Is Cáceres worth visiting?

How long do you need in Cáceres

Take a walking tour of the city

I’d have liked to take a tour here but when we arrived I didn’t find anywhere open and offering one. It would have been better to have booked online, in advance (maybe this was just a summer thing, I don’t know).

Torre de Bujaco & the Plaza Mayor

This beautiful 12th century Almohad tower is a great place to begin your time in Cáceres as it offers fabulous panoramic views over the city, the city walls, the Plaza Mayor (photo 2 above) and the neighbouring Palacio Toledo-Moctezuma. 

The tower is often also known as the ‘Tower of Ceres’ and the ‘Clock Tower’. The name of ‘Bujaco’ was arrived at during the 19th century as locals made links between the statue of the goddess of Ceres that was housed in a temple at the top of the tower and a local tradition of making figures out of bullrushes that are called, ‘bujacos’. Somehow an association grew between the goddess and these figurines. 

⭐️ The small sum you pay to enter gets you access to a small museum in the tower, the Ruinas Romanas del Palacio de Mayoralgo, a small section of the medieval walls, and of course, the mirador at the top of the tower. You can also get a joint ticket that give access to the Baluarte de los Pozos.

Palacio Toledo-Moctezuma / Provincial Archives

This palace was built in the 14th & 15th centuries by Juan Cano Savedra who was part of the invasion of the Americas with Cortés. There he married an Aztec princess called Tecuixpo, the daughter of Moctezuma II. She later had her name changed to Isabel de Moctezuma, hence the name of the palace. 

The most interesting thing about this place is that the main rooms are decorated with frescoes representing the Roman emperors and contain busts of Mexican emperors. The provincial historical archives are stored in this building

Arco de la Estrella & exploring the historic centre of Cáceres

As you wander down the narrow cobbled streets around the Plaza Mayor, you’ll find the Torre de la Yerba, the Pilar de San Francisco and the Torre del Horno all alongside the ayuntamiento and the Plaza Mayor.

Here too you’ll find the Arco de la Estrella (pictured above), a medieval stone arch, which apparently featured in Game of Thrones (honestly we didn’t know this when we were in town and my kids were more interested in the large sheet of metal that made an incredible noise every time a car drove over it that was right here).

🍦 There are two ice cream shops opposite each other just off the side of the Plaza Mayor on Calle Pintores. Remo: helados italianos 100% artesanales and Helados Artesanos Agustin Mira. We opted for the former and everyone was very happy with their choices.

Baluarte de los Pozos

This is an Almohad tower from the twelfth century that was built to protect the city’s water supplies. There are great views over the city from here and the small museum is a great addition to your visit. We very much enjoyed the short interactive tour here.

Plaza de las Veletas

Up the hill in the centre of the historic town sits this lovely plaza where you’ll find the Palacio de las Veletas & the Cáceres Museum, neither of which were open when I visited in the summer, which was a little annoying as I’m a huge fan of small city history museums and I’d heard good things about this one.

Plaza de San Jorge

This plaza is dominated by the Iglesia de San Francisco Javier (photo above) and its small garden, Jardín de Doña Cristina de Ulloa. The restored 12th century Casa-Museo Árabe Yusuf Al-Burch is also here.

Plaza de los Golfines

This is another plaza you’ll discover as you stroll around the city. Visit the Palacio los Golfines de Abajo if you want to see a reconstructed noble home.

What else to check out while in Cáceres

Cueva de Maltravieso

Discovered in 1951, right in the centre of modern Cáceres is the Cave of Maltravieso, a prehistoric site dating back tens of thousands of years.

Visitors cannot actually enter the cave but there’s a good museum and replica cave in the Interpretation Centre that is free to visit. The staff were a little surprised when we showed up, were relieved we speak Spanish and then kindly found a version of the presentation in English for us.

Ceramics, human and animal skulls & bones have been discovered in the cave a well as the more than 70 red pigment hand stencils on the walls of the cave. It is known that the oldest of the paintings is around 66,000 years old but archaeologists actually think the cave was used by humans over 350,000 years ago.

It is possible to sign up to visit the actual cave via a wait-list in the interpretation centre (yes, my name is on it). 

→ There are plenty of incredible cave painting sites in Extremadura, including El Abrigo del Castillo in Monfragüe National Park.

Parks

Parque El Olivar de la Judería – this small park is a lovely spot to rest and breathe amongst the pomegranate trees while you’re in the old city of Cáceres.

Parque El Rodeo – this is a much larger park in the modern city. It has a small lake, a pump track and plenty of excellent paths to enjoy (I don’t have any photos because I was bursting to pee while we were there so I marched everyone through the park super fast).

➕ Note on the Mirador El Banco Más Bonito de Cáceres – we drove to it on our way out of Cáceres, it didn’t strike me as being particularly special.

Museums

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Helga Alvear – this is an excellent modern art gallery just outside the old city limits.

Museo de Historia y Cultura Casa Pedrilla y Museo Guayasamin  – just outside the old city limits, this is an excellent history museum about cultural and artistic life in the community of Extremadura in the 19th and 20th centuries.

🎉 Every year, Cáceres is home to a three day WOMAD festival. I haven’t been to WOMAD Cáceres but I have been to the original WOMAD in the UK and it is fantastic.

Where to stay in Cáceres