geocalia
Day itinerary · 40.08° N · 2.13° W
Cuenca's old town on foot on a Sunday: the cathedral at opening time, two free museums, the San Pablo bridge facing the Hanging Houses and ajoarriero for lunch.
Part of Cuenca
The plan
Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.
via the A-3 and the A-40
€5.50 with audio guide
Free on Sunday
Free · closes at 14:30 on Sundays
The Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) face-on
Ajoarriero (salt cod stew) and trout · booking required
Calle San Pedro, 58 (planta -2), 16001 Cuenca · +34 969 690 855
In Madrid or Valencia around 18:30
Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.
The route
Cuenca is seen on foot in a long morning, and Sunday helps: the Fundación Antonio Pérez is free and the Museum of Abstract Art, inside the Hanging Houses, never charges. Just bear in mind that many museums close at midday on Sundays, so you start early and eat afterwards.
8:00 · Departure. From Madrid, about 165 km along the A-3 and A-40; from Valencia, about 200 km along the A-3. Drive up to the castle car park, at the top of the old town, or leave the car below and go up on city bus lines 1 or 2.
10:00 · Cathedral. It opens at 10:00. Admission, with an audio guide, costs €5.50. An hour.
11:00 · Fundación Antonio Pérez. On Ronda de Julián Romero, above the gorge. On Sundays, free, from 11:00 to 14:00.
11:45 · Hanging Houses and Museum of Abstract Art. Spanish abstract art in rooms with windows onto the void. Free; on Sundays it closes at 14:30.
12:45 · San Pablo bridge. You cross the iron footbridge and see the Hanging Houses head-on. If you have time left, go down into the gorge for a while.
14:00 · Lunch. Raff San Pedro, in 16th-century stables on Calle San Pedro: ajoarriero, trout, venison. Open on Sundays at midday; book. If it is an occasion, the tasting menu at Restaurante Casas Colgadas.
16:30 · Return. Home around 18:30.
The Palaeontological Museum, with the dinosaurs of Castilla-La Mancha, opens on Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00: put it in place of the Fundación Antonio Pérez. If the day is fine and you have a car, the Ciudad Encantada is half an hour away; in that case, see the Serranía plan.
Where to eat
Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.
What to order: 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
What to order: Morteruelo or zarajos to try the Cuenca classics, and a grilled meat or the vegetable platter
What to order: The Volver menu, of 10 courses, is the way in; the Cocinamos Cuenca, of 15, is the full experience.
Map
With where to park at each one.
Getting there
When to go
In spring and autumn, with the gorges green or yellow. In summer it is easier to take than the plains, but it heats up at midday. In winter it freezes: a coat for the bridge.
Tips
From the castle, the old town is downhill all the way to the cathedral.
The tourist office publishes the museum hours every month.
The illuminated Hanging Houses are a different city.
Questions
Yes, always. On Sundays it opens from 10:00 to 14:30.
€5.50 with an audio guide.
Yes, by AVE. The station is on the outskirts and you connect by city bus.
Along the streets, the bridge and the gorge, yes, on a lead. They do not state that dogs are admitted in the museums and the cathedral.
Raff San Pedro is open on Sunday at midday; so is Restaurante Casas Colgadas, with a tasting menu.
More plans like this
geocalia.com/en/spain/castilla-la-mancha/cuenca/itineraries/cuenca-hanging-houses-and-huecar-gorge
Prices, opening hours and times are approximate: check them before you go. Each place has its own page on Geocalia.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castilla-la-mancha/cuenca/itineraries/cuenca-hanging-houses-and-huecar-gorge
