Ávila (Avila), Cuenca (Cuenca), Albarracín, Teruel, Mora de Rubielo, Cantavieja, Mirambel, Valderrobres & Calaceite (Teruel) - Spain - Absolutely incredibly beautiful medieval villages & hanging cities
We leave Villablino early in the morning and make our way to Ávila. It's a very long drive of 3.5 hours till we get to the beautiful walled city of Ávila. The weather is not great but we get enough time to go sightseeing and check out the famous walls surrounding the city, they are among the best-preserved and most complete in Europe. We walk around for a while then jump back in the car and drive for another 3.5 hours until we reach the city of Cuenca. We are both tired and cranky but glad we've made it. We check out an ugly and depressing hostal in town then go back to the drawing board and find a very nice place 8kms away from the town, Hotel Resort Cueva del Fraile, 55 euros. The hotel is in an old monastery and it's very beautiful and comfortable, great value for money, but of course we're still off season. We leave early in the morning to see the hanging city of Cuenca, absolutely incredible. The hanging houses that are suspended over the gorge of the river Huecar are sure to grab your attention together with beautiful cobbled streets and ancient buildings and churches.
After Cuenca we make our way to the Province of Teruel. Teruel is an entire new tourism destination in Spain and we were drawn to this region after reading about a village called Albarracin, voted the most beautiful village in Spain in 2023. Our first stop is Albarracin and it really doesn't disappoint as it's one of the best preserved, dramatic, medieval places we've ever seen, and we’ve seen quite a few. From Albarracin we make our way to the beautiful and very pleasant city of Teruel for a decent Menu. After sightseeing in Teruel we make our way to Puerta de Javalambre, 44 euros, a basic but clean and comfortable hostal on the highway just outside the city and fold for the day. Once again we leave very early next morning as we want to see some of the most beautiful villages in the Teruel Province. We make our way to the incredible and very authentic medieval villages of Mora de Rubielo, Cantavieja, Mirambel, Valderrobres and Calaceite, a day not to be forgotten, just check out our photos and you'll be booking your next road trip in 5,4,3,2,1. Once again, tired but ecstatic, what a feast for the eyes, we make our way to Habitaciones Constantin, 40 euros, in Girona and crash, after a glass or two on the terrace, for the night.
