Cities similar to Oviedo/Santiago de Compostela

Cuenca, Toledo, Segovia,Salamanca, Toledo, Avila,
I do not consider Madrid hectic, actually much more laid back than, for example, New York or Chicago but I love cities.

We enjoyed Zamora, Leon, and Burgos. Of those, Burgos probably gets the most tourists (but not day trippers) while Zamora is the most relaxed and the smallest of the three. Burgos has an impressive cathedral and overlook for viewing the city. Salamanca is very nice, college town, and gets its fair share of tourists. Of the places mentioned, Burgos wins, followed closely by Leon. We stayed at the Abba Burgos hotel about a 5 minutes walk from the cathedral and 10 minutes to the castle and overlook.
Since the Camino de Santiago runs through both Leon and Burgos, you will see many pilgrims/peregrinos in each.

Edited: Segovia and Toledo are loaded with day trippers, but nice and quiet in the evenings. Toledo has enough sites for 2, maybe 3 days, but not Segovia. Cuenca too, is only worth 2 days at most. (Just my opinion)

Thanks, Suki, for your super quick reply. I see Rick's book has listed some of these such as Toledo and Segovia for day trips. Are there enough things to do for a few 3-4 nights/days? Usually, I am ok with cities, but for this trip, I just want to relax as much as possible. I would like to soak in the environment, look at beautiful architecture, and enjoy great food.

Thank you, Jaime. It's good to know that there is a direct bus from Madrid's Barajas airport to Burgos. I will definitely check it out. It's on the Camino and I should have thought about this.

We enjoyed 4 nights in Madrid and loved the city vibe. We loved the museums, esp. Reina Sofía, Park Retiro, Royal Palace, Mercado San Miguel, We tend to mix cities with small towns on our journeys. That said, we also had a positive experience in Toledo. We took the train early and spent most of the day there. If we were to do it again we would go later in the day and spend the night when the crowds have disappeared.

Toledo would be my choice or Segovia. However, Madrid while fast paced is not as hectic as London/Paris/Rome or NYC. As a single woman, I thought it was manageable depending on where you stay and unfortunately even in towns like Segovia and Toledo you might be pickpocketed. I would spend some time in Madrid. Yes, there is nightlife and it can be hectic but I loved it and thought it had a nicer pace than some other big cities.

For “Cities similar to Oviedo/Santiago de Compostela”, I would highly recommend A Coruña.

Have really liked Burgos the 2 times I was there. There is plenty to see and do, with a lively atmosphere from the many Camino pilgrims. Great tapas, beautiful cathedral, and the Museum of Evolution is fantastic. I enjoyed Leon too, but Burgos was better. Maybe both?

Albarracin!

I would say that Zaragoza fits the bill nicely, like Oviedo, it is the regional capital of one of the lesser visited regions, it's manageable, and has a nice Tapas/Bar area called El Tubo. Zaragoza also has great Churches, extensive Roman Ruins, and an 11th century Moorish Palace, nicknamed "the mini Alhambra". One can get to Zaragoza via a 1:45 hr AVE Train north from Madrid or west from Barcelona.

However, I would argue that cities like Barcelona and Madrid definitely have vibrant "real" local communities, just walk a few blocks outside of the main tourist hot-spots and you will find us :)

Logroño. Less people than Oviedo, but more than Santiago.

Depending on the time of the year it is beautiful, always safe, only crowds are on Calle Laurel Friday and Saturday nights, and a real living, breathing and functioning community. Most day trippers are pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The other day trippers stay in Logroño and then make day trips to the wineries or some of the towns in La Rioja (Haro, Najera, Sto Domingo, San Millan). Most of the restaurants will be only locals, except maybe in the mentioned calle Laurel or Calle San Juan.
There is a bus from the T4 at Barajas to Logroño.

I've been to just about all the places mentioned except Logrono and Albarracin. I only have a few cautions:

• Zaragoza can be shockingly hot in the summer.

• Albarracin is a challenge to get to without a car. There's one bus per day from Teruel, which isn't exactly a piece of cake to reach itself.

• Avila, in my view, isn't much more than a wall. I can't imagine spending even one night there. It's the one mentioned place I have a hard time recommending under any circumstances because I think Spain has so many more interesting options.

I also liked Alcala de Henares, an old university town near Madrid.

I'd recommend Cordoba (great access via the AVE trains), but you said you want to hold off on Andalucia.

Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions. I actually will be going in May, and so hopefully the weather is milder. Last year, I went in early September to Galicia and Asturias, and just transited in Madrid, where the temperature at night was 40C (104F !!). So, since I am going before central Spain becomes a furnace, I should go to places that are "too hot to visit" in summer time. Are the cities mentioned pretty much all like that?

I won't have a car and thus will rely on public transit. However, I like walking most of the time. Which of these cities are the least walkable?

BTW, I am going to Menorca with my spouse this mid-Sept. I also have one single award ticket from Bilbao to Madrid. I don't have to use it, but I chose Bilbao because its milder summer. All flights are on Iberia and therefore will transit via Madrid.

I loved Bilbao and have recommended it often on this forum, but it's one place that would not be miserably hot in the summer. It tends to be cloudy and overcast even in July and August.

We just ended a 3 night stay in Zaragoza, and liked it very much. To add to what Carlos said, it's flat; and most of what you will want to do and see is in a fairly concentrated area. Tha Aljaferia Palace is easily reachable by public transport.

