Extremadura: vultures, conquistadors and Roman Mérida

Route description

Start in Plasencia, a walled town with two cathedrals joined together, then take the EX-208 south into Monfragüe National Park. At the Salto del Gitano viewpoint griffon vultures nest on a cliff above the Tagus; climb to the castle ruin for the wider view over the dehesa of holm oaks.

Continue to Trujillo, the home town of Francisco Pizarro, whose statue stands in one of Spain’s most handsome main squares under a hilltop castle. From here a quiet road leads east through cork and oak pasture and into the Villuercas hills to Guadalupe, where the royal monastery rises over a village of timbered houses.

Return west to Cáceres, whose walled old town of towers and palaces is almost untouched since the sixteenth century; it is a World Heritage Site and very atmospheric at night. Then take the A-66 (E-803) south to Mérida, where the Roman theatre, amphitheatre and a long Roman bridge over the Guadiana remain from the capital of Lusitania.

Spring, with green pastures and storks nesting on every tower, is the best time. July and August are very hot, often above 40 °C. Distances are modest and the roads empty, but fuel stations are sparse between Trujillo and Guadalupe.