Castilla y Leon Tour (Burgos - Leon - Salamanca - Segovia)

Two weeks through the old heart of Castile, the inland Spain of walled cities and cathedrals that most visitors drive past on the way to a coast. Caminos arrange it as a fly-drive with the hire car included, or with the ferry from Plymouth or Portsmouth and your own car.

The cities are the spine of it: Burgos with its cathedral, León with another and the San Marcos monastery beside it, Salamanca in golden sandstone, Ávila inside its complete medieval walls, and Segovia with a Roman aqueduct running through the middle of town. Toro and the Ribera del Duero vineyards sit between them, and the Vía de la Plata, the Roman road north, threads the whole region.

Two things lift it above a cathedral tour. Atapuerca, outside Burgos, is the excavation that produced the oldest human remains in Europe and is still being dug. Siega Verde, near the Portuguese border, has thousands of Palaeolithic engravings cut into riverside rock. Las Médulas, the Roman gold workings in El Bierzo, is on the route too, and the Sierra de Gredos and Guadarrama give the driving some altitude.

Fourteen nights, circular, with Madrid available as an extension, priced per person for two sharing on a bed and breakfast basis with the car included; flights are extra and a ferry option is available. One thing to settle: Caminos publish no day-by-day plan for this tour, so the places above come from their own route description. Ask them for the itinerary before booking. It suits anyone who wants the Spain that was there before the beaches.