Here we come to the next part of my journey: 3 days in Salamanca. Salamanca is not as popular as the Andalusian cities, and I included it to my list because I considered its university for the lessons of Spanish. I had been looking for a place where I could study Spanish, and Salamanca University courses seemed to be perfect.
I decided to visit Salamanca first to find out whether it was interesting enough to spend there a couple of months. Well, while I liked it as a tourist, I could not imagine myself living there, so I just abandoned this idea. In no way does it mean that Salamanca is not a nice city, it is just not my place. I would prefer something noisier and more popular like Barcelona 🙂 And I admit that the weather was one of the factors that influenced my perception.
Salamanca was my next stop after Seville.
I left Seville in the early morning in an ALSA bus. ALSA buses depart from the Plaza de Armas bus station. Oh, the station deserves some words. When I came there, there was a kind of chaos: the electronic display was not functioning, the machines where passengers could check the status of the journey and the platform were useless, the lady who was working in the information desk, opened a notebook to check my platform, when I asked her. Obviously, they had a computer network malfunction, and everything was really disorganized. Well, it ended up well: I found my bus and arrived safely in Salamanca 🙂
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How to get to Salamanca from Seville
The distance between Seville and Salamanca is very long, so I was considering buying a train ticket. When I checked the RENFE website, a ticket cost more than 60 EUR and the ride was for more than 6 hours. So I turned to my beloved ALSA bus company. I paid about 19 EUR for the ticket in a comfortable bus with Wi-Fi connection, and it took about 6 hours to get to Salamanca from Seville. As always, I bought my ticket much in advance and had it printed.
My bus had about 6 stops on the way, usually it were short ones, but there was one long stop where all passengers were asked to leave the bus. Just imagine my confusion: people going out and me, understanding nothing because of my rusty Spanish 🙂 We spent more than 20 minutes there, and got a new driver.
Where to stay in Salamanca
For the 3 days in Salamanca I stayed at Hostal Escala Luna. For 80 EUR for 3 nights I got a single room with a queen size bed and a private bathroom. When I compare this price to the other hostels and hotels I stayed at in Spain, it seems very reasonable. I don’t see on booking.com anymore.
A handy tip: if you are flexible with dates, you can check booking.com to see if you can get a better deal. Usually hotels are more expensive at weekends, so staying in the middle of the week is much better. Anyway, here is the tip: when you find the hotel you like, go down to Availability section of the hotel page. When you click the calendar, you can see the prices without changing the dates in the main search bar. This way it will be easier to find better rates.
How to move around Salamanca
Just like in the case of other cities I visited during my solo travel to Spain, Salamanca is totally walkable, especially if you stay in the center. It was less than a kilometer to the farthest place on my list of places to visit in Salamanca from Escala Luna, so, naturally, I did not need buses.
I came to Salamanca’s bus station from Seville, and the distance between the station and my hotel was a bit more than a kilometer, so I chose to walk. If you have luggage, than you can take bus 4 at the Avenida De Los Maristas, but it will take you only to the Archbishop Fonseca College: after that, you will have to walk anyway.
I bought a train ticket to get to Madrid, and the train station of Salamanca is quite far from the touristic area, almost 2 kilometers. I walked it, but you could take bus 1 at Calle Gran Via, and it will take you right to the train station.
More info on the local buses is here. According to the same website, a single ticket is 1,05 EUR and can be purchased only on board.
What and where to eat in Salamanca
After saving as much as I could and eating only food bought at supermarkets in Seville, I decided to change the strategy for Salamanca, and the main reason was that the restaurants were cheaper there.
During these 3 days in Salamanca, I ate mainly in one restaurant: Corrillo. Situated just in front of Escala Luna, it is not actually a restaurant, more of a pub with beer and tapas. And those tapas were amazing and relatively cheap. The thing is that I don’t think this place survived the pandemic. It looks like it rebranded into La Mafia and the cuisine is Italian now. At least, this new restaurant has good reviews, so you can give it a try.
