As a native northern Californian, I have a bias towards northern Spain over southern Spain that’s a bit like my preference for northern California over southern California. When faced with the choice between green, verdant lands where hills and hiking trails meet rugged cliffs and crashing waves and sunny beaches full of tanning bodies, few forests, no redwoods, and weather that never gets cooler than 70 degrees, I’ll take the former.
Maybe that’s due to the 50% of my DNA that’s British (and/or Scottish), or maybe it’s because the places I always loved visiting most as a child were northern California and Oregon coastal areas with crashing waves, cool, fresh, crisp air and plenty of green.
Whatever the reason, when it comes to Spain it’s the northern regions that keep pulling me back again and again. The following cities in Northern Spain are seven of the most picturesque, charming cities you can visit. While these are by no means the only cities I love in northern Spain they are, in my opinion, must-visit cities for true northern Spain lovers.
1. Beautiful Cities in Northern Spain: Santiago de Compostela
Most famous for being the site that millions of pilgrims set their sights on ending up when hiking the Camino de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela in Galicia is also one of the most charming cities in Northern Spain. The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is, on its own, an impressive enough architectural beauty to warrant a visit to this city-but there are also the narrow stone streets, joys of Galician cuisine (mussels or pulpo anyone?), Galician wine, and the overall sense that you are in a completely different culture than elsewhere in Spain.
Must-visit destinations while in Santiago de Compostela are the following:
The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral: Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims make their way to this final destination on the Camino de Santiago every year. Its history and impressive facades are also a draw for local Spaniards. Originally begun in the early 11th century during the reign of Alfonso VI, the cathedral wasn’t actually finished until the early 12th century. In the ensuing decades, the cathedral has undergone many expansions. Today, its famous west-facing Baroque facade encompasses a cathedral that otherwise features primarily Romanesque interior and design. The two towers of the cathedral, were built in the 12th century and remain relatively close to the original towers in design but were modified in the 15th century.
You can purchase a ticket to tour the cathedral, museum, cloisters, and/or towers, or just the museum or even just a specific exhibit. Choose which ticket option suits your needs. Tickets range from 2 Euros to 25 Euros depending on what areas you choose to visit. A unique way to visit the Cathedral (my personal recommendation), is to take a night tour which allows you to see special areas, with a guide, and enjoy the cathedral and towers as they are all lit up.
Monastery of San Martiño Pinario: This monumental Benedictine monastery, adjacent to the cathedral, is one of the largest in Spain. It features a stunning church and an impressive cloister.
Parque de la Alameda: A picturesque park situated on a hill overlooking the city, offering panoramic views of Santiago de Compostela. It’s a great place to relax, take a leisurely stroll, or enjoy a picnic.
Mercado de Abastos: This is a traditional Spanish market like those you will find in cities throughout Spain, featuring produce, meats, fish, cheeses, and a litany of other food items from cured olives and peppers, olive oil, local wine, and farm fresh eggs to dried fruits and nuts. This mercado features both indoor and outdoor stalls and has pretty much everything you might need to cook a fantastic dinner at home or stock up on supplies for a picnic.
If you have a kitchen, I highly recommend purchasing fresh, locally caught fish, squid (I love chipirones!), mussels, and/or razor clams and cooking up a feast at home, with plenty of Albariño while in Galicia. The region is a mecca for amazing seafood!
San Francisco Convent and Church: This historic complex features a stunning church and a serene cloister. The church’s interior is particularly impressive, with beautiful religious art and sculptures.
Museo do Pobo Galego: This ethnographic museum offers insights into Galician culture and traditions. It exhibits traditional costumes, crafts, and artifacts, providing a deeper understanding of the region’s heritage.
Getting to Santiago de Compostela by Train
If you’re coming from a major city in northern Spain like Madrid, you can take a train to Santiago. Keep in mind that you will likely have to change trains and that the journey is a long one (7+hours) and that the tickets normally cost as much or more than an airline ticket (especially if you are booking at the last minute for a busy weekend). It’s advisable to book your ticket at least a couple of weeks in advance.
When it comes to traveling to Galicia from other parts of Spain, it’s often just as quick or faster to drive than to take a train and it costs less (in $, though of course 7 hours spent on a train is a lot better than 7 hours spent driving! :))
I’ve done the journey by car, train, and plane and I can say I certainly prefer the train out of the three options despite the length of the journey but that’s just my personal preference.
Flights to Santiago de Compostela Airport
Airlines such as Iberia, Lufthansa, and American Airlines have regular flights to Santiago de Compostela, among others. There are no direct flights from the U.S. currently, but from the U.K. (London) there are direct flight options on discount airlines such as RyanAir and Easy Jet as well as other airlines depending on the time of year and day of the week.
2. Beautiful Cities in Northern Spain: Pamplona
Located in a valley at the center of the region of Navarra, that links the mountains to the north and the Ebro Valley, Pamplona is the capital city of Navarra (which was once its own kingdom).
