León or Burgos or Valladolid?

@Estarr, I would base myself in Valladolid. It's in the center of Northern Spain and is a medieval city. with plenty of accessible day trips to such towns like Segovia, Zamora, Leon, Salamanca, and Avila. It has an excellent public transportation system and may cost you less for accommodation than Burgos and Leon.

https://www.spain.info/en/destination/valladolid/

Take Burgos out of the running. The train station is WAYYYY outside of town with shoddy bus service to and from. We loved Burgos once we were there, but we would feel very marooned if we had to spend a week there.

As much as I loved Leon, I'd give the nod to Valladolid, which we also loved. Kind of a sleeper in my opinion. First, do Leon from there as a long trip with direct service. Also, good daytrips to Palencia (awesome place) Simancas, Tordesillas (highly recommend for the history lover), Medina del Campo, Zamora, and more. In the city is the National Museum of Sculpture, which is another blockbuster for the history aficionado. The food was great. And as for wine, it is Ribera del Duero country. The Douro is more famous in Portugal, but it produces damn good wine in Spain too and several of the towns I mentioned are along it.

Based on what you've written, I'd say it is a grand slam for Valladolid. Enjoy!

Because you plan on using public transportation only, I too will say Valladolid even though to me it has no must see sights. It is centrally located, but I wouldn’t want to spend a week there. León is also a good choice.

Tordesillas has the Convent of Santa Clara and was nice to visit. The town itself is small. If you like castles there are a number in that area, in Peñafiel (has an on-site wine museum), Medina Del Campo, Cuellar, Portillo, Ampudia, Montealegre de Campos, Arévalo, and my favorite, Coca.

León has a nice cathedral, a Gaudi building, and the Museo de San Isidoro. The latter has some fantastic medieval art. If you decide to stay in León look at the Parador de León beside the Convent of San Marcos as a possible place to stay. It’s a half mile from the train station. When we stayed there it had free parking (if you had a rental car). If you happen to have seen the movie “The Way” it was in it.

Near León is a castle at Valencia de Don Juan. Astorga has a cathedral (I wasn’t impressed by it) and the Palacio de Gaudí Astorga. Between León and Astorga is Hospital de Órbigo. It has a nice old bridge. The route between Burgos, León, Hospital de Órbigo, Astorga is on the Camino de Santiago so you’ll see a lot of pilgrims.

Burgos has a beautiful cathedral. A few kilometers outside of town is the Cartuja de Miraflores. One can walk to it if so inclined.

If you’re a fan of Teresa of Ávila there’s a church where her house used to be in Ávila, but her remains and the relics of others are in a church in Alba de Tormes outside of Salamanca.

Because there are so many lesser sites and small towns outside of the three cities you mentioned, to me, this area of the country is best seen with a rental car.

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! Such a big help! I am staying in Valladolid and Air B&B is booked! I also see on Renfe that it is easy to take a train for daytrips to Burgos, León and Ávila (which I have wanted to go to for years). I'll just take a taxi from the station into town in Burgos--thanks for that tip that the station is out of town! And who knows, I may rent a car for the day once I do some research on all those towns that some of you mentioned!

I'll just take a taxi from the station into town in Burgos

Be aware that even the taxis are in short supply at the Burgos train station. AND locals know it. The stampede you'll see will be for the handful of taxis actually waiting at the stand. Strap on your Nikes and be prepared to join the scrum! (I'm only exaggerating a little bit; do push yourself to the front of the pack if you don't want to wait...)

Separately I think you've made a great choice with Valladolid. Enjoy the stay!

😁 Forewarned is forearmed! Thank you again!

Maybe I'll just do the car rental thing for Burgos. We shall see...Or I will book an Uber, or Lyft, or. ?????? whatever they might have in Burgos????

I would choose Burgos over Leon. More things to see and there are some nice little towns nearby. Leon is like a party city and less enjoyable to me. Though the windows in the cathedral are stunning, the Burgos Cathedral needs multiple hours to see.
The buses in Spain are nicer and you can use those rather than the trains and the bus station is near the old town. Head over to Castrojeriz, the San Anton ruins, Atepeurca for some suggested day trips. The Evolution museum in Burgos is fantastic and needs almost a full day.

