Segovia

Segovia sits 90 kilometres north of Madrid on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama, reachable in just 30 minutes by Renfe AVE high-speed train from Madrid Chamartin station. The bus from Madrid Moncloa interchange takes around 90 minutes but costs considerably less. Drivers follow the AP-6 motorway north through the Guadarrama mountain pass before descending into the old city, which sits at 1,000 metres altitude and is noticeably cooler than Madrid in every season. The Roman aqueduct is Segovia's defining monument: a two-tiered granite structure of 166 arches stretching 818 metres across the city, built without mortar in the 1st century AD to carry water from the Rio Frio river to the city's cisterns. It remains the best-preserved Roman civil engineering structure in Spain. The full span is visible from Plaza del Azoguejo, which the train station approach road leads into directly -- an impressive first sight for arriving visitors. From the aqueduct, the historic centre climbs steeply through narrow medieval lanes past the Segovia Cathedral, the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain, completed in 1577, to the Alcazar at the far western tip of the rocky promontory. The Alcazar's silhouette -- conical slate-blue towers rising above a sheer cliff -- is said to have inspired Walt Disney's design for Cinderella's Castle. The interior houses an armaments museum and a tower with panoramic views across the Castilian plain toward Madrid; entry costs approximately 5.50 euros for the palace and 3 euros extra for the tower. The gastronomic centrepiece of a Segovia day trip is cochinillo asado, roast suckling pig slow-cooked in wood-burning ovens until the skin is crisp and the meat falls from the bone. Meson de Candido, a 15th-century building beside the aqueduct, has served it since 1931; waiters traditionally carve the pig using only a porcelain plate, then smash the plate for good luck. The rival Casa Duque has operated since 1895 and is equally celebrated. Reservations at either restaurant are essential several days in advance for weekends.