Avila

Living in Spain for a year, I have found that mine is an unpopular opinion for putting Avila among my top favorite cities to visit in Spain. Maybe I just happened to be in a a great mood during our November 2024 visit, but whatever the case I found Avila to be a charming place to wander around and see the beautiful architecture.

The city is jam-packed with impressive cathedrals (they boast to have one of the largest quantities in Spain) but be warned: even if they say they are free on your favorite Maps app, nearly every one of them actually charges a fee to visit inside. The repeated small costs can add up quick, and it is also difficult to fit seeing all of them into one day (without great intentionality) because they all close decently early.

As everyone on this site has mentioned, the Walls are the most important part of the site to visit (also with an early closing time) and your entry includes access to a looooong audio guide if you wish to listen to it. My wife and I also found the Church of St. Teresa and her nearby museum to be quite interesting. (We had read her book The Interior Castle before, however, so this probably increased our affection for learning more about the woman.)

Avila is one of the few locations where I feel like there was still more to see by the end of my time there …

One advantage of the over-representation of some categories on the World Heritage list is that comparisons can be drawn between the sites. From this point of view, it was instructive to visit the last Gothic cathedral in Spain, Segovia, and shortly afterwards the oldest one, the Catedral de Cristo Salvador in Ávila. A development is clearly visible. The exterior of the austere Cristo Salvador cannot compete with the flamboyant Cathedral of Segovia. The Avila Cathedral looks almost like a fortress. Its eastern part is even an integral part of the city wall. But I liked the vestiges of the Romanesque style, especially in the interior. The red and white stone in the ambulatory and the beautifully decorated choir are the special features of the interior.

However, the Walls of Ávila are the main attraction of this WHS, not the Cathedral. The wall encloses the entire old town: 2500 metres long, 88 massive towers, 9 gates, and almost 1000 years old. The old town still appears impregnable today. The walk on the city wall was definitely the highlight of my visit to Ávila. Unfortunately, you cannot walk around the whole old town up there, that would be great. Only a little more than the half is accessible.
From the city wall, you can also see one drawback of Ávila: There are many modern buildings in the old town, too many in my opinion. While the area around the cathedral and the Plaza del Mercado Chico has largely retained its medieval …

I visited Avila in March 2019 after spending a couple of days in Segovia and found the first impression quite stunning. The city walls in the evening sun are quite a site and Avila clearly deserves its WHS status just for them alone. The walls are mostly built between the 11th and 14th century but seem based on little known older structures. They really look in perfect shape and they are repaired all the time. This is great but one wonders how much material has been exchanged in the process. 

 Beyond the walls the eastern area of the city is also very impressive and has a certain time traveling quality: The area within the walls around the Cathedral and the churches just outside the eastern wall. In the western half of the cities’ rectangle you have the strange phenomenon that you see in many Spanish cities: The streets follow the medial street plan but the buildings are all quite new or so modified the the old structure became unrecognizable.

The second great seller for Avila beside its walls is its local mystic Saint Teresa of Avila who lived in the 16th century and who was obviously of great importance for the Spanish counter reformation.

The original nomination includes four extra muros churches. Of these San Vincente to the cities north east turns out to be a real jewel, less overwhelming but more harmonious then the great cathedral. San Pedro is also nice but artistically less rich. San …

I visited this WHS in June 2015. I drove from Segovia and spent a whole day here. I parked my car for free just before the city proper at a famous panoramic viewpoint called Los Cuatro Postes. From here the magnificent city walls can be seen very well and they are just a short walk downhill. While crossing the small bridge to get to the city I spotted several song birds and frogs and since it was a lovely day I decided to hike around the whole city to take in the city walls. You can also go on the city walls themselves but in my opinion the best views are from beneath the walls not on them. The church which is dedicated to St Teresa is worth visiting as are the imposing city gates and minor churches. I enjoyed my visit even though there are similar WHS on the list such as Provins and Carcassone. The city is quite touristy and it reminded me of Obidos, a non-WHS I visited recently in Portugal.

