Avila Suggestions

We stayed overnight at the Parador in Avila and recommend it.

We are going to Avila ourselves in October for the day from Madrid. After researching, we will leave early from Madrid and return mid afternoon as the town is small and does not warrant a full day.

By staying overnight, you will see the medieval walls lighted. We drove there after landing in Madrid, a nice place dor our first night.

Thanks for the suggestions.
For those who stayed overnight would you recommend one night or two?
Seeing they are famous for chuleton steak.
Any recommendations where to have it?

To me Avila is a few hours stop at most. If you arrive there around mid-day, then one night should be more than enough. If you arrive later in the day and don’t get to sightsee, or, if you just want to relax, then two nights. If you wanted to use it as a base and enjoy castles, there are a number in the area, in Arevalo, Coca, Medina del Campo, Ceullar, and Portillo. Tordesillas has a nice convent, but there’s not much to the town. While in Avila, ensure you make it over to Cuatro Postes (across the river) From there, you get a great view of the town and its walls.

For hotels, Paradors are always nice. If you join its program (free) then you’ll get free breakfast with your first stay and a free drink upon arrival at any Parador you stay at. Other than at a few in very popular tourist destinations (e.g., Granada, Santiago de Compostela) Parador prices are comparable to other hotels in their area. http://www.parador.es/en. The one in Avila is right by the historic center and the wall.

Truly, there doesn't seem much to do in Avila by comparison to Toledo, Segovia, Cuenca, Salamanca... (I could go on). There's no way I'd want to spent two nights there. I am a slow traveler, but I went to Avila on a day-trip and was happy to leave after about two hours.

We were in Avila a few hours and it was the least interesting place we stopped on 2 week trip. Our lunch was disappointing, but there wasn’t much choice of anything that looked very good.

we have friends who live in avila and it's a lovely little place! but, without a personal connection i'm not sure i'd be able to fill more than a day there. however, if you want a place to relax and enjoy spanish life in the middle of a packed travel schedule, it's a great spot for a pause.

we loved this hotel: https://www.agoda.com/hostal-el-rastro/hotel/all/avila-es.html

Thanks for the suggestions. My husband wants to see the walled city. Booked for 2 nights Hotel Palacio de los Velada as we will get there midday first day. Any suggestions for Chuleton de Avila? Hoping it’s beef steak. Also breakfast and lunch spots. Casual and local.

The hotel looks nice and has good reviews. It appears the chuleton can be either beef (res) or ox (buey). I found a Reataurante el Rancho that has mainly very good or excellent reviews on TripAdvisor. My guess is that most restaurants will have it on their menus.