In which quarter house in Salamanca?

Visit Salamanca, a UNESCO-registered open-air museum? This is our guide to the best areas to stay in Salamanca!

The capital of the province of the same name to the west of Castile-and-Léon in Spain, Salamanca is a monumental open-air museum concentrating many tourist sites (public places, religious buildings, palaces and museums) some of which date back to the Roman Antiquity. Salamanca was in fact from Antiquity an important exchange center, a junction of one of the greatest Roman and famous routes of all Spain: Vía de la Plata . The population of Salamanca is 148,042 inhabitants, spread over only 39.34 km2, a compact city with abyssal cultural heritage. The city has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988 and has attracted the great figures of history: Antonio de Nebrija, Christophe Colomb, and Fernando de Rojas. It is also an ideal point of passage to learn Spanish, Salamanca concentrating 16% of the Spanish language teaching offer throughout Spain.

From the Plaza Major to the University of Salamanca, from the Gran Via to the East of Salamanca, you can enjoy different social and multicultural atmospheres. The simple fact of strolling through the streets will bring to the eye of visitors centuries of history, art and culture that made Salamanca a world-renowned city. Here is our selection of areas where to stay in Salamanca.

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor , the central square, such as a Place du Capitole in Toulouse as a great sister version, is also known as the "living room" of the city. This is where tourists and premises – workers, students and retirees – mix the most, it is the center of Salamanca’s social life. Built in a baroque style and trapezoidal form between 1729 and 1756, it was classified as “Cultural Interest Good” in 1973. This is the city’s busiest neighborhood and also the best landmark where you’ll probably come back several times!

Around Plaza Major, visit the Roman Orthodox Church, the Catholic Churches – iglesia de la Purisima, iglesia de San Martin de Tours, iglesia de San Juan Bautista de Barbalos , etc. Torre del Aire , and the multiple palaces of the neighborhood, without missing the university area: the Faculty of Science and its botanical garden, the campus of the university – the oldest in Europe still active – is worth a look. Green spaces, restaurants and bars where to party, many small squares, make this neighborhood one of the best places to stay in Salamanca. If you don’t like the groubling activity in the city center, don’t panic: there are other areas where to rent a sleeping accommodation in Salamanca!

Puerta de Zamora

In the north of the historic centre, between the Avenida de Italia and the Avenida de Portugal, a living and very commercial area with everything a tourist can look for in a city: shopping centres, small shops and services of all kinds, restaurants, bars and green spaces, all without the weakening of the historic centre. Sleeping north of the gate of Zamora allows, among other things, to stay in Salamanca being very close to the tourist sites.

Main photo credit: Flickr – Fernando García Redondo