Thank yo Ms. Jo.
I looked at the ALSA bus schedule and it seems that the earliest bus from Valladolid is at 11:30 and takes 2 hours and then the last return is about 3:00...Perhaps there is another bus company? I'll certainly check at the tourist office there (Hopefully it's open in March! I looked at car rental and being myself it would be more expensive than I would like so I probably won't be doing that. SO much to see! I've been to Spain probably about 10 times now and seen many parts of it but never in the north so I'm really looking forward to my trip. Without a car I won't see all the lovely little villages but, there's always next time...I'll see different things! Definitely want to get to Burgos and León (very easy by train except for the need to don Nikes in Burgos to get one of the few taxis. A friend is learning Roller Derby---maybe I can get some pointers from her! 😁)....And if I don't get to León, oh well, there's always next time.

I will DEFINITELY go to Ávila!

If it helps, here's my trip report from last year including what we did in Burgos, as well as some of the other towns.

This is fantastic "History Traveler"! Thank you so much! I shall be in Hondarribia, (staying in the 15thc Charles V castle Parador there) then basing myself in San Sebastián for 11 days, then Valladolid (thanks to this forum), then to Pamplona, and meeting up with a friend and driving to Olite (and staying in the Parador there), then up to Bayonne, Biarritz, St. Jean de Luz, for the weekend and driving through French Basque villages (Espellette, St Jean-Pied-de-Port etc) on the way back to Pamplona and then staying there a week for a Spanish Immersion course for a week.

Can't wait! I see your other reports about the Basque Country too so I shall be reading all! (What a nightmare at the Burgos train station, and unfortunately you're not talking about 5 or 10 years ago!).

You should enjoy the Parador in Olite. As an fyi, it is inside a restricted driving area. You can drive in to drop off your bags, but need to leave within 30 minutes to avoid getting a ticket. You enter through the Puerta de Tafalla (where a camera will note the time you enter) and the Parador is just up the street. When you leave the camera notes your departure time. Parking is free and in a lot in front of Convento de San Francisco, along the NA-5303. It’s about a 5 min walk from the Parador. The lot does fill up.

For us, the main site in town was the Royal Palace of Olite. The majority is a reconstruction but it is stunning. If you want to do wine tastings, we went to two right in town; Bodegas Vega del Castillo and Bodega Cosecheros de Olite.

jaimeelsabio, Thank you so much for all this great information!. Parking noted for the Parador! And the wine tastings sound perfect!

I have never written in this forum before. What a wonderful surprise. People are so helpful!

By the way, for anyone interested in the Basque Country, I'm reading a wonderful book by Mark Kurlansky entitled "The Basque History of the World". Very engaging and fascinating! Well worth reading before a visit!

I have stayed at both Burgos and Valladolid. The former is more charming but the later is less touristy and therefore better restaurants catering to locals.

Wow, 11 days in Donostia-San Sebastian, any particular interests there? It´s a small city, are you taking day trips from there? It seems a lot of time for D-SS.

Hi,
Yes I know 11 days is a LONG time for DSS and that was not my original plan, but Jan 4, (despite being fully vaccinated) I was struck with a horrendous case of shingles on my face and scalp. I have never, ever experienced (and am still experiencing) such pain in my life! Two ER visits later, multiple appointment with the opthalmologist, many meds later, and continuing, I am finally turning a corner I believe (and I'd lose SO much money, points, e-credits etc if I cancel my flight or change it), that I'm continuing with my trip now I'm finally turning a corner health wise...I have a couple more weeks!🤞.

Anyway, because of all this I've made my trip MUCH simpler so I can rest as needed and take things slowly--not so much travelling around--but why not do it in Spain, rather than slushy snowy, cold Canada? So with the exception of the lovely Parador in Hondarribia for a couple of nights, it's 11 days in DSS, 7 in Valladolid, then a week in Pamplona doing a Spanish Immersion course for which I hope to be experiencing even less pain and feel much better by then.

I choice DSS because it's a lovely small city, and yes, I'll be able to do daytrips from there as I feel able and even multiple daytrips to the same place, like Bilbao to do them more justice (e.g., the Guggenheim alone might be enough for me one day). the same with Valladolid. I'm so grateful for all the comments here that have helped me make THAT decision--mor central, good links and possibilities for day trips from there.

So only time for positive thoughts of healing now and I AM going 😁. AS they say in Spanish ¡Venga! ¡A por ello!