# Cuenca

Casas Colgadas, cathedral and abstract art above the gorges of the Júcar and the Huécar, and the Ciudad Encantada half an hour away. Two hours from Madrid and Valencia.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castilla-la-mancha/cuenca · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Cuenca was built on a rock spur between two rivers, the Júcar and the Huécar, which have each cut a deep gorge on either side. The houses reach the edge and some, the Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses), lean out over the void with their wooden balconies. Up top are the cathedral, the Plaza Mayor and an old town that can be explored on foot in a day; half an hour by car, the Serranía, with the Ciudad Encantada. It is almost the same distance from Madrid as from Valencia, and the AVE links it to both.

## How do I get there from Madrid and Valencia?

By car, from Madrid it is about 165 km along the A-3 and A-40, around an hour and fifty minutes. From Valencia, about 200 km along the A-3 and A-40, around two hours. From Albacete, a little over an hour and a half; from Guadalajara, about two hours on national roads.

By train, Cuenca is on the Madrid – Valencia high-speed line. The station, Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel, is on the outskirts: city bus line 10 takes you to the bus station, and lines 1 and 2 go up to the castle, at the top of the old town. The Serranía and the Ciudad Encantada have no public transport.

## Where do I park?

Don't put the Plaza Mayor into your satnav: the old town has narrow, one-way streets and almost no room. The practical thing is to leave the car down below, in the new part, and go up by bus or on foot, or drive up to the castle car park, at the very top, and walk down to the cathedral.

## How much time do I need?

One day for the old town: the cathedral, the Casas Colgadas with the Museum of Abstract Art inside, the San Pablo bridge and a walk along the Huécar gorge. A second day for the Ciudad Encantada, which needs an hour and a half of walking plus the journey. With two nights there is time to eat without rushing and to see the old town lit up from the bridge.

## A Sunday in Cuenca

In the morning, the cathedral on opening, at 10:00, and the Fundación Antonio Pérez, free on Sundays. Mid-morning, the Casas Colgadas and the Museum of Abstract Art, free, which closes at 14:30 on Sundays. You cross the San Pablo bridge to see the houses head-on and go down through the gorge. At lunchtime you have two options with a reservation: Raff San Pedro, with Cuenca cooking, or the tasting menu at Casas Colgadas. In the afternoon, if you are going by car, the Ciudad Encantada: in November the ticket office closes at 16:30, so don't cut it fine.

## What is there to eat?

Cuenca cooking is shepherds' and river food. Ajoarriero, a paste of salt cod, garlic and potato, is eaten as a starter. Morteruelo is a hot pâté of game and spices. There is trout, lamb and game, and for dessert, alajú, a honey and almond sweet. To drink, wines of the province.

