At the entrance of the imposing Castillo de los Duques de Alburquerque, the most important and emblematic building of Cuéllar, there is a sign with a decalogue that warns the visitor of the 16 essential things to do if you want to really boast of knowing this charming Segovian medieval town, located about 150 kilometers from Madrid. Four of them are gastronomic and meet them, a challenge for most tourists.

The first rule, according to this decalogue, is to gather energy with a good Lunch of the reaper, that is, the strong local breakfast (fried eggs, a slice of the pot or lean, chorizo and chips) that is offered in almost all the bars and restaurants of the town and that is a tradition, especially during the patron saint festivities at the end of August. But, for those who prefer to start the day with something lighter, the delicious tortilla skewer of the bar La Cañada (Ctra. Bahabón, 4), a few steps from the castle, is not bad.

The traditional dish is only a small part of the great culinary offer of Cuéllar that, in recent years, has seen the number of restaurants increase and the opening of original premises and gourmet shops to attract tourists. Compared to other Segovian towns, such as Sepúlveda, Pedraza or Riaza, popular destinations for Madrileños to spend the day on weekends, Cuéllar, with a population of almost 10,000 inhabitants, is still a great unknown, although it has an incredible cultural and historical heritage and an attractive gastronomic proposal that has nothing to envy to the towns mentioned, smaller.

There are many compelling reasons to visit Cuellar. We propose some that include, of course, the gastronomic.

The castle and its dramatized visits

The emblem of the city is the castle of the Dukes of Alburquerque, one of the most important and best preserved in Castilla y León, located in the upper part of the town dominating the landscape. Mudejar, Gothic and Renaissance style, it is believed that its origin is in the twelfth century. It is from the sixteenth century when the military fortress was expanded and modified, until it became an elegant palace, declared a National Artistic Monument next to the walls that surround it. Visiting each of its halls, towers and nooks and crannies is to return to the past, although you can not access the entire enclosure, since since 1997 it houses a secondary school. Both the impressive parade ground and the back gardens become the places of recreation of the students during the school year. Climbing the keep or the wall is a must to have the best views of the town and the region.

It is recommended to see the castle through one of the dramatized tours organized every weekend by the municipal theater company. Disguised as the Duke of Alburquerque, as maids or princesses, the actors take the audience through some of the most emblematic corners of the Doge's Palace, telling the history of the place and that of the time. Information and reservations turismo@aytocuellar.es; Telephone: 921 142 203. Price: 2 euros.

One of the characters of the dramatized visit to the castle.

The historic center

It is recommended to get lost in the narrow streets of the historic center of the city. With an irregular layout and a slope, they run through some of the most picturesque and emblematic neighborhoods, such as the Jewish quarter, outside the walls but at the same time sheltered by another wall. Its historic site is accessed through the door of San Andrés. There is the Mudejar church of San Esteban, from the thirteenth century, which houses burials of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. From its spontaneous viewpoint you get incredible views.

The church of San Andrés, outside the walls in the neighborhood of the same name, one of the best exponents of the Mudejar style with remains of Muslim decoration (thirteenth century); the Plaza Mayor, with a Castilian arcaded air presided over by the church of San Miguel and the Town Hall building of the late fifteenth century; the Palace of Pedro I and the Museum of the Tanneries, an old tanning workshop recovered, where you can learn about the process of transforming skins into leather (free admission), are some of the obligatory stops in the center of the town. The consistory also proposes a guided tour of the most emblematic places of the town.

Church of San Andrés.

The pine forests

Cuéllar has one of the most incredible natural environments in the province of Segovia, being located in the region of Tierra de Pinares. On the outskirts of the town there are three ecosystems that are included in that area: the pine forest, one of the main attractions in autumn of lovers of mycology, the Cega River Canyon and the Espadañal lagoon. Hiking lovers have several routes passable all year round and without special difficulty that run through each of these beautiful places. The maximum duration, about four or five hours each, is ideal to whet your appetite or lower the famous Reaper's Lunch, as the case may be.

One of the most popular is the Senda de los pescadores, which follows the course of the Cega. It is circular and in total there are 16.5 km round trip between Cuéllar and Zarzuela del Pinar. The City Council of Cuéllar maintains four sections, a distance of 7.3 km (3.9 km one way and 3.4 km back), of this route that follows the river between lush pine forests.

View of the pine forests in the distance from the castle tower

Gastronomy

In addition to the Reaper's Lunch to regain strength (or replenish), the famous decalogue of the castle proposed three other culinary options. Tasting chicory ice cream, typical sweets or a pine nut paste is one of them. The other, take a vermouth torero, or as the cuellaranos say, "an echegaray", by the area of the bars that are in the Plaza de Echegaray and surroundings. Other popular places to drink vermouth and tapas are Bar Garita, Las Bolas, a wine bar with the best croquettes, or La Taurina, specializing in mondejo, pork tripe.

To eat, one of the most iconic restaurants is La Braseria de Cuéllar, specialized in beef (they even make desserts with this meat), from its own livestock that it has on the outskirts of the town (you can even visit the facilities).

The modern Barahona Restaurant has recently opened its facilities and is already sounding like one of the places to take into account to taste traditional local cuisine with more avant-garde touches. The chef and owner Eduardo Barahona proposes a lively menu with the best seasonal products. Do not miss the carpaccio de presa, the cooked croquettes or any of its matured beef.

La Traviata, San Francisco, specialized in lamb, or San Basilio, in cod, are other recommendations for lunch or dinner. There is also Restaurant San Pedro Refectorio, inside a church of the twelfth century Romanesque.

Iberian Vegaseca products.

Do not leave the town without trying (and buying) some of the Iberian sausages of Vegaseca (Pl. San Andrés, 9), dedicated to 100% natural Iberian without additives that they themselves make in the back room. Right there they have a small museum with instruments and old utensils of the slaughter. In a guided tour, which ends with tasting of loin, chorizo and sausage, the owner Esther and her husband explain how the slaughter and the manufacture of sausages was carried out before. Reservations on the phone 619 937 715. Price of the visit: 12 euros.

Henar and Mari Carmen run Bollería Helio.

It is also obligatory to stop at the Bollería Helio, a family business opened in 1949 that today is in the hands of the second generation. Henar and Mari Carmen and her husband make all the products sold in an artisanal way in the workshop behind the store. Currently, they have more than 240 different buns. Cuellar's donuts are what sells the most, also in their online store. Almost opposite, there are Canela en Rama, an establishment of artisanal products, and Saborea, a small place of gourmet products in Segovia, where there is no shortage of wines from the local winery, Malaparte.

To end the day, it is essential to have a cocktail, a natural juice or a hot chocolate on the terrace of Las Iglesuelas Café (Puerto Rico, 28), the place with the best sunsets and views of the city. His specialty: piña colada.

Sunset from the terrace of Las Iglesuelas Café.

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