León, a northern Spanish discovery
Our visit to the historic city of León, Spain
León in northern Spain is a perfect city break for an instantaneous embrace of Spanish culture, food and beautiful architecture.
I felt like we had discovered a true gem when we visited Leon.
You're in León
We’ve come to fall in love with Spain over the last few years, during our road trips from north to south. The northern region of Spain where Leon is located is beautiful.
With our passion for history, we couldn’t wait to unearth the ancient city of Leon in north-western Spain.
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León Market Day
Our hotel overlooked the Plaza Mayor and when we awoke in the morning León’s colourful local market was coming alive below. Stallholders selling fresh fruit, vegetables and vibrant aromatic flowers.
The view of the market from our hotel room
Fresh on the market
Fresh vegatables
León’s Plaza Mayor
The Plaza Mayor in León as you can imagine plays a central role within the historic city, especially on market days. However, when the stalls are all cleared away and the traders have all packed up it became very sedate.
The view from our room over Plaza Mayor
León’s central square is delightful, it’s framed on one side by the attractive Baroque old city hall. Around the other three sides are charming colonnades, with wrought iron balconies teetering above. Cafés and bars are nestled in between and such pleasant location to enjoy a coffee and watch the world slowly pass by.
The corner of Plaza Mayor
A helpful guide
I love nothing more than planning a trip and so often I use the DK Eyewitness books. I find them extremely informative, easy to follow and the pictures and maps tempt you into discovering more.
We used this version of the book to plan the northern part of our Spanish road trips.
León’s Striking Architecture
As you stroll around León, you’ll notice the varied styles of architecture throughout the city.
One in particular that stands out is striking ‘castle-like’ Casa de los Botines, designed by Antoni Gaudi and one of only a few of his designs built outside Catalonia.
The Casa de los Botines
A lovely bronze statue of Gaudi sits outside Casa de los Botines, with him deep in thought on a bench, you can even share a seat with him.
A monument to Antoni Gaudi on a bench
There’s such a choice of beautiful buildings in León, here are a couple of others that caught our eye.
The Palacio de los Guzmanes
The Plaza Mayor in León as you can imagine plays a central role within the historic city, especially on market days. However, when the stalls are all cleared away and the traders have all packed up it became very sedate.
Wonderful architecture
Leon Obispado
Getting to León
Start creating your own León adventure and discover the ancient history amongst the charming city streets.
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Why not make your visit into road trip by flying directly into Madrid. León is around 211 miles (339km) drive away. Take a look at the latest deals on Rental Cars.
Convent de San Marcos
Along the banks of the Bernesga river is the Spanish Renaissance Convent of San Marcos. This is a beautiful building that overlooks the Plaza de San Marcos.
Convent of San Marcos
The origins date to the 12th century and would have been a hospital-temple for pilgrims travelling the Camino de Santiago.
Time in front of the Convent of San Marcos
Now the convent is home to a hotel and under restoration, so, unfortunately, we were unable to see its intricate plateresque façade.
However, the stroll to the plaza was worth it just to see the pilgrim statue in front of the convent. A lone pilgrim with his sandals by his side staring up.
Resting against the cross
The resting pilgrim
Have you?
Visited Spain and discovered any towns or cities that you really want to share with us, as we’d love to add them to our next road trip?
Pulchra Leonina
The Gothic Cathedral that stands in León was built during the 13th century, although this is extremely old, this was the 3rd cathedral to be built on this site.
The Cathedral at León
The original León cathedral was constructed on the site of ancient Roman Baths during the 2nd century. It’s incredible the size of such a cathedral considering what the population of the city would have been at the time.
Detail inside the Cathedral
Stained glass window inside the Cathedral
The cathedral is also known as Pulchra Leonina or The House of Light due to the astonishing amount of stained glass windows throughout there are 1,800 square metres.
The Interior of the Cathedral
Did you know?
Leon cathedral is one of the three most important cathedrals, along The Way of Saint James (El Camino de Santiago), along with that of Burgos and Santiago de Compostela.
León Basilica
Not content with an impressive cathedral, León also has a lovely ochre Romanesque Basilica, named Basílica de San Isidoro de León. The basilica was built in 10th century on the grounds of a Roman Temple.
Basilica of San Isidoro
Within its vaults of the ‘Royal Pantheon’ is the resting place of the medieval kings & queens of León.
The Romans
The ancient walls that surround part of the city were built in the 1st Century BC & then further enlarged during 3rd & 4th century AD.
The Arco de la Cárcel
The City Walls
There is only one remaining gate to the city is ‘Arco de la Cárcel’, although it has since been rebuilt it still retains of its Medieval structure.
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Birdseye view
During our road trip, we had seen storks nesting in some unusual places, but this one was undoubtedly comfortable where it had made its home.
The stork with the classy home with a view
Passing through
As we wander around the city, we come across so many pilgrims young and old on the route to Santiago de Compostela. León is along the ‘French Way’ of the Camino de Santiago, a very well-trodden path.
The brass marker
Improvised marker
Brass footprint leads the way
Follow the way
Where we ate in León
One of our lasting memories of León is standing in the tapas bars enjoying the local chatter around us, sipping Spanish red wine and savouring the complimentary tapas. (In some places, we paid €2.80 for 2 wines & tapas)
Complimentary Tapas
We love the Spanish culture of try a little and move on.
Gary enjoys the local morcilla (blood sausage) not to everyone’s taste, but ‘when in Rome’.
Where we stayed in León
Our accommodation for the two nights we were in León, was at the Hotel NH Collection León Plaza Mayor. This hotel was in a fantastic location, as you stepped out of the door you were straight into Plaza Mayor, within the heart of the old town.
The Hotel NH Collection León Plaza Mayor
The hotel also had allocated parking in the car park underground.
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Inspired to visit León?
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Comments
We love Spain, and always talk about when we were there and when we will go again! I’ve visited San Sebastian and Bilbao in the North, but haven’t been to Leon. I’ll put it on my list! #farawayfiles
Leon is really a lovely city, very traditional. Other places in the north we’ve visited are Oviedo, Burgos, Logrono & Santander. Like you we also enjoyed Bilbao, fantastic tapas or pintxo as they call it there.We have only started to visit Spain in last five or six years and found some fascinating places, all over the country, (I’m always talking about Seville).
Well you’ve certainly inspired me to visit Leon. I hadn’t heard much about it until now and it looks more than worth a visit, and what a great location you chose for your hotel! That must have really added to your experience. Thanks for sharing on #FarawayFiles
We really enjoy visiting these types of Spanish cities and towns, ones that slightly off the radar. Salamanca was another city we really loved.
It was great staying in the heart of the city, however, it’s not always possible when you want somewhere with secure car parking.
Gah, I love lesser known Spanish cities! I studied in Salamanca and visited so many unexplored places in Spain, I loved it. Never quite made it to Leon, unfortunately, as it looks lovely! It reminds me a little of Estrella, in the north, which is also on the Camino.
We really enjoyed Salamanca as well, love the tapas culture of eat a little then move on to the next bar. I’ll keep an eye for Estrella, if you have any other recommendations we’d love to hear them?
Oh there’s loads!! Burgos is also worth a visit, I think. And even though San Sebastian and Bilbao are a bit more wellknown, they’re well worth the visit. I have my eye on Tarragona and Zaragoza for next spring!
Thanks for the tips. We briefly visited Burgos but certainly need to return & really loved Bilbao. Never been to Tarragona and Zaragoza, so I’ll keep a look out for your posts next year.