Getaways from Mérida: day trips and destinations close by.

Where Extremadura's two motorways cross

Mérida is where Extremadura's two motorways cross, and each leads to a different kind of plan. The A-66, the Ruta de la Plata, climbs north to Cáceres in an hour and continues to Plasencia, where the EX-208 enters Monfragüe; to the south it goes down to Zafra, with Jerez de los Caballeros forty minutes further on. The A-5 leads east to Trujillo and west to Badajoz and the border, where you enter the Alentejo. To Guadalupe you go via San Pedro de Mérida, the N-430 to Obando and the EX-116, with the last bends already in the Villuercas.

Without a car, the real option is the Renfe Media Distancia train to Cáceres; check the Sunday timetable before setting out. To the rest, including Guadalupe, there is no practical transport for a day there and back. When you cross into Portugal you must allow for an hour less.

Zafra and Cáceres, within the hour

Less than an hour away are Zafra (50 minutes), with the Plaza Grande, the Plaza Chica and the alcázar of the Dukes of Feria, and Cáceres (57), with the monumental city among towers and palaces.

Between an hour and an hour and a half are Trujillo (65 minutes), with its Plaza Mayor and castle, and Jerez de los Caballeros (88), with the Templar alcazaba and its Baroque towers.

With an hour and a half or two hours by car the Sunday calls for an early start: Guadalupe and its monastery (110), Évora (112), Monfragüe (116) and the Sierra de Aracena (119).

Beyond two hours are Marvão (122) and Monsaraz (126), which still fit into a long day, and the two-night trips: Monfragüe and its birds, sleeping inside the park, or La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia, almost three hours away.

The birds of Monfragüe nest in spring

In winter, plans with a roof and hot water work: Zafra with an afternoon at the El Raposo spa, at its best from October to April, or Trujillo with a tasting at Bodegas HABLA, with the castle visit in mid-afternoon.

In spring the birds of Monfragüe nest, and can be seen from the Salto del Gitano viewpoints with hardly any walking, and from February to July kestrels nest on the rooftops of Trujillo's Plaza Mayor. On the other side of the border, the green Alentejo countryside is the backdrop to the Almendres menhirs with an archaeologist.

In July and August, Cáceres, Trujillo and Évora scorch at midday. What works is water: the river beach on Lake Alqueva at Monsaraz, lifeguarded from June to September, with the climb to the village as the sun goes down. In July, Jerez de los Caballeros holds its Templar Festival.

In autumn you head to the sierra. In October the deer are in rut at Monfragüe, which can be explored in a guided 4x4; in November, the Marvão Chestnut Fair fills the town with stalls, and the chestnut trees of the Villuercas surround Guadalupe, its monastery and the Humilladero hermitage.

The Bujaco Tower and the cistern, in the morning

• Without a car, in a day: Cáceres on a Sunday. The Bujaco Tower, the Golfines de Abajo palace with a guide and the cistern of the Cáceres Museum in the morning, which is when they open, and an afternoon of squares and churches.
• Towards the south: Jerez de los Caballeros with a guide. An hour and a half along the A-66, with Zafra on the way; the towers of San Miguel and San Bartolomé, the Templar alcazaba and the Museum of Sacred Art, which on Sunday opens in the morning.
• Across the border: Évora, from the Roman temple to the Chapel of Bones. A little under two hours via Badajoz and the Portuguese A6, and the whole walled centre on foot.

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