## When should I go?

In spring, with the gorges green, and in autumn, with the Júcar's poplar groves yellow. Cuenca is high, at almost a thousand metres, and in summer it is easier to bear than the plain, although it heats up at midday. In winter it often freezes and the Ciudad Encantada can have snow or ice: bring boots. Holy Week, with its religious music, fills the city.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Albarracín (a 68.7 km), Teruel, a Mudéjar City (a 91.7 km), Sierra de Javalambre (a 93.1 km), Chinchón (a 110.2 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Hanging Houses and the Spanish Abstract Art Museum** (1 h · Everyone · Free): The Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) are the symbol of Cuenca: houses with wooden balconies jutting out over the precipice of the Huécar gorge, on the edge of the old town. Their origin is unclear; some think it Muslim and others medieval, from the 14th and 15th centuries. Today they are three former palatial houses, and two of them have housed the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, of the Juan March Foundation, since 1966. Going in is the way to see them from the inside, and it is free.
The building
Inside they keep Mudéjar coffered ceilings in some rooms, ceilings of carved and painted beams, Gothic lattices, Renaissance decoration on some arches and late Gothic wall paintings in one of the halls. For a time they were the town hall; afterwards they stood abandoned for years and were completely restored in the 1960s. The Renaissance doorway at the entrance is not from here: it comes from an old palace in Villarejo de la Peñuela and was added when the complex was extended. The building belongs to Cuenca City Council.
What impresses most are the rooms with windows open to the void, where the landscape of the gorge blends with the paintings. Alfred Barr Jr., who was director of the MoMA in New York, called it the most beautiful small museum in the world, and the phrase is still on the foundation's website.
The museum
The museum grew out of the initiative of the painter Fernando Zóbel, who in 1980 donated to the Juan March Foundation his collection of painting, sculpture, drawing and printed works, his library and his sketchbooks. Since then the foundation has run it and has expanded it. It brings together work of the abstract generation of the 1950s and 1960s: Antonio Saura, Fernando Zóbel, Gerardo Rueda, Jordi Teixidor, José Guerrero, Eusebio Sempere, Luis Feito, Gustavo Torner and Manuel Millares, among others. The collection is rearranged from time to time to make room for temporary exhibitions; in winter 2026 to 2027 there is one on Yves Klein.
Hours and visit
Admission is free. It is open Tuesday to Friday and public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00, Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00, and Sundays from 10:00 to 14:30. It is closed on Mondays, as well as on 24, 25 and 31 December, 1 and 6 January, Maundy Thursday afternoon, Good Friday and 18 to 21 September. You can enter until 20 minutes before closing. There are lockers with keys to leave your things, and no flash photography, videos or selfies are allowed in the galleries. Groups of 8 to 25 people can request a guided tour, Tuesday to Friday, by writing to the museum.
It is on Calle Canónigos, two minutes from the cathedral. Allow an hour. For the photo of the houses from outside, cross the San Pablo bridge, and if you still want more abstract art, go up to the Antonio Pérez Foundation.
- **Cathedral of Santa María and San Julián** (1 h · Everyone · Desde 5.5 € per person): The cathedral of Santa María and San Julián presides over Cuenca's Plaza Mayor and is the city's most important monument. Construction began at the end of the 12th century, after the Christian conquest, and its core took shape in the 13th century. Since then, each century added something: the naves up to the façade are 14th century, the ambulatory was rebuilt in the 16th and the façade you see today, neo-Gothic, is 20th century, the work of Vicente Lampérez.
What to see inside
Of the original Gothic, the rib vaulting and, above all, the triforium, the gallery that runs round the church above the arches, remain. The chapels in the side aisles date from the 16th and 17th centuries; the tourist office highlights those of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit and the Knights, as well as the Sacristy and the Chapter House. Almost all are closed off with wrought-iron grilles made in Cuenca's workshops, and the three that close the Main Chapel are among the best in Spanish churches.
In the centre is the choir, of carved wood, and facing it the neoclassical altar by Ventura Rodríguez, with a transparente that lets you see, behind it, the silver casket with the remains of San Julián. Do not miss the Arco de Jamete, through which you pass to the cloister and which specialists count among the best of the building, nor the stained glass, almost all 20th century, which tints the light with colour depending on the hour.
Tickets and hours
General admission costs €5.50 and includes an audio guide. The Treasury Museum is separate, at €4. On the official sales website there is also a visit to the church of San Pedro and its tower, and a combined ticket with the cathedral, the triforium, the museum and San Pedro. Reductions can be checked at the ticket desk. Some autumn evenings there is a guided night visit, lasting an hour, and on certain Fridays you can visit the cathedral archive with its archivist, always with limited places.
According to the tourist office's winter timetable, the cathedral is open Sunday to Friday from 10:00 to 17:30, and Saturdays and public holidays from 10:00 to 19:30. It may change because of ceremonies or events, so if you go on a special day, confirm beforehand. Allow an hour for the cathedral and half an hour more if you add the museum.
The Treasury Museum
