Avila, Spain

October 20, 2025 Lisa Comments 0 Comment

I stayed in the lovely Hotel Palacio de Valderrábanos Ávila, a gorgeous 14th c palace. This was inside the city walls so I parked outside at their recommended lot. The hotel is on the Plaza de Catedral.

I started my city visit with the magnificent 12th c gothic Cathedral. It included an audio guide.

At the end of the tour they had VR headsets in 4 languages showing Avila, the cathedral, and the city walls when the cathedral was first being built. The city walls are part of the church.

There are four “extra-muros” (i.e. outside the walls) romanesque churches in Avila: San Andrés, San Vicente, San Pedro and San Segundo. I visited two, San Vicente and San Pedro. Basilica de San Vicente is a lovely walk and I stopped in the Jardin de San Vicente on the way. The Basilica is right outside the city walls.

Two great squares, the Plaza del Mercado Grande and Plaza de Santa Teresa de Jesus are just outside the gate of Puerta del Alcázar. Iglesia de San Pedro Apóstol is on the Plaza de Santa Teresa but only open for mass twice a day.

I visited Basilica and Convento de Santa Teresa of Avila. The church includes her birth home. I paid another €3 to see the small museum behind the church. Unless you’re a devout Catholic, I don’t think the museum is worth the money.

All the signs, like most of the museums, palaces, and historical houses I visited throughout Spain didn’t have English translations. I used my DeepL app for all the exhibits. I’ve been spoiled in Portugal because all the signs are in Portuguese and English.

Avila is the largest walled enclosure in the world. The Walls of Avila have a perimeter of 2516 meters, 87 towers and 9 gates.

I found this site after walking the walls, unfortunately, because I had a hard time finding access other than the one by the cathedral. I originally went up by access “I” and walked north to the cathedral where that part of the wall ends, then south and west until the wall ends again.

Later I found gate “E” and walked north and east and most of the way around to the cathedral. The walk can be difficult, very uneven, especially the stairs which vary in height from about 6 inches to about 12. But the views, both over the city, and outside the walls, make it well worth it.

This site says you can walk the entire perimeter but I don’t know how that would work since all the sections I was on had definite endpoints at both ends. I assume you must leave and have to find the next gate. Entry tickets for both sections cost €5.

I made a short visit to Palacio de los Verdugo. This is a 16th c palace declared a national monument in 1976. It’s a government building now; there is free entry with art work on the walls of the courtyard.

I walked out to the Real Monasterio de Santo Tomas. It’s a huge building, 3 large cloisters: the Novice, Silent, and Royal. There is a gorgeous chapel and choir loft. There were special chairs in the loft for the king and queen.

Restaurants

I had a very good burrito at Scarface.
I bought Yemas de Santa Teresa, a recommended local sweet. Like the Ovos Moles I tried in Aveiro Portugal, they are mostly egg yolks and sugar. I don’t recommend either. At least in Aveiro I could buy just one, here I only found in boxes, 8 or 12. I bought the box of 8. Tried one, tried another about a week later then threw them away.