Castilla y Madrid - 1 - 5 Oct

The 1st oct was spent wandering through Salamanca. It's a bit like the Oxford of Spain, with all the buildings being made of a light sandstone, giving it a bit of a Harry Potter feel. It's also historically a student town, although it hasn't retained the reputation over the centuries like Oxford.

After Salamanca, we drove past Avila, yet another walled medieval city straight out of a fairytale. The plan was to camp in a National park near Barraco, but after driving out there we found it closed. Seems some campgrounds close down around late Sept. Good to know. So we got back on the road and arrived in Toledo. We stayed in the very nice campground there. A bit pricey and the lady on reception is a bit on the unfriendly side, but it was probably the nicest campground we've stayed at so far.

From inside the city, Toledo was a bit underwhelming, but you get a great view of the city if you walk around the south side, from the other side of the Rio Tajo.

After Toledo, it was time for Madrid. We stayed at Osuna campground at the end of one of the tube lines. It's a good budget choice, and a single tube ticket is just €1, slightly better value than London. The highlight of Madrid was the Museu del Prado, the Spanish equivalent of the Louvre.

On the 5th Oct we left Madrid and stopped in on Segovia. Segovia's claims to fame are the aquaduct and it's alcazar palace. They both lived up to the billing, and Segovia seemed a nicer stop than Toledo in hindsight.

Next we drove up towards Bilbao, although we didn't get much further than Sepulveda. Seems every drive always takes longer than expected...