Spain 11: We Make Our Way to Madrid, Where We End Our Tour of Northern Spain

Travel dates: Monday to Wednesday, September 21 to 23, 2025

We left Santiago de Compostela for Madrid on Monday, September 21. Our destination that day was Salamanca, where we would spend our final overnight on the road.

We stopped for a delicious lunch in Zamora. Located on the Douro River in the autonomous community of Castila y León, Zamora has been described as a “museum of Romanesque art.” Within its boundaries there are 24 churches dating from the 11th to 13th century, and defensive walls from the same era. It is a quiet and charming city of about 60,000, and the old town is beautiful.

Later in the day, we reached Salamanca, a UNESCO World Heritage site. (This region is rich in UNESCO sites!) Salamanca is known as Spain’s Golden City, and is renowned for its distinctive sandstone architecture. With historic roots dating back to the Celtic era, Salamanca is the site of Spain’s oldest university.

Muslims ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years, from 711 to 1492, and the Moorish influence on the architecture in Salamanca is clear. Between its golden hues and the sculpted arches and figures, it is a remarkable place to visit.

Most cities in Spain have a central open square, known as the “plaza mayor.” The one in Salamanca is particularly large and beautiful. Designed in the Spanish Baroque style, it is a popular meeting place for residents and tourists.

Final Travel Day

The next day, on September 22, we set out for Madrid. Mid-morning, we paused for coffee and a view of the walled city of Avila. Also a UNESCO Heritage site, Avila is remarkable for having the most complete, best-preserved medieval walls in Europe. Time constraints prevented our getting closer than a coffee stop with a great view from across the highway.

Madrid

Madrid, Spain’s capital, is a gracious city that features elegant boulevards and large, magnificent parks. The city is a noted centre for European art, and is the place to see the Spanish masters Goya, Velázquez and El Greco, at the massive Prado museum.

The city’s architecture ranges from medieval and Renaissance buildings to those from the Habsburg and Bourbon eras. At the heart of old Madrid is its famous, portico-lined Plaza Mayor, and nearby is the baroque Royal Palace and Armoury. But Madrid is also a very modern city, and is the commercial, financial and technological hub of Spain.

In other words, there is something here for everyone, and two days was definitely not enough for us to even begin to test the waters … especially since we went to the Prado twice. Madrid is yet another city to which I would return in an instant.

Some stats: In 2025 the population of Madrid was more than 3.4 million. (Four million more live in the surrounding areas.) It is the most populous city in Spain, exceeding Barcelona by more than 1.5 million. It is also the second-most populous city in the European Union (after Berlin) and occupies the second-largest area in the Union (after Paris).

The site where Madrid now stands has been occupied since pre-historic times. By the second half of the ninth century, it was occupied by Muslims and over the course of time it has undergone changes and influences that have shaped it into a modern city with a rich and varied past. It was declared the capital of Spain after the Franco Revolution.

One of the highlights of the last day of our tour was a visit to the San Miguel Market (Mercado de San Miguel).

Our formal tour with Trafalgar ended on the evening of Tuesday September 22, but we had booked an additional day in Madrid before our flight back to Toronto. We spent most of our last day walking from our hotel back to the Prado, where we spent several hours and could have spent several more, then back again to the hotel. At the Prado, aside from the artists mentioned above and many others, I was very excited to see The Garden of Earthly Delights, the famous triptych by Hieronymous Bosch.

You can’t take photos at the Prado. But you can everywhere else we went in Madrid. I am including a selection of photos of the beautiful buildings we passed on our walk….