Salamanca Resources
These resources are meant as friendly tips about Salamanca from one traveller to another, and are in no shape or form to be seen as expert advice.
They include information about how we got to Salamanca, where we stayed, maps of what we did and a few links to web sites with useful information about Salamanca.
Please note: You are free to download and use these resources for your private use only and at your own risk. While we take great care that the information on this site is correct and appropriate at the time of writing, we accept no responsibility for the result of how, where and when the information is used, nor for the result of using the information on any particular device.
Please do leave a comment if you have any questions or updates to the information below.
How did you get there?
We went from Madrid to Salamanca by bus.
The company Auto-Res runs a regular and an express service from the Conde de Casal bus station (la estación de Autobuses de Conde de Casal) on Calle Fernández Shaw, 1. You can get to Conde de Casal on the Metro, line 6. The metro station and the bus station are not directly connected, so on exit (Calle Doctor Esquerdo) from the metro station turn left and cross the Avenida Del Mediterráneo, to your right you should then see Calle Fernández Shaw and the bus station with the Auto-Res sign.
The bus station in Salamanca is at Avenida Filiberto Villalobos, 71. There were plenty of taxis there when we arrived, but we chose to walk. Turn right on exit for the centre of Salamanca. See the map under Where did you stay for more details.
We paid 16 Euros for a single on the express going to Salamanca, but chose the regular service going back to Madrid at 10.90 Euros/single. Both journeys took about 2 and a half hours on very comfortable buses.
Where did you stay?
We stayed at the Ibis at Calle la Marina between Calle de Otumba and Calle la Albuera. The room was very basic, but clean and very cheap. The staff were friendly and helpful. Unusual for a hotel in that price range, the Ibis in Salamanca is also in a good location, a 10-15 minute stroll from Plaza Major. We were also able to walk from the bus station to the hotel, both pulling a 10 kg suitcase. It is a bit of a walk, but I enjoy getting my first impression of a place on foot as opposed to in a taxi.
Below is a map of the route we took, which took us about 25-30 minutes. Use the zoom and directional buttons to navigate the map. Click on the red points to view more information.
The only real negative point I can make about the Ibis in Salamanca is that you need to check the bill. They had automatically added a daily charge of 6 Euros per person, and it was down to us to tell them that we had not had any breakfast at the hotel. They had also by mistake charged us 7 Euros for parking, and we had to tell them that we did not have a car and had come by bus. So initially our bill was 43 Euros more than it should be, which they quickly corrected without any fuss, but only because we brought it to their attention.
Because we hadn’t pre-booked we ended up staying in quite a few Ibis hotels during our two weeks in Spain, and let me tell you apart from the one in Salamanca, none of them were anywhere near the centre of anything. Also once you have seen one Ibis, you have seen them all in Spain. They all look the same, down to the colour of the lamps. While most of them were clean and staff were friendly, they are just too basic and in such poor locations that I am not going to stay at another Ibis for a very long time, if I can help it.
What did you do?
Our reasons for visiting Salamanca were two-fold. It was on our list of places we potentially might want to move to, so while we were doing all the things any other visitor would do, we were also paying extra attention to things like atmosphere, the locals’ attitude towards foreigners, if the locals were easy to talk to, prices of accommmodation, etc..
We visited some of the attractions in Salamanca, but by no means all, and spent a lot of time just walking around the place or hanging out in a plaza getting a feel for the place.
The map below shows some of the places we visited. Use the zoom and directional buttons to navigate the map. Click on the red points to view more information.
How did you get around?
We walked everywhere, from start to finish. Salamanca is very easy and safe to visit on foot.
Where and what did you eat?
We didn’t leave Salamanca with any favourite restaurant or tapas place. You’ll find quite a few places to eat between Plaza Major and the river. While we knew from previous experience that the Spanish tend to have dinner much later than say in Northern Europe, we had a bit of a struggle finding out who was open when and for what in Salamanca. We didn’t experience this elsewhere in Spain during this visit or any of our previous visits.
Where did you find information?
When we were in Salamanca we got most of our information from our trusted Lonely Planet – Spain guide.