It is a step away, on the ground floor of the Bishop's Palace, on Calle Obispo Valero. It brings together eight centuries of the diocese's history: Flemish tapestries, goldwork and carpets, two paintings by El Greco, "The Agony in the Garden" and "Christ Carrying the Cross", a room devoted to Juan de Borgoña and a 14th-century Byzantine diptych, the reliquary icon of the Despots of Epirus. The display was designed by the artist Gustavo Torner in 1983.
How to combine it
From the cathedral you walk down in two minutes along Calle Canónigos to the Hanging Houses and the Abstract Art Museum, and from there to the San Pablo bridge. If it is a Sunday morning, the Antonio Pérez Foundation is free and very close.
- **San Pablo Bridge and a walk along the Huécar gorge** (1 h 30 · Families · Self-guided · free): The San Pablo bridge is an iron footbridge over the Huécar gorge that links the old town with the former convent of San Pablo, now a Parador. Crossing it is the way to see the Hanging Houses face on, with the river far below. It is 40 metres high and 110 long, and the floor is made of planks: you can see the drop between the boards, so if you have a fear of heights, it takes a little nerve.
A little history
There used to be a stone bridge here from the mid-16th century, with five arches on piers, built to connect the Dominican convent of San Pablo with the city. Some remains of those piers are still in the gorge. The bridge deteriorated and was demolished at the end of the 19th century. The present one was begun in 1902, designed by the Valencian engineer José María Fuster y Tomás, built by the foundry of George H. Bartle, also from Valencia, and opened on 19 April 1903. It is a fine example of the iron architecture of that period.
On the other side is the convent, built from 1523 making use of the rock of the gorge. It has a very beautiful cloister and a late Gothic church with a doorway somewhere between Baroque and Rococo; today it is the Parador, and in the former church is the Espacio Torner, with work by the Cuenca artist Gustavo Torner.
A walk along the gorges
The bridge is also a crossing point on a waymarked trail suggested by the tourist office: the SL-CU 10, Hoces de Cuenca. It is an easy circular route of 3.8 km and 261 m of ascent, which rings the old town by its two gorges. It starts in the Castillo district, at the highest point, goes down by path to the sanctuary of Las Angustias and continues to the bank of the Júcar, the Trinidad park and the Huécar park. By Calle de los Tintes and the Puerta de Valencia it returns along the Paseo del Huécar to the San Pablo bridge, and below it a mid-slope path climbs back to the Castillo district. You can do it all, in an hour and a half or two at an easy pace, or just the final stretch, from the bridge.
If that is not enough, the office has more routes, such as the path and viewpoints of the hermitage of San Julián, 7.5 km along both banks of the Júcar.
Tips
It is free and always open. Go first thing or at sunset, when the light falls on the Hanging Houses and there are fewer people on the bridge. Wear comfortable shoes if you are going down into the gorge: the return to the old town is uphill. Dogs may go on a lead over the bridge and along the paths. To understand what you see from outside, first go into the Hanging Houses and the Abstract Art Museum, which are just on the other side, a couple of steps from the cathedral.
- **Ciudad Encantada** (1 h 30 · 3 km · Families · Desde 5 € per adult): What it is
The Ciudad Encantada (Enchanted City) is a landscape of limestone rocks shaped by water, wind and ice, in the municipality of Valdecabras, in the heart of the Serranía de Cuenca Natural Park. It is a private tourist park with a single circular route of about 3 km, which takes an hour and a half with stops to look and take photos. It was declared a Natural Site of National Interest on 11 June 1929.
Its origin is marine. About 90 million years ago this was the floor of the Tethys Sea, a sea of calm waters where calcium carbonate was deposited. At the end of the Cretaceous, with the Alpine orogeny, the sea withdrew and the limestone was left exposed. Since then karst erosion has carved the rocks into the shapes you see today.
The route
The path is well signposted: turquoise markers show the way out and pink ones the way back. Along the way you come across rocks that have been named after animals and objects, each with a lectern telling its story: the Tormo, the Ships, the Dog, the Bridge, the Man's Face, the Seal, the Slide, the Sea of Stone, the Fight between the Elephant and the Crocodile, the Convent, the Tortoise, the Bears or the Lovers of Teruel. Children love guessing the figures before reading the sign. You do not have to do the whole route, but you must always stay on the marked path.
Among the rocks there are black pine woods and shady, damp corners where yews, hollies and maples grow, alongside protected rock flora. With luck you may see red squirrels, and in the open areas deer come close.
Hours and tickets
It is open every day of the year from 10:00. The ticket office closes depending on the season: from 9 November 2026 to 7 February 2027, at 16:30; in spring, at 18:30; in high summer, at 19:30. The park closes an hour and a half after the ticket office. On 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January the ticket office is open from 11:00 to 15:30. Admission is €5 for adults and €4 for ages 8 to 12, pensioners and large families, with documentation; under-7s do not pay. Tickets are sold only at the ticket office: there are no online sales or booking.
Getting there
It is about 30 km from Cuenca, on the CM-2104 road, at km 19. From Madrid there is a signposted direct exit; at the roundabout take the direction of Tragacete and, on reaching Villalba de la Sierra, follow the signs. There is a large free car park. You can round off the day with the Palaeontology Museum, in the city, which explains the geological history of the region.
Good to know