Made famous in the Western world by Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Rises (a part of the English class curriculum for millions of high school students in the United States, as well as many other places around the world, when I was high school age), Pamplona and it’s San Fermin Festival have captured the imagination of travelers all over the world for a century. The city’s tourism is still largely based on the fame it garnered in that novel and almost completely on its Running of the Bulls festival (San Fermin) held annually in July, though it also attracts tourists walking the Camino Frances route of the Camino de Santiago.
Allusions to Hemingway abound in this gorgeous, verdant, northern city–from signs proclaiming that Hemingway drank there (hint, he drank a LOT of places in Pamplona like most of the cities he spent time in) to guidebooks pointing travelers to hotels and restaurants that the author frequented.
Moving beyond Hemingway and Pamplona’s world-famous Running of the Bulls festival, there are plenty of reasons to visit this beautiful city–any time of year (except winter!).
Recommended sites and things to do in Pamplona
1. Explore Hemingway’s old haunts in and near Plaza del Castillo, such as Cafe Iruña
2. Do a pintxos crawl, making your way up and down the streets that surround the center. Try pintxo bars on San Nicolas and Estafeta streets, but also make sure to visit Bar Gaucho on Calle Espoz and Mina. My favorite way to do pintxos (similar to tapas but they are called pintxos in this part of Spain) in Basque Country and Navarra is to try a couple of things at each place. Insider tip: for the freshest tapas, order something off of a menu, rather than taking something that’s been sitting out under the counter. I especially love ordering seafood pintxos.
Also, make sure to try different wines from Navarra, Basque Country, and Rioja with your tapas. Typically, if you order a glass of red (tinto) from Navarra it will be young and juicy. Normally pintxo bars have Navarra or Rioja as options for red wine by-the-glass, and then a much longer list of wines by the bottle.
3. Explore the different parts of Pamplona by wandering and walking. The city has so many beautiful parks, buildings, archeological sites, and museums. Among the best places to take a scenic walk are around the historic fortress, walls, and citadel (you can take a walk around almost the entire city along the walls starting or ending at the epic Portal de Francia), through Parque Media Luna or Parque Yamaguchi, or in and around the Old Town including crossing the Puente de la Magdalena (a medieval bridge that connects with parts of the Old Town).
4. Hike a part of the Camino Frances from Pamplona. The Camino Frances route runs through Basque Country and Navarra, leading hikers to some of the most charming towns and villages in northern Spain including Pamplona which is the first major city that hikers reach on the Camino Frances, after Roncesvalles.
However, if you’re not doing the Camino thing, and find yourself in Pamplona you can still participate in the centuries-old tradition of becoming a pilgrim and walking a part of the Camino for a day or two just to get a sense of what the experience is like, and to explore the region from a completely different, and unique vantage point.
From Pamplona, you can walk a part of what is called the Geneva Way and hike to the utterly charming towns of Puente La Reina or Estella-Lizarra. The distance from Pamplona to Estella is a little over 30 miles and normally takes people a couple of days to complete. The route takes you through picturesque, green, verdant, mountainy, and hillside areas and past several charming villages/towns including Puente La Reina. Don’t feel like walking the entire way? You can stop in Puente La Reina and stay the night, or take the bus from there to Estella.
Getting to Pamplona
Like much of Basque Country, Pamplona isn’t as easy to get to by train as it should be. The reason for this is connected to the Basque region’s history in Spain which is too much to get into in this post. However, if you are coming from Madrid or Barcelona, you can definitely take a train to Pamplona, you may just need to change trains. And if you aren’t coming from a big, major city or from within Basque Country you may need to drive part of the way or take several different trains.
Madrid to Pamplona
From Madrid to Pamplona, the journey takes a little over three hours and there are normally direct routes (no train changes) available. The cost varies from $40 ish to well over $100 depending on how far in advance you book your ticket and a variety of other factors such as time of departure. Normally, you will spend somewhere between $50 and $60 each way.
Barcelona to Pamplona
From Barcelona to Madrid, the journey takes closer to four hours. There are direct trains but they book up in advance so if you don’t plan ahead you may end up having to take a train that requires a change mid-way (normally in Zaragoza).
3. Pontevedra
Pontevedra may be my favorite Galician city, even though it’s not on the coast. It’s much less crowded than Santiago de Compostela and has less of a university-town feel. It’s small, charming, and walkable and within close proximity to so many lovely towns and sites in Galicia, including the Rias Baixas wine region. Yet, it’s also big enough that you can find almost anything you need.
Some of my favorite sites and things to do in Pontevedra are the following:
–Walk across the Burgo Bridge, a 12th-century medieval bridge that has been built over an even older, Roman bridge (and updated/renovated in the 1950s to widen the bridge to facilitate two car lanes as well as sidewalks for pedestrians). This bridge has been the only crossing point across the Lerez River into Pontevedra for centuries and is on the Camino Portugese route. If you look between the arches on the bridge, you will see the iconic concha shells that mark all parts of the Camino de Santiago route.
-Have a coffee or drink at the cafe that faces the Ruínas de San Domingos. Enjoy the view of this 14th-century church and convent while sipping a cortado or cerveza.
