At the gates of the bridge and you still haven't decided where to spend the next few days? This year, December gives us the opportunity to enjoy a succulent Christmas holiday appetizer. Five days - three for those who stick to the work calendar - that allow you to organize a getaway without it involving a great financial waste. From single day outings to short trips close to home, the opportunities are endless.
Many Spaniards opt for a rural getaway during these dates. According to sources from the accommodation platform Escapadarural.com, occupancy figures in some cases reach up to 78%, with the province of Huelva in the lead. As far as autonomous communities are concerned, Murcia is the one with the highest demand, with 67%, followed by Navarra (66%), Andalusia (62%), Aragon (61%), the Canary Islands (60%), Madrid (59%). %), Castilla y León (57%), Extremadura (57%), Catalunya (56%), and Castilla La-Mancha (55%). This means that, at this point, those who opt for this type of tourism still have a considerable offer within their reach.
Spain treasures landscapes and corners of great natural beauty and thousands of towns and cities in which to get lost and some of them are very close to home. As inspiration, we propose short getaways and small routes that will push you to leave the house. Happy bridge!
Less known than Haro, but equally surprising, Briones is a tiny town with less than 800 inhabitants located 35 kilometers from Logroño, on the Rioja Alta wine route. The town, which has a wine-growing tradition that dates back to the times of the Reconquista, preserves a medieval urban layout of cobblestone streets dotted with buildings of interest, which have earned it recognition as a historic-artistic complex. Mansions and palaces, such as those of the Marquis of San Nicolás - known as the Enchanted House -, which today houses an ethnographic museum, or the Quincoces; The majestic church of the Asunción, or the hermitage of Santo Cristo de los Remedios are part of an enviable architectural heritage.
It would be unthinkable for you to visit La Rioja and not taste its wines. Briones has wineries with a long tradition such as Zurbal, Daniel Puras or Bodegas Castillo Alonso and other younger ones such as Miguel Merino or Erre que Erre, which produces carbonic maceration wines. One of the most typical places to try them is one of the places under the arches of the old abbey in the Plaza de España. The local wineries also offer interesting wine tourism proposals, which include visits, tastings, walks among vineyards, and even a museum of wine culture, at the headquarters of Dinastía Vivanco, listed as the best in the world of its kind.
In Altea you can breathe tranquility and a certain bohemian air, perhaps what once captivated Pepa Flores - then known as Marisol - and the dancer Antonio Gades, when they decided to take up residence in this Mediterranean town, located 60 kilometers from Alicante. . Almost half a century has passed and it continues to be a picturesque town of cobblestone streets and whitewashed houses from whose roofs the original tiled domes of the church of Nuestra Señora del Consuelo stand out.
Its mild temperature is an invitation to disconnect and get to know it in these December days, walking by the sea or through an old town, full of craft shops and small restaurants. Come to the church, the Discalced Carmelites monastery, the Galera and Bellaguarda towers or the Palau, a cultural landmark. A visit to Altea requires trying arròs amb fessols or arròs amb fessols i polp, rice with beans with or without octopus, which has traditionally been cooked locally. You will have no problem finding where to eat it, there are numerous restaurants where they prepare them.
When at the beginning of the year Oviedo takes over from Cuenca as the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy, the Asturian city will be filled with lovers of good food willing to enjoy local cuisine. For this reason we propose to anticipate and savor it in restaurants and cider houses, without filters, and with the tranquility that this time of year provides. It is essential to taste typical dishes such as the traditional fabada - the star dish of the principality -, the scorpionfish pie, the cachopo, the carne gobernada, its exquisite seafood, the Cabrales cheese, the carbayones - puff pastry sweets filled with almonds -, the croutons, and, of course, the cider.