The route is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs: bring a baby carrier. Dogs must be on a lead and their mess picked up. Wear walking shoes even in summer: there are stretches of stone and steps. In winter, bring warm clothes, gloves and a waterproof, because the Serranía is cold. Smoking and fires are not allowed.
- **Castilla-La Mancha Palaeontology Museum** (1 h 30 · Families · Desde 5 € per person): The Castilla-La Mancha Palaeontology Museum, the MUPA, is at Calle Río Gritos 5, in the new part of Cuenca, in a modern building on top of a hill with views over much of the city. It is the visit children enjoy most, and the best plan for a rainy day: almost everything is under cover and you go round at your own pace.
What you see
The tourist office presents it as a journey through the last 550 million years of Earth's history. The exhibition runs in chronological order, from the Palaeozoic to the Quaternary hominids, with a separate space for the dinosaurs. The heart of the collection is the fossils from two sites in the province: Las Hoyas, from the Lower Cretaceous, and Lo Hueco, from the Upper Cretaceous. Alongside them are pieces from other parts of the region, such as Palaeozoic fossils from Toledo and Ciudad Real and Mesozoic ones from Guadalajara.
From Las Hoyas comes the most famous piece, the Concavenator, the "hunchbacked hunter of Cuenca", along with primitive birds, fish, insects and plants preserved in great detail. From Lo Hueco come the remains of large titanosaurs, such as Lohuecotitan, as well as crocodiles and turtles. Outside, in the grounds, life-size reproductions await: a Concavenator, a Lohuecotitan, a herd of iguanodons and a crocodile, among others. It is the part the little ones remember.
Hours and tickets
It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00, and Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00. It is closed every Monday and some special days: 24, 25 and 31 December, 1 and 6 January, and the afternoons of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
General admission costs €5. The combined ticket with the Castilla-La Mancha Science Museum, €7, is valid for 24 hours; watch out, because the two museums are not close to each other. On Wednesdays admission is free all day, as it is on 18 and 31 May. Also free, with documentation, are under-18s (under-16s with an adult), over-65s, students aged 18 to 26, large families, pensioners and people with disabilities, among others. You can buy online or at the ticket office, and pay by card.
At weekends there are guided tours, at €4 for over-12s, and workshops for children aged 3 to 12, at €5 per workshop. It is worth checking the programme on its website, because it changes every month. Allow an hour and a half for the full visit.
Getting there
The museum gives clear instructions: if you use satellite navigation, it will take you to the start of Calle Río Gritos and you will have to keep going up until you see the museum fence. Avoid being taken through the Los Tiradores district, with its narrow streets, which ends at a pedestrian-only gate. By car, enter through the car park area.
To round off the day, go up to the old town to see the cathedral and the Hanging Houses, or leave the afternoon for the Ciudad Encantada, another landscape that also speaks of the millions of years of the Serranía.
- **Antonio Pérez Foundation** (45 min · Everyone · Desde 5 € per person): The Antonio Pérez Foundation is at Ronda de Julián Romero 20, the street that skirts the top of the Huécar gorge, a few steps from the cathedral. It occupies a 17th-century building, the former convent of the Discalced Carmelites, in the heart of the World Heritage old town, and brings together the contemporary art collection built up by Antonio Pérez, collector, publisher and also an artist.
What you see inside
The tourist office sums it up well: the foundation is, above all, the life of Antonio Pérez, and his collection comes from two passions, art and literature. The building has four floors and more than 30 rooms, with works of Informalism, abstraction and pop art. Among the names it cites are Manuel Millares, Luis Gordillo, Gustavo Torner, Antonio Saura, Equipo Crónica, Bonifacio Alfonso, Andy Warhol, Eduardo Chillida, Fernando Zóbel, Gerardo Rueda and Rafael Canogar. Many were his friends or collaborators, and that shows in the tone of the museum, more friendly than solemn.
The most personal part is Antonio Pérez's own "found objects": pieces made from everyday or discarded things that he collected and turned into art, shown alongside paintings and sculptures. It is the part that hooks teenagers most, because it invites you to look at a piece of wood or a tin can with new eyes. There are also temporary exhibitions; in autumn 2026 the foundation announces one devoted to Manolo Millares and another of graphic work from its holdings.
Hours and tickets
It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00, and Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00. It is closed on Mondays, except for some holiday or long-weekend Mondays that the foundation publishes on its website, and you cannot enter in the half hour before closing. General admission costs €5, reduced €2.50 (students, youth card, over-65s and people with disabilities, with documentation) and the family ticket €7 for two adults and up to three under-18s. Under-14s do not pay.
It is free on Sunday mornings, on 18 May and for residents of the province of Cuenca. A useful detail: the general, reduced and family tickets also include the Casa Museo Zavala, in the Plaza de San Nicolás, so with a single payment you see two museums. Allow about 45 minutes for the foundation, longer if you stop in every room.
How to combine it
The easiest way is to walk up from the Plaza Mayor: it is very close to the cathedral and to the Hanging Houses and the Abstract Art Museum, which holds the collection of the abstract generation and rounds off the visit very well. If you have time left, cross the San Pablo bridge to see the gorge from the opposite side. The foundation has other venues in San Clemente, Huete and Sigüenza, where the Centro de Arte La Plazuela is.

