Salamanca From Madrid: 1 Hour 40 Minutes by Train to Spain's Oldest University City
Salamanca is the best day trip from Madrid that most people don't take. A direct Alvia train from Madrid-Chamartín gets there in about an hour and forty minutes, and it drops you in a city built almost entirely from the same golden sandstone, which turns orange in the evening sun.
It's a university city first. King Alfonso IX founded the University of Salamanca around 1218, which makes it the oldest university in Spain still running. The old city has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1988.
The view from up among the cathedral pinnacles. Gothic spires in the right foreground, a sea of terracotta roofs, the domes and towers of the Clerecía across the city, and a dramatic sky. This is the panorama you get on the Ieronimus route, which takes you along the cathedral's towers and roof walkways.
What it costs
Salamanca is cheap by Spanish standards. Ieronimus, the towers and roofs, costs €6, with a guided night visit for €10. It opens from 10:00 to 20:00 between March and December, and closes at 18:00 in January and February, with last entry an hour before closing.
The two cathedrals, the Old and the New, stand side by side and share one ticket of about €10, including an audio guide, the cloister and the bishop's palace. Ieronimus isn't included. The university's historic buildings have their own ticket.
The Plaza Mayor costs nothing. It was built between 1729 and 1755 to plans by Alberto de Churriguera, with 88 arches and 247 balconies around a square of about 70 metres a side. Many people think it's the most beautiful in Spain. Sit on the café terrace at dusk and decide for yourself.
Day trip or overnight?
You can do Salamanca in a day: cathedrals and Ieronimus in the morning, the university and the House of Shells after lunch, Plaza Mayor in the evening, last train back. But the city is at its best after dark, when the stone is floodlit and the students come out. Stay a night if you can.
At €6 for the rooftops and nothing for the square, it's one of the best-value weekends in Spain.