Cuenca, the houses clinging to the cliff edge between two gorges

Some cities demand to be admired from afar before you even set foot in them. Cuenca is one of them. Perched on a rocky spur between the gorges carved by the Júcar and Huécar rivers, its old town seems to grow straight out of the stone, its colourful façades gazing out over the drop. The famous Casas Colgadas, the "hanging houses", jut out into the void with their wooden balconies as if defying gravity. It is an image many have seen in photographs without knowing where it was taken: and that is precisely its charm.

The upper town

Just a few hours from Madrid, Cuenca remains surprisingly off the main tourist trail, which tends to divert towards Toledo or Segovia. Yet here you climb through narrow, silent lanes, pause before the Gothic cathedral, one of the earliest in Spain, and discover that one of the Casas Colgadas houses one of the country's most beloved museums of abstract art. The San Pablo Bridge, a metal walkway thrown across the gorge, offers the most celebrated view of the houses and the drop below: best crossed at dawn, when the light cuts across the rock and there is almost no one about.

Living the city

The most respectful way to experience Cuenca is on foot and unhurried, leaving your car outside the old town and losing yourself among the streets of the upper town. It is worth heading down along the paths that follow the rivers to look up at the houses from below, and stopping at the inns to try La Mancha's hearty dishes, such as morteruelo or roast lamb.

When to go

To avoid the modest crowds of summer weekends and holidays, it is best to choose spring or autumn: the light is soft, the temperatures pleasant and the lanes return to what they should be, almost deserted.

Related guides: Spain off the beaten track: villages, islands and nature far from mass tourism · Instead of Barcelona: Mediterranean Spanish cities without crowds or chaos.

Getting there

Cuenca is connected to Madrid by AVE high-speed trains, which quickly reach the Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel station, located outside the centre; from there you continue to the old town and the Casas Colgadas by taxi, bus or on foot. By car, you arrive from Madrid along the motorway. The nearest airport is Madrid.

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