## Dónde comer
- **Mesón El Caserío** (Restaurant, Cuenca, €€). Qué pedir: Morteruelo or zarajos to try the Cuenca classics, and a grilled meat or the vegetable platter
- **Raff San Pedro** (Restaurant, Cuenca, €€€). Qué pedir: The traditional ajoarriero (€16) to start and the cured trout with ham meunière (€25) or the hind with mushrooms (€28); or the Acervo menu, €65
- **Restaurante Casas Colgadas** (Restaurant, Cuenca, €€€€). Qué pedir: The Volver menu, of 10 courses, is the way in; the Cocinamos Cuenca, of 15, is the full experience.

## By car: A car for the Serranía, on foot in the old town
Cuenca's old town is explored on foot and a car only gets in the way on its narrow streets. Where you do need one is to get out to the Serranía: the Ciudad Encantada has no public transport.
Presupuesto orientativo: 70–130 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Camping Caravaning Cuenca** (Campsite): A 23-hectare pine wood above the Júcar
The campsite is on the Cuenca to Tragacete road, at km 8, on the banks of the Júcar and set in a 23-hectare pine wood. Cuenca's old town is about 7 km away, so you need a car to go up to the city. In return, it is on the same road that leads to the Serranía: the Ciudad Encantada about 20 km away, Uña 27, the La Toba reservoir 35 and the source of the Cuervo river about 70.
Nordic cabins, all year
There are 30 wooden Nordic cabins, of five types (Júcar, Huécar, Tormo, Las Grajas and Velero) and different capacities, open 365 days a year. They have a terrace, a kitchen with ceramic hob, microwave, coffee maker, fridge and utensils, television, heating, sofa bed, blankets, cleaning kit and a bathroom with bath and shower. The website's front page does not say how many people each type sleeps: you see it when you book.
Pitches, March to October
The camping area has more than 450 pitches of different categories for tents, caravans, motorhomes or campervans, with electric hook-up for caravans. It is open from March to October; in November 2026 it announced that it would not reopen until mid-March 2027. If you are travelling as a group, note that the campsite warns that it cannot always guarantee adjoining pitches. For motorhomes there is a chemical toilet emptying service.
What is on site
Restaurant (969 14 82 62), bar-café and supermarket; adult and children's pools with a lifeguard in season; playground, tennis court, football pitch and sports areas; barbecues; a jacuzzi; shower blocks with hot water, baby baths and adapted toilets; washing machines and a dryer; wifi and 24-hour security. In summer it runs entertainment: aqua gym, padel and tennis tournaments, a paella contest, bingo, summer cinema and a mini disco.
Animals are accepted; the conditions are in its internal rules, which are worth reading beforehand. The website's front page does not publish arrival and departure times or prices, which appear in its online booking system.
Making the most of it
It fits the Sunday at the Ciudad Encantada and lunch in the old town: you leave the campsite for the Serranía in the morning and come down to Cuenca for lunch. For the city, park at the castle or in the lower part and walk through the old town to the San Pablo bridge.
- **Hotel Leonor de Aquitania** (Hotel): A palace house above the gorge, on Calle San Pedro
The Leonor de Aquitania occupies an 18th-century palace house at number 60 Calle San Pedro, the street that climbs from the Plaza Mayor towards the castle along the edge of the old town. The house overlooks the Huécar gorge. You are a few metres from the cathedral and the Plaza Mayor, and the whole old town can be explored on foot from the door. It is a three-star hotel named after a queen: Eleanor Plantagenet, wife of Alfonso VIII, the king who conquered Cuenca.
Rooms: gorge or street
The rooms suit couples, business trips and families. Some look onto the Huécar gorge and others onto Calle San Pedro: if the views are the reason for the trip, ask for them specifically when you book. All have individual climate control and free wifi. There is a lift and the hotel is adapted for people with reduced mobility.
Check-in is from 14:00 to 00:00 and check-out from 7:00 to 12:00. From Sunday to Friday you can ask to leave as late as 14:00, subject to availability.
The spa and other services
The wellness area has a Finnish sauna, Turkish bath, infrared sauna, jacuzzi, fitness room, a Photon capsule and UVA tanning beds. If you book on its website for two nights or more, access is free. Booking on the website also gives a 5% discount, and with seven days' notice there may be a room upgrade if available.
24-hour reception, restaurant and café (which also caters for banquets), breakfast in the room, room service until 23:00, laundry and dry cleaning, luggage storage and newspapers in the communal areas. Pets are accepted on request, possibly with a supplement.
Better to leave the car outside
It has no car park of its own. There is public parking nearby and the hotel has an arranged car park with a discount on the 24-hour rate for its guests, except on long weekends and public holidays. From the castle car park you walk down in a few minutes. Without a car, urban bus lines 1 and 2 go up to the old town and from the AVE station you connect with line 10.
