Valladolid

Castile's former capital, with the National Museum of Sculpture and Plaza Mayor, famed Holy Week processions, and surrounded by Ribera del Duero wine country and castles.

Valladolid lies in the middle of Castile and León in northwestern Spain, with the Pisuerga River running through it. It is the region's capital and was Spain's capital from 1601 to 1606; Philip II was born here, Columbus died here, and Cervantes published Don Quixote here. The old town is compact: Plaza Mayor, the cathedral, the Church of San Pablo and the National Museum of Sculpture are all within walking distance, so the main sights can be covered in a day. The museum's polychrome wooden sculptures are the finest in Spain, which also explains why the city's Holy Week processions are so famous (they are designated a Festival of International Tourist Interest). Valladolid is one of Spain's tapas capitals, hosting the national tapas competition every autumn, and small bars crowd the streets around Plaza Mayor. The surrounding area is part of the Duero Valley: Peñafiel Castle and the Ribera del Duero wineries to the east, the Treaty Houses of Tordesillas and the Simancas Archive to the southwest, and the Castillo de la Mota in Medina del Campo to the south all make classic day trips. The climate is continental, with cold, foggy winters and summers that are hot by day but cool in the mornings and evenings; April–June and September–October are best, while Holy Week (March–April) is lively but requires booking ahead. Getting there: the high-speed train from Madrid Chamartín takes about 1 hour, and the city's Campo Grande station is a short walk from the old town. ALSA and other buses serve nearby towns, but castles and wineries are better reached by car. Plan on 2–3 days: one for the old town and 1–2 for castles and wineries.

Top sights

• National Museum of Sculpture – Spain's most important museum of wooden sculpture, housed in the Hispano-Flemish Gothic façade of the San Gregorio College, one of the most…
• Plaza Mayor of Valladolid – Said to be Spain's first regularly planned, enclosed great square. Red façades surround the town hall, and it is the center of city life.
• Valladolid Cathedral – A cathedral designed by Juan de Herrera and left unfinished, with a dignified, unadorned Renaissance style. You can climb the tower for vie…
• Church of San Pablo – A Gothic church whose façade is hailed as a “stone altarpiece,” facing the National Museum of Sculpture across the square.
• Peñafiel Castle – A long, narrow medieval castle along a ridge, like a giant stone ship. It houses the provincial Wine Museum and is a landmark of the Ribera…
• Church of Santa María la Antigua – A city landmark combining a Romanesque bell tower with a Gothic nave, located on a quiet square behind the cathedral.
• Cervantes House Museum – The modest two-storey house where Cervantes lived in 1604–1606, and where he was living when the first part of Don Quixote was published.
• Columbus House Museum – A museum commemorating Columbus, who died in Valladolid in 1506, with exhibits centred on his four voyages and the New World.
• Pimentel Palace – The noble residence where Philip II was born, with a corner window bearing an inscription of his birth; today it houses the Provincial Coun…
• Royal Palace of Valladolid – The royal palace where the Spanish court was based from 1601 to 1606, where Napoleon once stayed, and which now serves as a military headqu…
• Palace of Santa Cruz – One of Spain's earliest Renaissance buildings, now the rectorate of the University of Valladolid.
• Patio Herreriano Museum – A museum of modern and contemporary Spanish art set in the cloister of the Royal Monastery of San Benito, with works by Miró, Dalí and Chil…
• Church of San Benito el Real – A massive Gothic monastery church that looks like a fortress, with a tall porch and a landmark on the western side of the old town.
• Campo Grande Park – A triangular 19th-century Romantic park in the city centre, where peacocks roam freely, with a waterfall, a lake and rowing boats.
• Oriental Museum – An East Asian art museum in the Colegio de Filipinos, with collections of porcelain, paintings and religious artefacts from China, Japan an…
• Science Museum of Valladolid – A science museum on the banks of the Pisuerga, converted from a former flour mill, with a planetarium and a colourful pedestrian bridge acr…
• House of Zorrilla – The birthplace of José Zorrilla, the Romantic poet and author of Don Juan Tenorio, with a quiet little garden.
• Mercado del Val – A 19th-century cast-iron market dating from 1882; after renovation it combines fresh produce stalls with tapas bars, and it is convenient f…
• Dome of the Millennium – A transparent grid dome on the banks of the Pisuerga, originally a pavilion for the Zaragoza World Expo and now a new city landmark after r…
• Castillo de la Mota – A red-brick castle in Medina del Campo, a favourite residence of Queen Isabella and a prime example of brick castles in Castile.
• Treaty Houses of Tordesillas – The site where Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 to divide the world, now a museum devoted to the treaty.
• Royal Convent of Santa Clara, Tordesillas – A convent converted from a Mudéjar-style royal palace, where Queen Joanna the Mad was confined in Tordesillas for nearly half a century.
• Simancas Castle & General Archive – The General Archive of the Kingdom of Spain, founded by Philip II and housed in Simancas Castle, one of Europe's earliest national archives.
• Urueña – A hilltop village encircled by medieval walls, Spain's only 'book town', with fewer than 200 residents but more than a dozen bookshops.
• Medina de Rioseco – A historic town known as the 'City of the Campos', famous for its arcaded old streets and the gilded splendour of the Church of Santa María…

Where to eat

• La Parrilla de San Lorenzo – A long-established grill house in the vaulted cellars of the Royal Monastery of San Joaquín and Santa Ana, famous for o…
• Villa Paramesa – A family-run tapas house listed in the Michelin Guide, with many national tapas-competition awards, widely seen as the…
• El Corcho – A traditional tavern opened in 1988; its Iberian ham croquettes are among the city's best-known snacks, and they are af…
• Jero – A popular tapas bar on Calle Correos next to the main square, known for its canapés with whimsical names; it fills up a…
• Los Zagales – A creative tapas bar known for 'Tigretostón', the 2010 national tapas competition champion, and for its lifelike shaped…

Itineraries

• Castile and León Grand Loop – A self-drive loop covering Segovia, Salamanca, Sanabria, León, Burgos, and the Ribera del Duero.