Parque del Río Eresma

The Eresma is the river that runs beneath the walls of Segovia, and its valley is the green counterpart to the stone city on the ridge above. The riverside path, the Paseo del Eresma, and the park along the water offer a quiet escape from the busy streets around the Aqueduct and the Plaza Mayor, and it is the best place to see the city as a whole. The old town stands on a long rocky spur between two streams, the Eresma on the north and the Clamores on the south, and the Alcázar sits at the tip where they meet, like the prow of a ship. From the valley, the castle and the cathedral rise above the trees in one of the best-known views in Spain.

The path follows the river through a corridor of poplars, willows and other riverside trees, with the sound of water and birdsong never far away. The walk is gentle and mostly flat, and it is shaded in summer, which makes it a pleasant option in the heat. Benches and picnic spots are placed along it, and local people use it for walking, jogging and cycling. The old Alameda del Parral, a tree-lined avenue, and the meadows beside the water give it a calm, open feel. Along the way, there are traces of the river's past as a source of power, with the remains of old mills and channels that once drove the workshops of the town, including fulling mills that made Segovia's cloth, which was famous in the sixteenth century.

Several historic buildings stand in the valley. The Real Casa de Moneda, the Royal Mint, was built in the 1580s for Philip II to a design influenced by Juan de Herrera, and it used the water of the Eresma to power its machines, which made it one of the earliest industrial buildings in Spain. It is now a museum. The Iglesia de la Vera Cruz, a Romanesque church with a twelve-sided plan, stands on a hill across the valley, linked by tradition with the Knights Templar, and the Monastery of Santa María del Parral, a Hieronymite house of the fifteenth century, and the Carmelite convent that holds the tomb of Saint John of the Cross are also within reach. A viewpoint near the Vera Cruz gives the classic view of the Alcázar.

The path is free and open at all times, and it is accessible from several points of the old town. A walk from the Alcázar down into the valley, along the river and back up toward the Jewish Quarter takes an hour or two, and the climb back up the slope is the only strenuous part. In the morning, the light is soft, and the valley is quiet.

It suits walkers, families and photographers, and combines naturally with the Segovia Cathedral, the Casa de los Picos and the Segovia Aqueduct. A meal of roast suckling pig, cochinillo asado, in the old town is the traditional reward for the walk.