Next door is Raff San Pedro, at number 58 of the same street. For the day, the Sunday of Hanging Houses, cathedral and Huécar gorge can be done entirely on foot from here.
- **Parador de Cuenca** (Hotel, desde 154 € / night): The convent of San Pablo, across the bridge
The Parador de Cuenca occupies the former convent of San Pablo, which Canon Juan del Pozo had built in 1523 in late Gothic Plateresque style. The same canon gave his name to the San Pablo bridge, which links the convent with the city above the Huécar gorge. That is why the Parador is where it is: on the other bank, facing the Hanging Houses, with the whole of Cuenca in front of you. It is the view people cross the bridge to see, and here you have it from the cloister, from the pool and from many windows.
Inside, the cloister is glazed and houses Julián Casado's "Serie Malevich. Variaciones sobre una misma estructura", 42 canvases painted between 1978 and 1982 from the ideas of the painter Kazimir Malevich. The café occupies the convent's former chapel, and the restaurant the monks' refectory.
Rooms and prices
There are four types: standard double, superior double, junior suite and suite. They have air conditioning, a flat-screen TV with Chromecast, minibar, a safe big enough for a laptop and a hairdryer; wifi is free and there is room service and breakfast in the room. Ask specifically for views of the Hanging Houses when you book: it is the reason to sleep here.
In the November 2026 rate calendar, the room without breakfast started from €154 a night on weekdays, and on Fridays and Saturdays it went over €250. Breakfast or half board is chosen when you book.
Pool, sauna and Cuenca cooking
The outdoor pool is seasonal and has a panoramic view of the city. There is a gym, sauna, tennis court and a spa area with separate conditions and prices. The restaurant keeps up the shepherds' and muleteers' cooking of Cuenca, updated: zarajos, migas, ajoarriero and morteruelo, served in the refectory. The Parador also has rooms for events.
Car and walks
By car you arrive via the San Pablo climb, along the bottom of the gorge, without going into the old town. There is free outdoor parking, a paid garage and charging for electric cars. On foot, you cross the San Pablo bridge and in a few minutes you are in the old town, with the cathedral just around the corner. For dinner on the other side, the Restaurante Casas Colgadas is right opposite, on the other bank.
- **Posada de San José** (Small hotel): The house of Velázquez's son-in-law
The Posada de San José is a palatial house that was commissioned in 1621 by the maternal grandfather of Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, the Cuenca painter who married Francisca, Velázquez's daughter, and who ended up succeeding him as court painter. In 1668 the house became the Colegio de Infantes de Coro de San José, where the boys who sang in the cathedral lived and studied, and it stayed that way until the 20th century. In July 1953 it reopened as an inn under Fidel García Berlanga, brother of the film director, and in 1983 Jennifer Morter and Antonio Cortinas took it over and thoroughly restored it. It has been a Site of Cultural Interest since 2005.
It is at Ronda de Julián Romero 4, the narrow street that skirts the top of the Huécar gorge beside the cathedral: sleeping here is sleeping in the middle of the old town, with the ravine beneath your window.
Four room types, no two alike
Superior double: two spaces, king-size bed, sofa bed and balconies or large windows onto the gorge and the gardens. Double with views: no two are alike; some have a viewing gallery, others a balcony or terrace, and all look directly onto the Huécar gorge. Standard double: outward-facing, overlooking the gardens or the cathedral roofs, simple. Standard single: there are only two, outward-facing, with views of the gardens and the gorge. The nine former cells with shared bathroom closed in 2020.
The website does not publish prices outside the booking system, nor does it say anything about pets or check-in and check-out times: ask on 969 211 300 or at reservas@posadasanjose.com.
The dining room over the gorge
The restaurant is in a dining room that looks onto the gorge, with a small terrace over the gardens when the weather allows. It serves Cuenca cooking with outside influences: morteruelo, gazpacho pastor, pisto manchego and ajoarriero, alongside dishes such as a truffle omelette or confit rabbit, daily suggestions and home-made desserts, with wines and beers from the region. Let them know about allergies in advance.
The usual hours: breakfast every day (8:00 to 10:30 on weekdays, 8:30 to 11:00 at weekends); dinner Wednesday to Saturday, 19:30 to 22:30; lunch only Friday to Sunday, 13:00 to 15:30. Monday and Tuesday there is neither lunch nor dinner, and on Sunday there is no dinner. At Easter and on long weekends this changes.
Arriving with luggage
It does not advertise its own parking. Leave the car at the castle car park or one in the lower part and walk. Without a car, from the AVE station line 10 takes you to the bus station, and lines 1 and 2 go up to the old town.
From the door you walk down in a couple of minutes to the cathedral and the San Pablo bridge; for dinner out, Raff San Pedro is on Calle San Pedro, round the corner.