-Head to the Praza da Ferrería to see the Capela da Peregrina (chapel of pilgrims or pilgrim chapel), a tall, cylindrical shaped chapel dedicated to the virgin saint that is said to watch over the pilgrims that travel through the city on their Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
Getting to Pontevedra, Spain
If you are traveling to Galicia from outside of Spain you will fly into Santiago de Compostela airport. From there, you can rent a car or take a train to Pontevedra. I recommend renting a car if you are planning to spend even a few days in Galicia. However, if you are just planning to visit Pontevedra and Santiago de Compostela, you can rely on public transportation as both of these cities are very walkable.
4. Salamanca
Home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, and a UNESCO world heritage site city center, Salamanca is situated in the Castilla y Leon region in the west of Spain.
Salamanca is one of the most charming cities in northern Spain because it so successfully straddles the line between feeling like an important, modern, metropolitan destination (due to the large University and student population) yet being at the same time, in reality, a small, idyllic, city full of gorgeous, 1000-2000-year-old historic buildings and structures, cobblestone streets, and intimate alleyways.
So, while the vibe here is buzzy, modern, and youthful, and there’s a dynamic dining and nightlife scene, the scenery here is more that of a small, jewel-like historic city than of a shiny, modern, metropolitan city.
There are so many beautiful, historic buildings and landmarks in Salamanca, including one of the oldest and most impressive universities in Western Europe (on par with the earliest founded universities such as Bologna, Oxford, and Paris), that you feel as if you are seeing the city much as someone might have in the 11th, 12th, or 16th century. From the Roman Bridge that stretches over the River Tormes to the 12th -cathedral to the 16th-century palaces and the many different University buildings, constructed in Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles between the 15th and 18th centuries.
While Salamanca isn’t the first city that tourists traveling to Spain think of as a ‘must see’ destination, being most often drawn first to Madrid and Barcelona and then to the famed cities of Andalucia (Seville, Granada, Cordoba..), it is what I consider to be one of the jewels of northern Spain and an absolute must-visit destination. Especially if you are going to be spending a decent amount of time in northern Spain, especially if you will be traveling in or out of Madrid.
How much time should you spend in Salamanca?
One could spend two full weeks here and never be bored, but if you are on a trip with limited time I recommend spending at least 36 hours in the city.
Traveling from Madrid to Salamanca
Most people who visit Salamanca, are coming from Madrid. Getting to Salamanca from Madrid is easy and fast by train. Simply look for a direct, high-speed train leaving from Madrid’s Chamartin station. The journey takes under 2 hours (normally about one hour and fortyish minutes), does not require any train changes (as long as you’ve booked a direct journey-always check your ticket details before you confirm), and only makes a few stops along the way.
5. Segovia
Segovia is one of the most popular cities in northern Spain to visit, especially for those visiting Madrid or living within a couple of hours of the region thanks to its impressive aqueducts and well-preserved historic old town center and delicious roast suckling pig tradition.
Must-see sights in Segovia include the Alcázar of Segovia, set on the top of a hill overlooking the entire city (some say this castle inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle), the Segovia Cathedral (a 16th-century Gothic-style Roman cathedral), the Jewish quarter, Plaza Mayor (the main square), San Esteban Church, and the Church of Vera Cruz (a UNESCO heritage site).
The medieval walls and gates (San Ciriaco Gate and the San Andrés Gate are well worth stopping to see) of the city are also a destination, offering visitors the ability to walk on top of the walls, around the city, enjoying panoramic views. And then, of course, there are the Roman aqueducts which are always within view.
In addition to the historic sites, Segovia’s iconic suckling pig dish is considered an important historic culinary tradition.
The dish, known as “cochinillo asado” in Spanish, can be traced back to ancient times when the Romans, who settled in the area, introduced the practice of roasting whole young pigs. Over the centuries, this culinary tradition was passed down and perfected by local cooks and chefs in Segovia.
Restaurants in Segovia that are renowned for their “cochinillo asado” include
Getting to Segovia from Madrid
Most people who visit Segovia, travel there from Madrid. You can get to Segovia from Madrid, easily by train or by bus.
Madrid to Segovia by Train
By train, it’s a short 30-minute ride that leaves from Madrid’s Chamartin station and costs between $16-$40 each way (though I’ve never had to pay more than $15-$16 as there are varying options you can choose based on what time you are leaving). Make sure to book a high-speed train. There are occasional slow trains (which cost more like $9 or $10 each way and take almost 2 hours. Don’t accidentally book one of these and waste 1/2 your day on the train!
If you choose to travel by train from Madrid to Segovia, just note that you will need to then catch a bus or taxi from the train station into the center of Segovia’s old town. The bus that connects to the train station comes every 20 or so minutes and costs about 2 Euros.
Madrid to Segovia by Bus
Traveling to Segovia from Madrid by bus is also easy. You can catch a bus to Segovia from Madrid’s Moncloa station (where most out-of-town buses leave from) and get to Segovia within an hour or a few minutes longer than an hour. The nice thing about taking the bus from Madrid instead of the train is that the bus will drop you off in the center of Segovia so you don’t have to take another bus or a taxi.