World Heritage Cities 2025 Route

We begin our itinerary in the monumental imperial city whose Parador, of Mudejar inspiration and nestled in an old cigar grove, offers from the other bank of the Tagus the best panoramic view of what is also known as the City of the Three Cultures. With the title of World Heritage City and Cultural Asset, Toledo stands on a promontory surrounded by the Tagus River. The most emblematic monuments stand out in its profile: the imposing Alcázar, witness to the most recent history, the masterful Primate Cathedral in the center of its historic center, the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, the Puerta de Bisagra and its bridges, the synagogues and mosques, the numerous monuments, the museums and walking through its parks and gardens. Also essential are the Plaza de Zocodover and the Church of Santo Tomé, which houses the famous painting by El Greco, "The Burial of Count Orgaz". The capital of La Mancha has enough attractions to occupy us all day, but the lighting of its historic buildings is another of its charms. There is the possibility of taking night tours of the mysterious Toledo or that of the Templars or strolling through the streets, aimlessly, enjoying the atmosphere and its historic center, one of the most impressive in the country. If you already know the city or have time, we recommend the Puy du Fou theme park, an impressive show in which you will relive 1,500 years of Spanish history and culture with an audiovisual montage that will leave you speechless. Enjoy in the Parador restaurant the unique recipes of the consistent and tasty Toledo gastronomy that drinks from the hunting and pastoral culture. You have to try a Toledo-style partridge, a board of Manchego cheese or marzipan, three of the star products of the city.

From

Castilian-La Mancha we arrive in Alcalá de Henares, Cervantes' birthplace.

Beautiful in its streets, palaces, convents and civil buildings, it always

invites you to discover its University (in 1499 Cardinal Cisneros founded the

first ex-novo university campus in the world) and the Colegio Mayor de San

Ildefonso, the Plaza de Cervantes, the ruins of Santa María de la Mayor,

collegiate streets of Santa Ursula and Desktops, the Magistral Cathedral Church

of Saints Justo and Pastor, the Roman

mosaics of the Regional Archaeological Museum... Don't forget to take a walk

along the busy Calle Mayor – the longest arcaded street in Spain – where the

Birthplace of the illustrious author of Don Quixote stands and enjoy its shops

and tapas bars, or visit the Corral de Comedias, a unique building as it is the

oldest in Spain and preserves important original construction elements. You

have to be very attentive to the agenda because Alcalá, considered the City of

Arts and Letters, offers great possibilities for quality leisure, which are

diversified into a wide cultural and tourist offer that can coincide with your

dates. In the city of Complutense it is a must to try typical dishes of

Castilian-La Mancha cuisine with the culinary allusions of Don Quixote in the

Hostería del Estudiante, a unique setting from the sixteenth century and one of

the oldest establishments in Paradores, and is another of the towns where tapas

are worshipped. If you are travelling with children, a recommended visit is the

Europa Park in Torrejón de Ardoz, with scale replicas of 18 European monuments.

And once you have known everything that the city has to offer, we recommend

excursions to two charming corners full of history: the picturesque town of

Chinchón, where the other Madrid parador is located, and the Royal Site of

Aranjuez, declared a Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Without stopping in Madrid, we reach Segovia, one of the most monumental cities in Spain. It will surprise you at every step with an unparalleled historical-artistic heritage. Its imposing aqueduct will remind you of the power of Rome; its cathedral, the Alcázar, with its moat and drawbridge, or the medieval walls – the only ones in a city that are preserved complete along with those of Lugo and Ávila – will evoke a splendid past. Churches such as San Esteban, San Justo, San Martín and San Millán, will take us back to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque. To taste the city you have to wander around, have tapas in its bars - which, as in Salamanca, are offered free of charge - and give yourself a restorative tribute with beans and a crispy suckling pig roasted in the Parador's wood-fired oven enjoying the monumental profile of the city. In the surroundings do not forget to visit the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso (18th century), with its splendid Versailles gardens and the water play in its fountains in summer, where another spectacular Parador de Turismo awaits you, and the Palace of Riofrío, which houses the Museum of Hunting and Rubens and Velázquez paintings and is surrounded by a forest with fallow deer and deer in the wild.

We end the trip in the mystical and monumental Ávila with its perfect wall with 88 towers and nine gates, some as beautiful as those of the Alcázar and San Vicente. It is home to an impressive heritage in which the fortified Cathedral of San Salvador (begun in the eleventh century), the Cathedral Museum, the Convent of Santa Teresa (seventeenth century) and a trail of Renaissance palaces and Romanesque churches stand out. You will love taking a walk along the rampart of the wall, and getting lost in the streets of its historic center, strewn with charm in every square, every street and every corner. A World Cultural Heritage city in which everything is reminiscent of the saint, who has also given her name to her most famous sweet: the yolks of Santa Teresa. If you want to enjoy the best panoramic view of the city, you have to walk up at sunset to the humiliation of the Four Posts. The photo is worth it! And since man does not live on stones alone, please the body and squeeze some beans from the Barco de Ávila, some potatoes with torreznos or dare to try a 100% black beef steak from Avila.