Parador de Gredos is a luxury hotel in Sierra de Gredos mountain range. It's located near the town of Navarredonda de Gredos. This is the first Parador ever created and opened its doors in 1928. This former hunting lodge and inn established by king Alfonso XIII, is the perfect starting point for hikes and excursions to unique spots such as Puerto del Pico -one of the best preserved Roman roads in Spain-, Laguna Grande de Gredos -a mountain pool- or Cinco Lagunas- a beautiful cirque. It's also close to historic towns like Arenas de San Pedro.
We chose this Parador to spend the first days of 2019 and today I'm going to tell you all about our trip. Let's find out what you can do, see and eat in Sierra de Gredos. It surely is one of the best experiences you can have in Spain.
DAY 1
Breakfast in Paradores is by far our favorite compared to any other hotel we've ever been to. There's a wide variety of products and the quality is excellent. Home made cakes baked daily, fresh fruit, a vast array of cheese and cold meat... Plus, they always include a few things that are typical of the area. A copious breakfast is very much needed when you spend a day in the mountains.
Our plan for the day was to visit Arenas de San Pedro. The only way to get there is a winding road so be prepared if you suffer from car sickness. The 39 km will take you 43 minutes but the landscape is totally worth it. We stopped several times to take photos from vantage points. The town of Arenas de San Pedro is known for its cultural and historical heritage, and for Cuevas del Aguila, one of the marvels of El Tietar Valley where you can see stalactites and stalagmites.
The first thing we did was taking a tour of the Medieval Castle. Oddly enough, the castle is in the middle of the town instead of being isolated on top of a mountain. Then, we saw the very well preserved medieval bridge and finally we reached the highest point in town from which you get lovely views of it, Palacio del Infante Don Luis de Borbon. The palace is neglected which made me feel really sad because the building is a lovely neoclassic building which could be beautiful if they took good care of it. At 1pm we started hearing Christmas carols, they are heard all around town for one hour every day. It was a wonderful moment: breath-taking views of the town in front of us, the sun keeping us warm and listening to Christmas songs...
We had lunch at
El Marquesito. We had taken a quick look at
TripAdvisor and it came up as the #1 restaurant in Arenas de San Pedro. The sign on the door says "cooking with love feeds the soul", just with that first impression we knew we had chosen wisely. The place is like a life-size doll house with floral wall-papers in pastel colors. The ambiance makes you feel as if you were at your grandma's house eating a good old home-cooked meal. The staff was kind enough to find us a table even though the restaurant was full and we didn't have a reservation. The food was good, traditional and tasty. We had the 15€ menu which was well worth the price.
Our next stop was Candeleda. The place is famous for typical houses with wood beams on their facade, similar to Tudor houses. Unfortunately, the town was a disappointment. We could only find one spectacular house. A few years ago we visited
La Alberca and Mogarraz in Sierra de Francia which are far more beautiful and have many of those houses.
It's worth stopping at Rio Pelayos on the (winding) road between Arenas de San Pedro and Candeleda. Picture this: trees covered in moss, a stone bridge, water flowing..., the landscape is stunning.
On our way back we stopped at one of Arenas de San Pedro's landmarks, Saint Peter's Sanctuary (
Santuario de San Pedro) where they had an exhibition of nativity scenes from all around the world. The exhibition won't be back till next Christmas but it's totally worth it. The nativity scenes are influenced by the culture of the country which makes them so special. The ones from South America have bold colors like traditional Andean clothing. Others were made with chestnuts or pine cones. It's one of the most original things we've seen in a while. Just looking at the photos again I'm already feeling nostalgic about the Christmas holidays!
DAY 2
When we got back to the hotel after Day 1, we realized we hadn't enjoyed all the Parador had to offer so our plan on Day 2 was to do exactly that. After breakfast, the first rays of lights came through the windows, it was freezing outside but it was glorious inside. Because of the cold we were reluctant to take advantage of the sunny terrace, so we got our books and read in one of their beautiful living rooms. One of my favorite things about Paradores are their common areas. The decor is beautiful and you feel at home. While we were reading, we heard a little kid crying and saying he doesn't want to leave this hotel ever. Who can blame him?
From the Parador garden, you can walk through the spectacular pine wood at Navarredonda de Gredos. Breathing fresh air, hearing the sounds of the forest and seeing beautiful horses, we wonder if living in Madrid is such a great idea... Maybe we should start a new life in the countryside?
It's 14:30, time to go back to El Parador for lunch. Artisan cheese,
patatas revolconas (potatoes with chorizo) and
cochinillo (grilled piglet) are the delicacies you must try in this region.
Our evening consisted of taking photos around the hotel and playing board games. A game of Parchisi (I hadn't played since I was a kid!) feeling cozy by the chimney followed by a
chocolate con churros never felt so good.
One of the main attractions of Parador de Gredos is the rooftop terrace from which you can see the stars. In summer, they organize an event where you can see the jewel of the crown, the Milky Way. Too bad it can't be seen in winter. Even if it was cold, we lay on a sunbed each and gazed at the stars for a while. The perfect final touch to a magnificent stay at
Parador de Gredos.
GETTING THERE
Parador de Gredos is north of Sierra the Gredos and
Parador de Oropesa is on the south of the mountain range so if you want to do the whole tour I recommend you see both of them on the same trip. Only
85 km (1 hour and 15 minutes by car) separate them.
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