# A getaway to Cuenca and the Ciudad Encantada, two hours from Madrid and Valencia

Saturday in the old town of Cuenca, a night facing the Casas Colgadas and Sunday in the Ciudad Encantada. About two hours from Madrid and Valencia, by car or AVE.

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

Dónde: Cuenca

Cuenca is almost the same distance from Madrid as from Valencia: about two hours by car on the A-3 and A-40, and less by AVE. The old town can be seen in a day, but the city gains a lot at night, when the Casas Colgadas are lit up above the gorge and the groups have gone. That is why it works as a one-night getaway: Saturday for the cathedral, the museums and the San Pablo bridge; Sunday for the Ciudad Encantada, in the Serranía.

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

By car, from Madrid it is about 165 km via the A-3 and A-40; from Valencia, about 200 km via the A-3. In both cases, around two hours. By train, Cuenca is on the Madrid – Valencia high-speed line: the station, Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel, is on the outskirts, and city bus line 10 takes you to the bus station, from where lines 1 and 2 go up to the old town. If you go without a car, the Ciudad Encantada needs a taxi.

## Where to sleep?

AccommodationAreaFor whom

Parador de CuencaHoz del Huécar, facing the Casas ColgadasCar and views, with a seasonal pool

Posada de San JoséRonda de Julián Romero, above the gorgeCouples, on foot, a 1621 house with a restaurant

Hotel Leonor de AquitaniaCalle San PedroOn foot and with a dog, on request

Camping Caravaning CuencaPinar del Júcar, 7 km awayFamilies, cabins all year

## And if I have one more day?

Stay in the Serranía: the Júcar campsite has cabins open all year on the road that climbs towards the source of the Cuervo river. Or spend the morning on the museums you missed: the Paleontological Museum, with the dinosaurs of Castilla-La Mancha, free on Wednesdays.

## With children

The Ciudad Encantada is the star plan: under-7s don't pay and the route is a game of shapes in the rock, though not with a pushchair. The San Pablo bridge impresses them. For sleeping, the campsite cabins or the Parador, with a pool in summer.

## El plan

### Saturday · 10:00 · Arrival and cathedral
Park by the castle or in the lower part and go into the cathedral, which opens at 10:00: €5.50 with an audio guide, an hour.

### Saturday · 11:30 · Casas Colgadas and the Museum of Abstract Art
Spanish abstract art in the houses on the edge of the gorge. Free; on Saturday it is open from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00.

### Saturday · 14:00 · Lunch at Raff San Pedro
Ajoarriero, trout or venison in 16th-century stables. Book.

### Saturday · 17:00 · Fundación Antonio Pérez and the gorge
The art collection on Ronda de Julián Romero, from 17:00 to 20:00, then a walk along the Huécar gorge.

### Saturday · 20:00 · San Pablo bridge at night
Cross the footbridge with the lit-up Casas Colgadas in front of you. If you are sleeping at the Parador, it is the way to bed.

### Sunday · 10:00 · Ciudad Encantada
Half an hour by car. A 3 km circuit among the rocks, an hour and a half, €5 at the ticket office. Opens at 10:00.

### Sunday · 13:30 · Lunch and the drive home
Back in Cuenca, Mesón El Caserío, by the castle, or the menu at Restaurante Casas Colgadas if it is an occasion. You leave in mid-afternoon and get home before dinner.

## Un consejo más

On Sunday, many Cuenca museums close at midday and in the afternoon: leave the old town for Saturday and the Serranía for Sunday.

## Cuándo no ir

With snow or ice, the Ciudad Encantada can be uncomfortable: wear boots or swap it for the Paleontological Museum.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How long does it take from Madrid to Cuenca?
Around an hour and fifty minutes by car, and less by AVE.

### And from Valencia to Cuenca?
About two hours by car on the A-3; there is also the AVE.

### Do I need a car?
For the old town, no. For the Ciudad Encantada, yes, or a taxi.

### Where to sleep with views of the Casas Colgadas?
At the Parador, facing them, or at the Posada de San José, above the same gorge.

### How much does the getaway cost?
Between €110 and €220 per person with one night in a hotel, two meals and the tickets.

## Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Camping Caravaning Cuenca**: 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**: 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**, 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**: 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.

## Dónde dormir without a car
- **Hotel Leonor de Aquitania**: 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**: 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.