Trujillo on a Sunday: the square, the village and the castle, with a guide.

Trujillo is forty minutes from Cáceres along the A-58 and an hour from Mérida: near enough to set off without an early start and be back before dinner. This Sunday puts the hard part, the ticket offices and the history, in the hands of a guide, and leaves the afternoon free for looking at the Plaza Mayor without hurrying. It is the plan for a first time in Trujillo.

The Day, Hour by Hour

9:30 · Departure. From Cáceres it is 48 km along the A-58, about forty minutes. From Mérida, an hour and a quarter along the A-5; from Badajoz, a little under two hours. Park in the lower part, towards Plaza del Campillo, and walk up.

10:15 · The Plaza Mayor. You arrive with a quarter of an hour to look at it before the visit begins: the statue of Pizarro, San Martín, the Palacio de la Conquista and the San Carlos one with its eagle on the corner.

10:30 · Guided visit to the medieval village. It leaves from the Turismo Trujillo office, under the arcades of the square, unit 20. It climbs to the medieval village and enters the castle and its cisterns, the Pizarro House Museum, the Romanesque church of Santiago and the Centro de los Descubridores. It costs €18 per adult with the tickets, €10 for ages 12 to 14 and nothing for under-11s. It goes ahead with a minimum of four people: book on its website or on 927 320 510.

13:30 · Lunch at the Parador. The dining room is in the former church of the 16th-century Santa Clara convent, 200 metres from the square. Paradores publishes lunch from 13:30 to 16:00 every day. Order the zorongollo and the retinta beef sirloin. Book on 927 321 350. If you prefer something simpler, Mesón La Troya, on the Plaza Mayor itself, serves lamb stew and a set menu of the day, with no reservations: arrive at a quarter past one.

15:45 · Santa María la Mayor. The morning visit does not go into it: go up to see Fernando Gallego's altarpiece, from around 1490. The official listing does not publish opening hours; ask at the tourist office on the square, which also opens in the afternoon.

16:30 · The kestrel route. From February to July, an hour and a half round the old town with binoculars: San Martín, the San Carlos Palace, the wall with views over the plain and the Torre del Alfiler. Outside those months, sign up for the sunset visit, which from November to February leaves at 16:30 and climbs to the castle in the last light.

18:00 · Return. You reach Cáceres around a quarter to seven.

With Children

The castle is what they like most: towers, cisterns and the wall walk, where you must hold their hands. The guided visit is free for under-11s and takes the morning; with small children, take a baby carrier, because the cobbled slopes are not for pushchairs. If they want something different, the ethnographic museum at Huertas de Ánimas, 5 km away, shows a school and some old houses; it opens by appointment.