Camping in Castile and León: Spain's largest region, between mountains, plateau and heritage
Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain and one of the largest in all of Europe. It covers nine provinces with radically different landscapes: from the peaks of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Picos de Europa in the north, through the Sierra de Gredos and the Central System in the south, to the cereal plains that define the classic image of the Castilian plateau. This geographical diversity makes the region a camping destination with many possible faces, each with its own rhythm and its own reward.
The north of the community concentrates most of the mountain offer. León contributes the Picos de Europa, the gorges of the Cares river and the districts of Babia and Laciana, recognised by UNESCO as Biosphere Reserves. Palencia hides in its northern mountains peaks of over 2,500 metres and the densest rural Romanesque architecture in Europe. Burgos adds the Río Lobos Canyon, the Merindades with their waterfalls and rock-hewn caves, and the Atapuerca sites where the oldest human remains on the continent were found. Soria offers the Laguna Negra and the pine forests where the Duero rises, in a silence that is especially welcome.
The centre and the west have their own appeal. Zamora is home to Lake Sanabria, the largest glacial lake on the Iberian Peninsula, with clean water and riverside woods ideal for swimming and summer camping. The Arribes del Duero, that group of canyons which the border with Portugal shares between Zamora and Salamanca, surprise with their sheer walls, their warm microclimate and the lack of mass tourism. Salamanca adds the Sierra de Francia with its mountain villages and the Las Batuecas Natural Park, a little-known corner of great beauty. Ávila closes the south with the Sierra de Gredos, the great massif of the Central System, with glacial cirques, high-mountain lakes and the mild-climate Tiétar valley.
The Castilian cities are a strong argument for planning a camping route through the region. Salamanca, with its university founded in the 13th century and its Plaza Mayor turning golden at sunset, deserves time. Segovia has the Roman aqueduct, the Alcázar and a cathedral that dominates the city from a rock. Ávila preserves its medieval walls intact, the most complete in Europe. Burgos and its Gothic cathedral, León with its unrivalled stained glass, Valladolid and its Renaissance sculptural legacy: each provincial capital has a character of its own that is worth exploring in a day trip from the campsite.
The Ribera del Duero crosses the community from east to west and gives its name to one of the most prestigious wine designations of origin in the country. Combining camping with visits to wineries in Peñafiel, Aranda de Duero or Pesquera is an option that more and more travellers are discovering. Castilian cuisine, hearty and honest, puts the finishing touch to each day on the road: roast lamb (lechazo), Segovian suckling pig, cured beef from León, Guijuelo ham, Burgos black pudding, Soria mushrooms, and wines from Ribera del Duero and El Bierzo. Camping in Castile and León is synonymous with space, silence and a cultural richness that few regions in Europe can match.
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