## Car-free: By AVE from Madrid or Valencia
Cuenca is on the high-speed line between Madrid and Valencia. The station is on the outskirts, but the city bus takes you up to the old town, and once there everything is done on foot. The Serranía, on the other hand, calls for a car or taxi.
Presupuesto orientativo: 65–120 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir without a car
- **Hotel Leonor de Aquitania** (Hotel): A palace house above the gorge, on Calle San Pedro
The Leonor de Aquitania occupies an 18th-century palace house at number 60 Calle San Pedro, the street that climbs from the Plaza Mayor towards the castle along the edge of the old town. The house overlooks the Huécar gorge. You are a few metres from the cathedral and the Plaza Mayor, and the whole old town can be explored on foot from the door. It is a three-star hotel named after a queen: Eleanor Plantagenet, wife of Alfonso VIII, the king who conquered Cuenca.
Rooms: gorge or street
The rooms suit couples, business trips and families. Some look onto the Huécar gorge and others onto Calle San Pedro: if the views are the reason for the trip, ask for them specifically when you book. All have individual climate control and free wifi. There is a lift and the hotel is adapted for people with reduced mobility.
Check-in is from 14:00 to 00:00 and check-out from 7:00 to 12:00. From Sunday to Friday you can ask to leave as late as 14:00, subject to availability.
The spa and other services
The wellness area has a Finnish sauna, Turkish bath, infrared sauna, jacuzzi, fitness room, a Photon capsule and UVA tanning beds. If you book on its website for two nights or more, access is free. Booking on the website also gives a 5% discount, and with seven days' notice there may be a room upgrade if available.
24-hour reception, restaurant and café (which also caters for banquets), breakfast in the room, room service until 23:00, laundry and dry cleaning, luggage storage and newspapers in the communal areas. Pets are accepted on request, possibly with a supplement.
Better to leave the car outside
It has no car park of its own. There is public parking nearby and the hotel has an arranged car park with a discount on the 24-hour rate for its guests, except on long weekends and public holidays. From the castle car park you walk down in a few minutes. Without a car, urban bus lines 1 and 2 go up to the old town and from the AVE station you connect with line 10.
Next door is Raff San Pedro, at number 58 of the same street. For the day, the Sunday of Hanging Houses, cathedral and Huécar gorge can be done entirely on foot from here.
- **Posada de San José** (Small hotel): The house of Velázquez's son-in-law
The Posada de San José is a palatial house that was commissioned in 1621 by the maternal grandfather of Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, the Cuenca painter who married Francisca, Velázquez's daughter, and who ended up succeeding him as court painter. In 1668 the house became the Colegio de Infantes de Coro de San José, where the boys who sang in the cathedral lived and studied, and it stayed that way until the 20th century. In July 1953 it reopened as an inn under Fidel García Berlanga, brother of the film director, and in 1983 Jennifer Morter and Antonio Cortinas took it over and thoroughly restored it. It has been a Site of Cultural Interest since 2005.
It is at Ronda de Julián Romero 4, the narrow street that skirts the top of the Huécar gorge beside the cathedral: sleeping here is sleeping in the middle of the old town, with the ravine beneath your window.
Four room types, no two alike
Superior double: two spaces, king-size bed, sofa bed and balconies or large windows onto the gorge and the gardens. Double with views: no two are alike; some have a viewing gallery, others a balcony or terrace, and all look directly onto the Huécar gorge. Standard double: outward-facing, overlooking the gardens or the cathedral roofs, simple. Standard single: there are only two, outward-facing, with views of the gardens and the gorge. The nine former cells with shared bathroom closed in 2020.
The website does not publish prices outside the booking system, nor does it say anything about pets or check-in and check-out times: ask on 969 211 300 or at reservas@posadasanjose.com.
The dining room over the gorge
The restaurant is in a dining room that looks onto the gorge, with a small terrace over the gardens when the weather allows. It serves Cuenca cooking with outside influences: morteruelo, gazpacho pastor, pisto manchego and ajoarriero, alongside dishes such as a truffle omelette or confit rabbit, daily suggestions and home-made desserts, with wines and beers from the region. Let them know about allergies in advance.
The usual hours: breakfast every day (8:00 to 10:30 on weekdays, 8:30 to 11:00 at weekends); dinner Wednesday to Saturday, 19:30 to 22:30; lunch only Friday to Sunday, 13:00 to 15:30. Monday and Tuesday there is neither lunch nor dinner, and on Sunday there is no dinner. At Easter and on long weekends this changes.
Arriving with luggage
It does not advertise its own parking. Leave the car at the castle car park or one in the lower part and walk. Without a car, from the AVE station line 10 takes you to the bus station, and lines 1 and 2 go up to the old town.
From the door you walk down in a couple of minutes to the cathedral and the San Pablo bridge; for dinner out, Raff San Pedro is on Calle San Pedro, round the corner.
### Servicios
- **City bus and the AVE station**: Line 10 links the AVE station with the bus station; lines 1 and 2 go up to the castle, at the top of the old town