We had done most of our research though before our visit to Salamanca via these excellent web sites:
Salamanca.com – (in Spanish). This site offers an “Hoy en Salamanca” section with an amazing list of what is happening right now in Salamanca, as well as a detailed list of the events in various festivals, photos of Salamanca and other general information about the town. Had I known that Salamanca’s Fiesta de la Cerveza 2006 runs from 28 September till 15 October before I booked my flight, I would have postponed my trip till then.
Turismo Salamanca – (in Chinese, English, Portuguese and Spanish). This site delivers most of the information you need to plan a visit to Salamanca, including general information about Salamanca, its attractions, how to get there, where to stay and a calendar of events. It even offers information you can download to your pda, something I’m hoping to be able to offer on this site soon.
Aboutsalamanca.com – (in English) apart from a brief description of Salamanca and its history this site also offers easy to follow walking intineraries including maps, which take you to some of the main attractions Salamanca has to offer.
What can I download?
Directional cue cards
These pocket-sized cards are designed for you to print and use for directions from A to B in situations where for whatever reason you don’t feel like bringing out a detailed map.
They are provided as jpgs in order to make it easy for you to download and insert in your favourite text-editor. I suggest you insert more than one cue card before you print your document. This way you save paper, but can still cut each individual cue card to whichever size suits you.
Salamanca bus station to Hotel Ibis (via Plaza Major) – with background image
Salamanca bus station to Hotel Ibis (via Plaza Major) – without background image
Madrid Conde de Casal metro station to bus station – with background image
Madrid Conde de Casal metro station to bus station – without background image
You may also be interested in
In Search of Peace in festival-hungover Salamanca is an article about our visit to Salamanca in September 2006.
Photographs from Salamanca, Spain is a series of some of our photographs from Salamanca.
How can I help?
If you have any further information or updates to the above information, please do help other visitors to Salamanca by leaving a comment in the “leave a reply” box below.
Feel free to also leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions about resources you would like to see on this page, or indeed any other comments about the above resources. We would really appreciate the feedback and are more than happy to help out in any way we can.
6 Responses to “Salamanca Resources”
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Thank you so much for this information (you gave me your link on the BBC holidays messageboard). It is very useful, especially your description on how to get there. I think I will choose Salamanca now! Thank you again.
My pleasure, Ali. Enjoy Spain!
Your article was great. Would you be able to recommend the nicest/easiest drive to a coastal town from Salamanca?
I will be in Salamanca, but want to extend my vacation with 3-4 days to a coastal town with nice beaches. Where would you recommend , that we could get to easily by car in one day?
Thank you for your kind words Beth.
Unfortunately, I am not able to give you any personal recommendations, as I didn’t visit any coastal towns near Salamanca.
Looking at a map though I would have thought that driving across to Portugal would be your best option.
If you want to stay in Spain, Santander and Gijón should be within relatively easy reach as well (my guess would be 3 to 4 hours by car?).
Like I said I have not been to any of these places, so I can’t really recommend any. But Erin who lives in Salamanca might be able to recommend a few places. If you leave a comment on her blog (see View of a Local in Salamanca, Spain), I’m sure she’ll get back to you. If you choose to go to Portugal try to contact Helena Monteiro (see View of a Local i Lisbon, Portugal). She lives in Lisbon, but I’m sure she’ll be able to give you some advice about other places in Portugal. Even if she can’t, her blog is worth a visit for her beautiful sketches of Portugal alone.
Sorry, I can’t be of more help, but I hope you have a fantastic trip. Do let me know what you think of Salamanca once you get back.
My boyfriend is keen to visit Salamanca as he’s reading Sharp novels! We were wondering about visiting around Easter (2008) as I believe there are a number of festivals/festivities then. Please can you give me your opinion on whether this a good time to visit and how can I find out which events are on where? Are there any places nearby which are really worth a visit? Thank you. Mel
Sharpe’s Sword? You’re right, Easter celebrations are big in Spain, and while I have yet to experience the celebrations in Salamanca, I believe the processions there are popular.
The official site for the Semana Santa celebrations in Salamanca is this one, I believe: http://www.semanasantasalamanca.com, but I don’t see any program for 2008 there yet.
So I’m afraid, I can’t really be of much help regarding Easter in Salamanca. However, Erin (interviewed in View of a Local in Salamanca), who blogs at a wandering woman writes from Spain and lives in Salamanca, might be able to answer your questions.
Sorry, I can’t help you, but I hope you enjoy your trip to Salamanca.