Salamanca, a university city, gives you a feeling similar to Oxford and other great university cities. The city, Salamanca knows how to put on a good festival and has plenty of restaurants, tapas bars, inns and cafes to keep to you entertained, and well fed.

Much of the Salamanca’s nightlife is centred around Plaza Mayor and the old city. Weekdays can be quieter than the weekends, due to the students staying in and studying. You can also try the areas around the Plaza Julian, Calle Clavel and Arco del Toro for tapas bars and restaurants.

Salamanca is famous for it’s hearty foods typical of the inland Castile region. The cuisine centres around the plentiful and varied agricultural products. The cochinollo (suckling pig) and roasted goat will delight you and the chorizo sausages, other cured meats, and cheeses to be had in tapas bars can be sufficiently filling when paired with the customary wine, beer or sherry.

The Castilian cuisine uses wood fired ovens to cook the foods and the taste this cooking style gives food will have you coming back to this region over and over again. The suckling pig, cordero asado (roasted lamb), jabali (wild boar), roasted partridge, sausage and beans, and salmon will make you think of medieval times and food from the golden ages. The inns will serve you food just perfect for the cooler climate in clay bowls. The sopa castellana, a hearty vegetable soup with hams and eggs is a typical example. The humble cod is made into a kings meal with flavours from kidney beans and other unusual accompanying ingredients.

Don’t also miss Salamanca’s version of the humble meat pie called the hornazo. It is worth sampling in a variety of locations as the fillings can vary in content but generally consist of a meat and potato.

No meal in Salamanca is complete without a bottle of superb Castilian red wine. The Valladolid area, around the River Duerro produces very popular, reasonably priced wines, but the region is also responsible for Vega Sicilia, Spain’s most expensive wine. Don’t leave Salamanca without enjoying more than one bottle.

While in a restaurant, expect to see the tunas. This group of musicians will serenade you with beautiful, romantic songs. Dressed in beautiful black velvet suits, with capes and ruffled collared shirts you will feel transported back to a time where the simple pleasures in life were important. They will also entertain you with their sometime comical performances. The tunas work for tips only, and if you enjoy their performance be sure to reward them.

Places are widely available to enjoy Latin dancing, and Latino music.