Hervás, the Jewish quarter among chestnut trees.

Hervás is the main village of the Ambroz Valley, in the north of Cáceres province, at the foot of the Sierra de Béjar and next to the border with Salamanca. It has one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in Spain, declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1969: houses of granite, adobe and chestnut wood, eaves that almost touch and the Travesía del Moral, barely half a metre wide. All around are forests of chestnut and oak that turn yellow and red in autumn, and down the valley runs the Vía Verde de la Plata, the old Plasencia-Salamanca railway, now for bikes and walkers. You can see it in a day; the valley deserves a weekend.

How do you get there from Cáceres?

By car, along the A-66 motorway, the Ruta de la Plata, northwards, past Plasencia: it is about 113 km and an hour and twenty minutes. From Salamanca, the same motorway southwards via Béjar: about 95 km and an hour and a quarter. From Plasencia, about 30 km. From Ávila, via Béjar, about two hours; from Madrid, a little over three, along the A-5 and the Navalmoral-Plasencia motorway or via Ávila and Béjar.

Without a car it is harder. There is no train and the buses that pass through the valley are no use for a Sunday there and back: ask at the tourist office before counting on them.

Where do you park?

Outside the Jewish quarter. Its streets are narrow, sloping and paved with river cobbles, and are not designed for cars. Leave the car on the streets of the new part of town, near Avenida de la Provincia or the station, and walk down: the whole old town fits into one stroll. If you are staying in a rural house in the quarter, ask when booking where to unload.

How much time do I need?

A day covers the village: the Jewish quarter in the morning, with the church of Santa María up above and the Fuente Chiquita bridge below; lunch; and in the afternoon the Pérez Comendador-Leroux Museum, in a Baroque palace with a garden. With a night, add the Vía Verde by bike: Bicis Ambroz takes you up to Béjar and you ride down at your own pace, 23 km in about two and a half hours. With two nights, the valley: the Castaños del Temblar in Segura de Toro, the Roman arch of Cáparra or the abandoned village of Granadilla.

When should you go?

In autumn, if you can choose. From early October until the last weekend of November, the eight villages of the Ambroz Valley celebrate Otoño Mágico (Magic Autumn), with routes through the chestnut woods, markets and activities every weekend, and the forest is at its best colour. In spring, from April to June, the valley is green and the Vía Verde is in the shade. Summer is cooler than on the Extremadura plain, with natural pools and the August and September festivals. In July, the Los Conversos festival remembers the village's Jewish past with theatre by the river.

The Vía Verde de la Plata

The railway operated between 1896 and 1985; today it is a gently graded natural path reserved for bikes and walkers. The most scenic stretch enters Extremadura at Puerto de Béjar and descends to Hervás through tunnels, cuttings and chestnut woods, with the valley open at your feet. It ends at the Iron Bridge, which crosses the Ambroz with the Jewish quarter in the background, and at the old station, now a hostel. You can continue to Aldeanueva del Camino and, for the strongest, to Plasencia.

What do you eat?

The valley's cooking blends Jewish heritage, such as sweet soup and nuégados, with zorongollo, cochinillo cuchifrito and caldereta. People drink pitarra wine and pick at cured meats, potato black pudding and pumpkin black pudding. Hervás also has acclaimed chef-led cooking: Nardi has a Repsol Sun and appears in the Michelin Guide.