This morning we took the metro to the railway station at Chamartin. Here we bought return tickets to Avila. Our train took 90 minutes and only made one stop along the way.
Avila is a medieval town lying 70 miles north west of Madrid, its imposing city walls comprise 8 gates, 88 watchtowers and 2500 turrets and is one of the best preserved old towns in Spain. It has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It took 15 minutes to walk from Avila’s railway station to the walls of the old town. It is possible to walk along the walls (fee payable) for a pleasant pre lunch walk. Unlike Segovia and Toledo, Avila is much smaller and it didn’t take us very long to explore the main sights.
We had lunch at Il Convento, which, as the name suggests, is close to the town’s convent. Although fine, it wasn’t warm enough to have lunch on the restaurant’s terrace so instead we joined the other diners indoors for a hearty lunch. After walking off our large lunch we took the train back to Madrid.
To summarise, a pleasant walled small town, but we felt there wasn’t very much to see and do there to merit the lengthy rail journey.
It was off to a Tapas bar near the Royal Palace again that evening. It was lovely to sit out on the terrace, enjoy our wine and nibbles and soak up the local atmosphere.
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Love visiting the old walled towns. We have never been to Spain, but enjoyed Lucca Italy. Thanks for sharing Marion. Allan
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Spain has some beautiful old walled towns similar to Italy. Perhaps you might get to visit one day.
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