But beyond the palate, the truth is that the old Vetusta falls in love. Walking around the cathedral, Plaza de la Constitución or Calleja de los Huevos allows you to soak up an enveloping and welcoming atmosphere. You will discover that it hides curiosities such as its original sculptures scattered throughout the capital. In total there are 32 figures that pay tribute to the most diverse popular characters or details, from Woody Allen to Mafalda, including La bullfighter, Rufus El Perro Callejero or Culis monumentalibus. If Oviedo is not close by, you can plan a more complete tour of several days along the Costa Verde, from Castropol to Ribadedeva, between beaches, cliffs and small fishing villages.
You like the cold? If what you are looking for is an almost winter getaway surrounded by nature, this proposal will interest you. Beget is a tiny medieval town of around twenty inhabitants located between Alta Garrotxa and the first slopes of the Pyrenees, 75 kilometers from Girona and twice as far -150 km- from Barcelona. Despite its access, through a narrow winding road, it is worth it. And it is this difficulty that has kept it away from the crowds, being today one of the most beautiful and authentic towns in Catalonia.
It is made up of a group of stone houses that still retain their original appearance. It has a Romanesque church, Sant Cristòfol, with a four-story bell tower that reaches 22 meters high, and two bridges that cross the town, which seem to be taken from a story. Its surroundings are equally delightful, with towns such as Camprodon, a historic summer resort of the Catalan bourgeoisie, which preserves numerous modernist towers.
It appears regularly in the lists of the most beautiful towns in Spain and there are no shortage of reasons for this, but the person who has catapulted it as one of the best tourist towns in the world has been the World Tourism Organization. The organization, dependent on the United Nations, has awarded it the Best Tourism Villages seal of 2023 this fall, a recognition that only 54 rural tourist destinations around the planet have accessed.
The postcard of Sigüenza, separated by just 70 kilometers from Guadalajara, is that of an imposing castle installed in an Arab citadel - today a tourist hostel -, an impressive Gothic cathedral, and a Plaza Mayor overflowing with historical buildings. Declared a historical-artistic complex, the medieval city, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Baroque, and the neoclassical coexist in it. The town is also a first-rate gastronomic destination. In addition to traditional La Mancha delicacies, with dishes such as migas seguntinas, roasts or Castilian soup, Sigüenza, you will find two Michelin-starred restaurants, El Doncel and El Molino de Alcuneza, making this town just over four a thousand souls in a destination for a first-class getaway.
Walking through the streets of Olivenza, one might believe that they are in a town in Portugal. Its perception would not be without a certain reason, since the proximity of this town of white houses located half an hour from Badajoz to the Portuguese border and the conflicts that have arisen throughout history are reflected in its buildings, its gastronomy, and even in the character of those who inhabit it. Even today, many of the streets preserve tiles with their names, also in Portuguese.
Surrounded by a beautiful landscape of olive groves and holm oaks, and just ten kilometers from the Guadiana River, Olivenza has an architectural heritage that is worth a visit. Its walled enclosure, its churches - that of Santa María del Castillo and Santa María Magdalena - or the palace of the Dukes of Cadaval, which today houses the Town Hall, will surprise you with its beauty. Take the opportunity to sit at a table in one of its restaurants and savor its unique Extremeño-Alentejo cuisine typical of the life of shepherds and farm workers. Try their migas, soups, such as tomato soup, pork sausages and their delicious pastries, with the gañotes, the perronillas or the pestiños,
Are you looking for a romantic getaway, a place where time seems to have stopped? The answer is Conques, a tiny town almost unknown to the French themselves that seems straight out of a fairy tale. And this tiny medieval town in Aveyron with steep streets and cobbled houses is ideal for recovering calm and recharging your batteries.
Walking through its streets and exploring the surroundings, discovering the landscapes of the Massif Central or cities like Rodez or Montauban, without rushing, is a real delight. The cherry on top: staying in one of its small establishments - hostels and rural houses - full of charm. Rodez is located a couple of hours from Montpellier and Toulouse, and about 350 kilometers from the Spanish border, a distance that should not be an obstacle when living such a special experience.
