Salamanca is the golden city of Castile and León, a provincial capital of around 143,000 inhabitants and home to Spain's oldest university (founded in 1218, one of the oldest in the world). It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It sits at 800 metres above sea level on the banks of the river Tormes, in the heart of the Castilian plateau. It is called "the golden one" because the Villamayor sandstone used to build it gives the city a blond tone that turns pure gold at sunset. The Baroque Plaza Mayor (by Alberto de Churriguera) is among the most beautiful in Spain. Around it stand the two cathedrals (the old Romanesque one and the new Gothic-Renaissance one), the Casa de las Conchas, the Convent of San Esteban, and the University, with its legendary Plateresque facade and the hidden frog.
The city breathes students: 30,000 enrolled who keep it alive all year, with tapas bars on Calle Compañía, Bordadores and the Plaza Mayor itself. Birthplace of Guijuelo Iberian ham, it is also a paradise for cheap, high-quality tapas.
One or two days are enough for Salamanca. The best time is spring and autumn: winter is harshly Castilian (it can freeze) and summer is hot but bearable. See it at sunset at least once to understand the nickname.