Another place I liked is a bakery Granier in Calle Zamora 43. There are many selections of baked products like croissants, pies, cakes, muffins. Again, the prices are reasonable: for example, 3 croissants cost 1,50 EUR, 3 chocolate muffins cost 1,80 EUR.
If you crave jamon, there are many shops selling sandwiches. I bought one for 3,50 EUR at Plaza del Corrillo: the place is right at the corner next to Caja Rural bank (not sure if it’s still open).
As I spent 3 days in Salamanca in 2017, lots of things changed since that time. In addition to the places I mention above, you can go to Restaurante La JamonerĂa de Carmen (on Calle Zamora as well). They serve many options of jamon and cheeses.
CafeterĂa Brocense 22, a tapas bar with its address in the name, has nice reviews as well.
For gluten-free pastries go to Celi&Co in Calle Pozo Amarillo: they have both savoury and sweet options.
What to buy in Salamanca
In my humble opinion, there is nothing special to buy in Salamanca, but I saw many shops selling jamon, more than in any other city I visited. I guess it would be an excellent opportunity to buy jamon to bring home. Well, just don’t repeat my mistake with turron 🙂
What to see and do in Salamanca
I came to Salamanca to see the university. That’s it, except it, I knew nothing of the city. But seeing these old walls, narrow streets, exceptional cathedrals was totally worth a visit! And don’t forget about the famous Sky of Salamanca!
By the way, this year the University of Salamanca will be 804 years old.
As always, I wrote a separate post about places to visit in Salamanca. And just a note: 3 days in Salamanca are definitely enough to see everything worth of interest. And here is my itinerary:
1st day
- Plaza de Anaya
- Catedral Vieja e Nueva
- Ieronimus
- Cueva de Salamanca
- Huerto de Calixto y Melibea
- Casa Lis
- The Roman Bridge
2nd day
- Iglesia de San Marcos
- Calle Zamora
- Plaza Mayor
- Iglesia de San MartĂn
- Convento de San Esteban
- Convento de las Dueñas
- Parque de los Jesuitas
- Plaza Colon
- Torre del Clavero
3rd day
- Patio de Escuelas
- Salamanca University
- Escuelas Menores: el cielo de Salamanca
- Museo de Salamanca
- Casa de las Conchas
- ClerecĂa + Scala Coeli
- Iglesia de la PurĂsima
- Colegio Arzobispo Fonseca
Additional info
Weather. I was in Salamanca at the end of October, and it was around 18 degrees, probably, even lower, and windy, but sunny. I was totally unprepared for this weather, especially after 30 degrees in Andalusia. I did not have warm clothes with me, so I just had to layer myself with what I had. So, my verdict: you either come earlier than October or have suitable clothes.
Supermarkets. There is a small Carrefour Express next to the Casa de las Conchas on calle Rua Mayor. The central market of Salamanca with fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, and pickles is not far from the Plaza Mayor on the Plaza Mercado. A Dia supermarket is in Calle San Justo, 20.
Pharmacies. Not far from the Dia supermarket there is a pharmacy Farmacia Palomero Gil: it is not a 24/7, but works till 8:30 PM with a break from 2 PM till 4:30 PM. Close to the Plaza Mayor on Plaza del Poeta Iglesias, 21 you can find Farmacia Estella Hoyos.
English. The situation with the language is far from being perfect. Waiters in some restaurants speak English, but ticket sellers in almost all tourist attractions don’t know any of it. The guided tours are mostly in Spanish, and even when I was the only one attending the tour, the guide spoke Spanish simply because she did not know English.
Budget breakdown
Here are my expenses for the 3 days in Salamanca:
Bus from Seville to Salamanca – 19,10 EUR
Hostal Escala Luna – 80 EUR
Food (restaurants, supermarket, occasional snacks) – 54 EUR
Entrance fees to touristic sights – 28,50 EUR
Total – 181,60 EUR
