Salamanca is totally walkable and is a comfortable 2 1/2-hour train ride from Madrid. Coolest souvenir: Little terracotta figurines of dancers, musicians, priests and penitents.

The Plaza Mayor is just the starting point for a Salamanca visit. Salamanca’s University, the oldest in Spain (1230), was one of Europe’s leading centres of learning for 400 years.

Until stepping into Salamanca's Plaza Mayor, a magnificent 18th-century town square built to host epic bullfights, I'd always regarded San Sebastian as the most idyllic of Spain's many historic ...

Snag a table at popular Restaurant Plaza Mayor for people-watching. Plaza Mayor, Salamanca. Photo: Joel Carillet ...

Snag a table at popular Restaurant Plaza Mayor for people-watching. Plaza Mayor, Salamanca. Photo: Joel Carillet ...