, and also mushrooms, game and more modern dishes, with wines mostly from the Duero. For something light, the café serves tostas by the fireplace, with views of the river. If you prefer to eat out, La Posada, on the Plaza Mayor, has habones and Sanabrian beef chuletón. Excursions from the Rúa By car, the lake and monks trail and the monastery of San Martín de Castañeda, the very one that collected tithes here, are about twenty minutes away. In September and October, the deer rut in the Sierra de la Culebra is about 40 minutes away.