Its huge town walls and well-preserved medieval city centre make Àvila one of Spain's most popular destinations, and a trip there adds an element of time travel. Wandering its streets and visting its many Gothic and Romanesque churches puts one right into the 16th century, with local saints Theresa and Juan de la Cruz about to appear at any moment. I only had a couple of hours to spend in this impressive city, but I managed to fit in a visit to the cathedral (which is actually integrated into the city walls), the basilica of San Vicente, the Convent of Santa Teresa, and the Royal Monastery of Santo Tomás, with its interesting museum and 3 cloisters.

I think I caught Avila on a bad day. It seems that a Monday morning in November doesn’t show this city in its best light.

Being a Monday in continental Europe most of the main sights were closed, however I was surprised to find out was that this also included the town walls, meaning I didn’t get to stroll along one of the highlights of the town. I did however get to visit the cathedral, which was pleasant enough. The church in the convent of St Theresa was rather standard, and most of the other churches were locked. I did like the charming Romanesque church of St Vincent outside the walls though.

There was a lot of construction/ restoration going on in the town as well which again limited access; one success story of this though was the charming restored palace just inside the city walls. I also enjoyed walking around the new central market looking at the incredible selection of offal, and having a friendly greengrocer increase my Spanish vocabulary in regard to fruit and veg. On the food side, I’m afraid I can’t agree with Frederik on Yemas de Santa Teresa. I found them far too sickly and they were a distinct failure in the office taste test; consigned to the lower ranks of my foreign treats alongside the likes of Korean ginseng candy and Croat spicy fig cake.

I could see that Avila could be a worthwhile destination, however strolling around its closed city centre on …

The walls, towers and elaborately carved stone gateways to the city of Avila are indeed majestic. And while others have commented on the churches outside the walls, my favourite is the Hermitage of San Segundo, a small building nestled beside the Adaja river. From here I crossed the river and walked up to the Four Posts monument, from where there is a panoramic view of the city walls from the west. From the lookout bus #7 goes back to the station.

Avila was the most amazing place, but recently they have destroyed so much of the town and it has lost much of its charm. The new building in the Plaza Major is horrid, as is the new Plaza Major. It is very sad. I spent almost every summer of my life there and my mother lives in Avila. Our entire family is very upset at the horrible things they are doing to our once favorite place.

While its religious monuments are worthwhile sights, the main attraction in Avila are the walls that surround this city. My dad and I arrived from Segovia (see my review) quite late in the afternoon so I did not have time to see too much. Besides the magnificant walls, we managed to visit the interior of the San Vicente Basilica (under restoration but cheap admission and even comes with a free postcard) and the local cathedral (also under restoration but contains beautiful tombs). While walking on the walls was pleasant and a great way to see the surroundings, I have to concur with Frederik Dawson that the walls look a lot better from the ground. Avila's walls, along with their numerous churches, make this place a great WHS and one definitely worth visiting.

From all six world heritage sites near Madrid, Avila is my favorite site better than Toledo or Segovia in my opinion. Situated on high hills northwest of Madrid, Avila is well known for its cool climate and the holy story of Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa did not make Avila to be a pilgrimage place, that put this town on traveler's map, liked Santiago de Compostela, but its city wall is the reason that put Avila on the top list of every tourist’s mind. Avila’s medieval wall is considered as one of the best-preserved city walls in Europe, and maybe one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Walking around the old town to see the wall is just great activity for me especially on the eastern side. The wall is really picturesque and contains some element of mystery of medieval age that made this place so charming. I do not recommend you walk on the wall as the feelings are so different and I personally preferred to walk on the ground which I think this way is better to make you appreciate this place. I have to say I really enjoyed the wall and seem to ignore another part of world heritage – the extramuros churches. But if you come to Avila, your eyes will directly gaze to the wall not the churches which are just next to the wall liked me. However, the churches are really nice and deservedly to get your time.

Avila is really …