Hola,
Immediately to the north of Oviedo is Gijon. Another lightly touristed spot. From the moment I left Barcelona headed north I was out of tourist country. The entire Pyrennes was empty. And the across the north coast of Spain was pretty lonely.

I loved it.

Madrid and pick pockets...keep your money, cards and ID in a Rick Steves money belt under your clothes. Safe and sound. Only keep 20 or 30 € in a pocket for dayly spending.

With the belt you can ignore the thoughts of losing important stuff.

Wayner iNWI

Leon, Burgos, Zamora, Valladolid.

Thanks again, for all your advice. None of the cities mentioned are in impoverished and crime-ridden parts of Spain (akin to, say, Naples of Italy, Marseille of France, and North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany), correct? I don't know much about Spanish current affairs or its economy. While I fully understand that there's no place in the world that's crime-free, I would like to avoid problematic places.

I have a total of 8 full days to spend my time on. I guess I will travel to 2-3 cities to minimize transit time and the hassle of checking-in and out of hotels. All the cities sound interesting. It's going to be a hard decision! Spain is such a beautiful country!!

Hi, I think that your worries can be laid to rest, I don't know of any city in Spain that I would consider "impoverished and crime ridden" and I'm from there!

I just think of another factor: which of the above cities/towns have major on-going renovations of its monuments? I want to photograph beautiful churches and palaces, not construction cranes and scaffolding.

When I was in Barcelona, Sagrada Familia was half covered with scaffolding and there was a crane in the background. Very disappointing.

When I was in Barcelona, Sagrada Familia was half covered with scaffolding and there was a crane in the background. Very disappointing.

@Barkinpark - la Sagrada Familia has always been covered with scaffolding/cranes for the past 100 years, it's an ongoing construction started by people who know that they will never see it complete, that is one of the things that makes it unique.

In the end, one has to realise that our churches/monuments/castles are old (some very old), proper maintenance and renovations are key for us to preserve them for our future generations. I just pray that what has happened in Paris today does not happen to us too :(

I agree that nowadays every major landmark has some renovation work done to it. We went to the Hagia Sofia when the interior was half covered in scaffolding. While it was not the great pictures we had hoped for the building is almost 900 years old and old buildings constantly need repairs.

Come to SG take pictures and enjoy seeing it built. It's probably the only European basilica that one can see being constructed nowadays.

As Carlos stated, the Sagrada Familia has always been covered in scaffolding. I know it was when I first saw it in 1980. Also, having visited Spain multiple times and lived there for a few years, I’ve never seen a crime-ridden or impoverished area like you’re probably thinking of. Use, and listen to, your intuition. If you start not feeling safe or uneasy in an area, go to an area where you feel safe.

I looked at a few places in Burgos that are main tourist sites, and there is a small area of scaffolding on the backside of the cathedral. One building in the Plaza Mayor and one in the plaza in front of the cathedral seem to be having some work done. I didn’t notice any other work on Google maps; and it was 2019.

To everybody: Gracias for all your wonderful recommendations.

Jaime, Ms Jo, and Archimedes: when you mean Burgos, do you mainly mean Burgos city or the whole area? I did some random Google searches and found many majestic places such as Frias or by the Erbo river. However, traveling to these places seem to require a car. Did you venture to these places too?

I mean Burgos city. I walked there as part of the Camino the first time, and 2nd time took a bus from Puente La Reina. For Leon, took a train from Palancia, which also has a lovely cathedral which seems to attract 100's of storks. Santo Domingo has an interesting cathedral, with live chickens in it.
You can bus or train to all of these cities very easily.

I was referring to the city, I thought that was what you were asking for. We did have a car and were coming from near Pamplona (Sos del Rey Católico) but didn't stop in any of the surrounding area.

Great thread. @Carlos thought the same thing about La Sagrada Familia. After Paris tragedy, Don't want to even think of it. :(

Hola to all:

I just returned to the US last night. Had a wonderful trip in S. Poland, Brno, N. Portugal, and central Spain for a month. In Spain, I stayed in Burgos, Valladolid, and Madrid. My itinerary kept changing until the very last minute. For example, my heart was set for Logrono (after Burgos), which was highly recommended to me by David. However, due to difficult logistics, I have to save it for my next trip with a rental car. (Anyway, my heads off to him for giving me so much help and guidance!)

Burgos: very cute with a decent-sized old town. The vast majority of tourists were pilgrims for the camino. The Mirador is a must-go to get a panoramic view of the city. Valladolid is nice but not as charming as Burgos, but much less touristy. The pinchos were even better, too. I couldn't believe that I could eat that well for such reasonable prices.

About Madrid: I was apprehensive about major cities, but was relieved to find it less hectic and far cleaner & safer than Berlin, Rome, and Paris. I happily did a ton of apparel shopping, even though I had to swallow my pride in upsizing to XL or XXL from M/L (per Rick's suggestion about clothing hunting in Europe for Americans). I did hear a lot more English in Madrid than in Burgos and Valladolid combined.

The weather was mostly ok, with a few days of light rain. The temp was over 90F in Madrid, but it didn't feel stifling. In fact, 90F in Madrid was more bearable than 90F in where I live. So, now, my homework is going to be done on where to go in Spain in the first week of Sept 2019 (will spend second week in Menorca). By then, the weather will be much hotter.

Muchos Garcias to all of you. Happy travels!