Merida, Caceres & Trujillo

Merida

Using www.booking.com we stayed at the Merida Palace hotel, a splendid old building facing the lovely Plaza de Espana and a short walk from all the main Roman monuments. Some of rooms overlook the Plaza and we enjoyed our stay here and it was exceptional value for money.

Caceres

We chose the Hotel Casa Don Fernando www.casadonfernando.com for our stay in Caceres, it is situated on the Plaza Mayor facing the old town. Our superior room faced the square with wonderful views and was very well appointed and the staff were super. We enjoyed it so much we cancelled another hotel in Caceres that we had booked for our last night in Extremadura and stayed here instead.

Trujillo

Again using www.booking.com we booked Izan Trujillo, Plaza de Campillo 1, the building is a converted convent and some rooms are in the original building some in the new part behind. The common areas are pleasant but the service was rather slow. It was very good value and a short walk from the Plaza Mayor and the old town. The location saved making your way through the maze of streets of the old town.

Merida

El Trasiego, C/Romero Leal 3, is a modern very smart tapas bar with excellent food, try the tempura prawns with a mango curry sauce, the service could be friendlier but still a must.

Sagasta 9, C/Sagasta 9, could easily be missed as there is only a door on the street which leads to a long passage and a patio. The food is excellent and the service friendly, it is very popular and finding a table can be difficult.

La Tabernita, C/Berzocana 2, is a local gem, lovely staff, generous free tapas and amazing value for money.

El Alfarero, C/Sagasta 29, is a well run bar and restaurant with a very charming owner, a good value “menu del dia” and good tapas.

La Carboneria, Plaza de la Constitucion, is mainly a restaurant specialising in grilled meats but also worth popping in to try a glass of wine from their wide selection of excellent local wines.

Last but not least, in the Plaza de Espana are four kiosks each serving drinks and some tapas. The best by some way is if you stand outside the Merida Palace Hotel facing the square the kiosk to your left. The lovely friendly service, the incredibly generous free tapas made this a must. It also seems to be the most popular with the locals and rightly so.

Caceres

Caceres was Spain’s culinary capital for 2015 and from what we experienced justifiably so. The quality of food in all the places we visited was top-notch, Caceres was chosen for its use of local ingredients in traditional recipes and also for the quality of produce including local wines.

The must in the town has to be Atrio the two star Michelin restaurant. There are two choices of tasting menus available at around £100 per head but apart from the food the other attraction is the wine list which has won The Wine Spectator magazine’s world’s best wine list award for the last two years. The whole experience is amazing, the design of the restaurant and wine cellar which you can visit, the service and relaxed atmosphere and of course the exceptional food and wine.

La Cacacherria, C/Orellana 1, is in the heart of the old walled town and has a wonderful selection of modern tapas using local ingredients. It does not take bookings so get there as it opens for lunch or dinner, the pork loin with pimento praline was fabulous as were the other dishes we tried. An excellent selection of wines by the glass and bottle and very friendly service and so reasonably priced.

Torre de Sande, C/de los Condes 3, is also in the heart of the old town there is a restaurant and tapas bar and we only ate in the tapas part but enjoyed the experience. It was incredibly busy and hard to find a table and you have to order at the bar but we enjoyed all the dishes we tried, only two as the enormous free tapas of paella stopped a third being requested. The service was very friendly given that it was so busy and they seemed understaffed. It has a more traditional feel than La Cacacherria but definitely worth a visit.

La Minerva, Plaza Mayor 8, we only got a chance to visit on our last day as the first couple of times we tried the bar area was packed. When we did manage to squeeze in the choice of free tapas with our wine indicated that we should have persevered earlier in our visit and ordered some of the interesting choices on the menu.

Oquendo, C/Obispo Segura Saez 2, is in the newer part of the town and is an upmarket bar and restaurant. We only popped in for a wine but the choices of free tapas to go with the wine convinced us that this was well worth recommending.

Meson Iberico, Plaza San Juan 12, we loved this small bar attached to an old school restaurant specialising in roast meats. The staff are very friendly and we enjoyed the tostas on offer especially the one with the local Torta de Casar cheese. The setting in the square where there are plenty of other places is lovely.

Restaurante Caceres, Plaza Mayor 30, was our local haunt during our stay, we had breakfast there, sat in the square with a wine or inside with a small bar. The staff were always friendly and it was popular with locals, cannot comment on the food but would recommend a visit.

Mastropiero Gastro Bar & Garden, C/Fuente Nueva 4, is well worth a visit, ignore the OTT name and enjoy the choice of tapas bar, gin bar, restaurant and the lovely garden. Slightly more expensive than other places we tried but the service more than made up for it.

Bar Las Claras, Plaza de la Soledad, is a very small bar specialising in beers, with some lovely outdoor seating this is a great place to chill out after exploring the old town.

Trujillo

La Victoria, Plaza Mayor 26, we visited on a number of occasions because of the friendly staff and generous, good quality free tapas including mini pastries with breakfast. This is very popular with locals at all times of the day and it was easy to understand why.

Hostal Meson Hueson, C/Arquillo 4, is just off the Plaza Mayor and is well worth finding. An old fashioned bar and restaurant which has rooms to rent this was a friendly local haunt with free tapas and always a warm welcome.

Gloss Bar, Plaza Mayor 4, we visited twice once in the afternoon to sit out on the terrace overlooking the square and the second that evening to sample some of their wines and enjoy the free tapas. Sadly it was not open the next night and the beer bar next door which they appear to own was not open during our stay.

Hostal La Cadena, Plaza Mayor 8, is one of a number of similar restaurants in the raised part of the square. We chose it for lunch as it offered a menu del dia featuring local dishes it was good value and the service was good old fashioned Spanish, the wine included was on the poor side.

Mike’s Bar, C/Sillerias is just off the Plaza Mayor and is run by Miguel, it is a smart evening bar for a drink and also a chat with him and his customers. Quiet when we visited but fingers crossed he does well.

Drink

DO Ribera del Guadiana is the wine region of Extremadura and it extends over the provinces of Caceres and Badajoz, it is fairly recently created DO only coming into being in 1999. Wine are produced using over 25 grape types, some only grown locally, and there are reds, white and also cava from a small permitted area.

There are also local wines called Vino de la Tierra which although ranked one step below the DO on the Spanish wine quality ladder produces some outstanding wines notably those from Habla Bodega, their Habla del Silencio is excellent but each year they produce a unique red, Habla 1 to Habla 14, well worth seeking out.

There is also a wide variety of mainly local craft beers, Spain has changed greatly in the last few years with small craft breweries opening up and it was particularly good to see three smaller places having their own local beers.

Merida

The main attractions are of course the Roman monuments including the Roman Bridge, the Theatre & Amphitheatre, the remains of the Forum including the Temple of Diana and many other examples which show the importance of Merida in Roman times. There is also the excellent Museum of Roman Art.

Caceres

The old town of Caceres is a world heritage site and this area has a large number of towers, palaces and churches surrounded by walls built in Arab times. The old town flourished again when wealthy explorers returned from their journeys to the Americas. The tourist office in the old town has excellent information, maps, books etc. on the region and will identify the best sites to visit.

Trujillo

Trujillo is a small hill top town which has not changed a great deal since it was home to some of the famous Spanish conquistadors including Francisco Pizarro whose statue is in the Plaza Mayor. The majestic palaces reflect the wealth brought back to the town and as do the many churches around the old town. The size of the town means that a one night stay would allow you to see all the major attractions.