Getaways from Cáceres: day trips and destinations close by.

Trujillo, forty minutes to the east

Every road out of Cáceres leads to a different landscape. The A-58 goes east to Trujillo in forty minutes; from there, the EX-208 goes down to Torrejón el Rubio and the Monfragüe National Park, and the EX-102, via Zorita and Logrosán, climbs to Guadalupe. The A-66, the Ruta de la Plata, goes north towards Plasencia: beyond Plasencia lie Hervás and the Ambroz Valley, along the N-110 you enter the Jerte Valley and, via Béjar, you reach La Alberca and Salamanca. To the south, the same motorway leads to Mérida and Zafra. To the west, the N-521 crosses the border at Valencia de Alcántara towards Marvão, already in Portugal, where you have to put your watch back an hour.

Without a car there are two useful exits. The Renfe Media Distancia train goes to Mérida, and Avanza has a bus to Trujillo, with the station a quarter of an hour's walk from the Plaza Mayor; in both cases, check the Sunday timetable. To Monfragüe, Guadalupe and the northern valleys you have to go by car.

Monfragüe and Hervás, a little beyond the hour

Less than an hour away are Trujillo (37 minutes), with the Plaza Mayor, the medieval town and the castle, and Mérida (56), with the theatre, the amphitheatre and the National Museum of Roman Art.

Monfragüe (71 minutes), with the Salto del Gitano and the raptors, and Hervás (80), with the Jewish quarter and the Vía Verde de la Plata, are between an hour and an hour and a half away.

Between an hour and a half and two hours the day starts early: Zafra (96), the Jerte Valley (100), Marvão (112) and Guadalupe (118).

From two hours onwards are La Alberca and the Peña de Francia and Salamanca, two hours away (120 minutes each), and Jerez de los Caballeros (134), and the two-night trips: La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia, Monfragüe and its birds, sleeping inside the park, or the Sierra de Gredos, two and a half hours away.

Monfragüe in a 4x4, in any month

In winter Trujillo and Monfragüe work. The tasting at Bodegas HABLA with sunset at the castle is at its best from October to May, when the castle visit falls in mid-afternoon, and the guided 4x4 route through Monfragüe runs all year round, because it changes depending on where the animals are.

In spring, from late March to mid-April, the cherry trees blossom and the Caozo waterfall runs between white estates in the Sunday at Los Pilones and the Caozo. It is also the season of nesting birds at Monfragüe and of kestrels on the rooftops of Trujillo.

In July and August the heat makes the city hard going, and the plan is to head north: swimming in the Los Pilones pools in June and July, or the cooler Sierra de Francia. For the Vía Verde by bike from Béjar to Hervás, in summer choose the 9:00 departure.

You go to the chestnut trees in autumn. In October and November, the Otoño Mágico of the Ambroz Valley colours Hervás; in November comes the Otoñada in the Jerte and the Marvão Chestnut Fair. La Alberca, Mogarraz and the Peña de Francia then have golden chestnut trees, and in October the deer are in rut at Monfragüe.

Mérida by train, with the museum free on Sunday

• Without a car, in a day: Mérida on a Sunday. Train to Mérida, theatre and amphitheatre at 9:30 with the combined ticket, the museum free on Sunday morning and the afternoon from the Roman bridge to the aqueduct.
• Forty minutes away: Trujillo with a guide. A morning visit with four tickets, from the castle to the Casa de Pizarro, lunch in the parador's refectory and an afternoon on the square.
• Towards the north-east: Monfragüe from the viewpoints. Salto del Gitano and the castle tower in the morning and the Tiétar viewpoints in the afternoon, all next to the car and free. Bring binoculars.

If you set out from another city in the area, see what is near Mérida and near Badajoz.