Leaving Madrid, we took two days to travel to Lisbon on the Portuguese coast. Along the way, we stopped in several smaller cities for tours, meals, souvenirs, and sleep. Three of the towns, all UNESCO World Heritage Site, were particularly interesting.
Segovia, the first of these smaller towns, is famous for three landmarks: an aqueduct built by the Romans about 2,000 years ago; a fantastic Gothic cathedral; and Alcazar, the real life castle used as a model for Disneyland.
We also stopped in Avila, the only city in Spain which still has a complete medieval wall encircling it. The old town, with its squares, churches, and narrow streets, is still amazingly intact (while the newer parts of town have grown up around the outside of the walls).
Finally, we visited Salamanca, home of the oldest university in Spain with its 30,000 students. The city was founded in approximately 225 BCE, and the university followed in 1215 AD.