Castilla y León

None. This is the interior at its most interior, and the nearest sea is two and a half hours north in Asturias.

None. Rivers and reservoirs instead — the Duero gorge at the Arribes, and swimming in the Porma and the Esla in summer.

Roast lamb and suckling pig from a wood oven, which Segovia, Soria and Aranda de Duero do better than anywhere else in Spain; Ribera del Duero and Rueda wines; morcilla from Burgos; cecina from León; sheep's cheese from Zamora and the Páramo. Order the whole roast, not a slice.

Romanesque churches beyond counting, the Gothic cathedrals of León, Burgos, Salamanca and Segovia, the Roman walls of Ávila and Astorga, and Las Médulas, where the Romans took a mountain apart for gold.

Workable but limiting. Salamanca, León, Burgos, Segovia and Ávila all have good rail links from Madrid and between each other, but the monasteries, wine country and village architecture that make the region special effectively require a car.

Everything that matters: the Arribes gorge, the Sierra de Francia's stone villages, the Camino's Romanesque churches, Las Médulas and the Bierzo vineyards.

May, June and September. Spring is green and the cities are manageable; September brings harvest and warmth without the meseta's July heat.

July and August on the plateau, when 38 degrees is normal; Holy Week in Salamanca and Valladolid unless you have booked months ahead; and any plan that tries to see both halves in under a week.