← Zaragoza Marathon·2 nights

Teruel and Albarracín: Mudéjar Towers and a Walled Village

Two nights in southern Aragón: Teruel's UNESCO-listed brick towers and the legend of its Lovers, then Albarracín, a walled village of pink-red stone above a river gorge.

Duration2 nights
TransitBus or train from Zaragoza to Teruel, about 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes
DepartsZaragoza

After the Zaragoza Marathon: Teruel and Albarracín

The Route: Zaragoza → Teruel → Albarracín → Teruel → Valencia or Zaragoza airport Logistics: Bus or train to Teruel, about 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes. A day trip or a hire car to Albarracín, 38 km west. Two nights in Teruel. Marathon Month: April Duration: 2 nights

Zaragoza ──(2-2.5 hrs bus or train)──> Teruel (2 nights) ──(about 40 mins by car or bus)──> Albarracín
                                          │
Valencia (VLC) or Zaragoza (ZAZ) ◄──(bus, train or car)──┘

The Zaragoza Marathon passes a Mudéjar cathedral in La Seo. Teruel, three hours south in the hills of southern Aragón, was built almost entirely in that style: brick and glazed tile, laid out by Muslim craftsmen working for Christian patrons in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. Its towers are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Albarracín, nearby, is a village of red stone and timber that looks as if it has not changed in five hundred years.

April in Teruel is early spring. The city stands at over 900 metres, so nights are cold, often near freezing, and days are mild and bright. Pack a warm layer. Easter visitors have gone and the streets are quiet.

Buses and regional trains link Zaragoza and Teruel in about 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes; check times with the bus operator and at renfe.com. Teruel's bus and train stations are both close to the centre.

Nights One and Two: Teruel

Teruel's old town is small and mostly flat, on a hilltop above the river. The Plaza del Torico, the main square, is named after the tiny statue of a bull on its column. The three Mudéjar towers, of San Martín, El Salvador and San Pedro, are brick belfries decorated with green and white glazed tiles, spanning the streets like gateways. The tower of El Salvador can be climbed inside; the stairs are narrow and steep, so wait for fresher legs.

The Mausoleum of the Lovers of Teruel, next to San Pedro, holds the alabaster tombs of Isabel and Diego, the thirteenth-century couple of the city's legend, carved lying side by side with their hands almost touching. The cathedral's Mudéjar wooden ceiling, painted with medieval scenes, is one of the best in Spain.

Arriving from the railway station, the Escalinata, a grand neo-Mudéjar staircase of brick and tile built in the 1920s, climbs from the station up to the old town. It is handsome and it is all steps; a public lift nearby, by the Paseo del Óvalo, does the same job for tired legs. Ask at the station or the tourist office for the easiest way up.

For a second day that asks nothing of the legs, Dinópolis, the dinosaur museum and theme park on the edge of the city, is built round the palaeontology of the Teruel area, where many dinosaur fossils have been found. It opens on a seasonal calendar and is closed on some spring weekdays, so check its dates before planning around it.

Teruel is famous for its cured ham, jamón de Teruel, and every bar serves it.

Where to stay. The Parador de Teruel, a Mudéjar-style building in gardens on the edge of the city, is quiet and has parking but is a taxi ride from the centre. Hotel Torico Plaza, on the main square, puts everything within a few minutes' flat walk.

Where to eat. The bars around Plaza del Torico and Calle Tozal serve jamón de Teruel, migas and roast lamb.

Day trip: Albarracín

Albarracín is 38 km west of Teruel, about 40 minutes by car. Buses run from Teruel but not frequently; check the timetable, or hire a car for the day.

The village sits on a rocky spur in a bend of the River Guadalaviar, inside a long line of medieval walls that climb the hillside. Its houses are built of rust-red stone and plaster with wooden balconies leaning over narrow lanes. The lower village, around the Plaza Mayor, is manageable; the walls and the upper streets mean long, steep climbs on uneven paving that are best admired from below two days after a marathon. A riverside path along the Guadalaviar below the village is gentler and flat.

Getting Home

From Teruel, Valencia Airport (VLC) is about 2 hours by car or by bus to Valencia and the metro to the airport. Zaragoza Airport (ZAZ) is about 2 hours 30 minutes by bus or train back to Zaragoza, then the airport bus. Madrid-Barajas (MAD) is about 3 hours 30 minutes by road. Check onward times before booking a flight.