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Spread throughout the varied countryside, Spain’s government-operated paradors operate inside converted historical buildings that are often in remote, scenic areas. Accommodations are comfortable and sometimes elegant, with original museum-quality art on the walls and antiques among the furnishings, and the house restaurants present dishes representative of the region’s cuisine. Children are welcome in all paradors. Considering the quality level, prices are surprisingly reasonable.
“Paradors are sometimes difficult to get into because they are very small and popular,” says Antonio R. Alonso, a company that acts as a go-between in making reservations with Spain’s paradors. “We recommend making reservations way ahead of time.”
The three paradors detailed here could easily be visited in a three-night loop or sandwiched in between stops in Madrid and Andalucia.
CUENCA
Located 104 miles southeast of Madrid. 62 rooms/about $133 per night.
Reaching the Parador de Cuenca from Madrid requires driving for a few hours through rural farmland scenery dotted with vast fields of sunflowers and the occasional castle ruin. The town of Cuenca sits high atop a cliff in the La Mancha area. Once a lookout town, it is a natural fortress with rivers forming a moat on three sides.
An authentically restored 16th-century Gothic convent, this spacious parador features a central cloister garden, a pool, a sauna, a fitness room, and a tennis court. It abuts a bluff on one side of Huecar Gorge, and houses in the old village hang precariously on the other side.
Guests can reach the old town by crossing a dizzyingly high footbridge, then walking a twisting road that passes through an 18th-century gate. After a meal in one of the cliff-side restaurants featuring a heart-stopping view, clients will appreciate a swig of the local digestive known as resoli--a coffee liqueur flavored with orange and cinnamon.
RONDA
Located about 150 miles west of Granada. 79 rooms/about $142 per night.
Situated high in the mountains of Andalucia, at 2,460 feet, the “white town” of Ronda is the site of another cliff-top parador. Difficult to get to, it sits on a flat-topped mesa reached from the Costa del Sol via a white-knuckle drive up a two-lane road full of hairpin curves. It makes a good stopover between Granada and Seville.
A newer property, Parador de Ronda is a stunning remodel of the former town hall. Some rooms have windows or balconies overlooking a scenic gorge with an ancient system of waterways that can be observed still in use.
The contemporary-style parador contains everything a traveler could desire, and guest rooms feature tall ceilings and spacious marble bathrooms. An outdoor pool is inviting in summer, and an elegant restaurant serves Andalucian specialties such as stewed partridge and almond cheese.
Way up here, the weather seems to change every few minutes, from pouring rain, to billowy clouds, to clear expanses. The town holds Spain’s first, and most beautiful, bull ring, and the bridge that spans a very deep gorge is said to have been mentioned in Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” And just in case anyone should think they are in a place not many have visited, know that parking is very, very tight and Orson Welles requested that his ashes be scattered here.
CHINCHON
38 rooms. Located about 40 miles south of Madrid. 38 rooms/about $133 per night.
Since it’s just a half-hour from the Madrid airport, the Parador de Chinchon makes a good stop on the night before a return flight. Once a nunnery, it has been charmingly refitted as an inn. Ancient oil paintings hang on walls in public spaces, floors are lovely worn terra-cotta tiles, and rooms feature undulating ceilings, effective vintage wooden shutters, and heavy painted-wood armoires. Some second-story rooms overlook the treetops to a castle ruin beyond. This parador even has a pool and a charming subterranean bodega.
One of my fondest parador memories is of a sunset stroll through the garden here. Ripe red pomegranates begged to be plucked, and so we sat down at a heavy iron table and spent the twilight hour sucking juice from the bursting seeds and washing it down with a shot of the local anisette liqueur. And just when we thought it couldn't get any better, the bells of the adjoining church clanged out joyfully. It became a moment I will forever savor.
The hotel is also just a few steps from the town’s small Plaza Mayor, which is lined with tapas bars. The church here holds a painting by Goya, and the town plaza is ringed by picturesque houses with balconies overhanging the street. Many events are held in the plaza, including bullfights May through October.
Carole Terwilliger Meyers blogs at Travels With Carole.
Ms. Meyers is also the author of “Miles of Smiles: 101 Great Car Games & Activities”
copyright 2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers; updated 2020
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