## As a family: Rocks shaped like animals and houses on the edge of the void

With children, Cuenca works in two parts: a morning in the old town, which is small, and another at the Ciudad Encantada, which is a game of guessing shapes in the rock.

### What works best
The Ciudad Encantada: 3 km circular, free for under-7s

Crossing the San Pablo bridge and seeing the Hanging Houses face on

The Palaeontology Museum, with dinosaurs, free on Wednesdays

### Where to sleep
Camping Caravaning Cuenca: cabins, pool and playground

Parador de Cuenca: seasonal pool

Hotel Leonor de Aquitania, in the old town

### Where to eat
Mesón El Caserío, no midday closure

### Good to know
The Ciudad Encantada does not allow pushchairs: bring a baby carrier

The San Pablo bridge is impressive for those with a fear of heights

The old town has slopes and steps

### Qué hacer as a family
- San Pablo Bridge and a walk along the Huécar gorge
- Ciudad Encantada
- Castilla-La Mancha Palaeontology Museum

## With young children: Short, outdoors and with dinosaurs

For the youngest, one plan a morning is best: the Ciudad Encantada one day, the Palaeontology Museum another, and the old town in short bursts and in arms.

### What works best
The Ciudad Encantada: under-7s do not pay and the route can be shortened

The Palaeontology Museum, under cover, with dinosaurs

The San Pablo bridge, holding hands

### Where to sleep
Camping Caravaning Cuenca: cabins with space and a playground

### Where to eat
Mesón El Caserío, with continuous hours

### Good to know
No pushchair in the Ciudad Encantada or on the old town slopes

In winter the Serranía is cold: warm clothes

### Qué hacer with young children
- San Pablo Bridge and a walk along the Huécar gorge
- Ciudad Encantada
- Castilla-La Mancha Palaeontology Museum

## Consejos

### Drive up to the castle
It is the closest car park to the old town and leaves you going downhill for the rest of the day.

### Museums: check the day
Many close on Monday; on Sunday, in the afternoon. The tourist office publishes the hours each month.

### The Ciudad Encantada, box office only
There is no online sale or reservation: arrive with a margin before closing.

### Go back to the bridge at night
The Casas Colgadas lit up are the best image of Cuenca.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How long does it take from Madrid to Cuenca?
By car, around an hour and fifty minutes along the A-3 and A-40. There is also an AVE.

### Can I go to Cuenca by train from Valencia?
Yes, by AVE. The station is on the outskirts and you connect to the old town by city bus.

### How much does the Ciudad Encantada cost?
€5 for adults, €4 for ages 8 to 12 and free for under-7s. It is only bought at the box office.

### Can I go into the Casas Colgadas?
Yes: inside is the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, with free entry. It is closed on Mondays.

### Where do I park in Cuenca to see the old town?
Up top, in the castle car park, or down below, in the new part, going up by city bus.

### Can I go with a dog?
On the streets and the gorge, on a lead. In the Ciudad Encantada too, always on a lead. The Hotel Leonor de Aquitania admits pets on request.