Palacio de Canedo

Palacio de Canedo is an 18th-century manor house in the heart of El Bierzo, the wine region at the far western edge of the province of León. It was built by Manuel Osorio y Pimentel, twelfth lord of Canedo, as a residence set among the vines; long abandoned, it was rescued by José Luis Prada and is now protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural. The windows look out over the estate's vineyards and the mountains that enclose the valley.

Alongside its fifteen rooms, the palace houses a restaurant, a winery producing its own wines, gardens with a terrace and a small shop selling the estate's preserves, sweets and wines. Guided tours of the palace, winery and vineyards with tasting can be booked. Ponferrada is about twenty minutes away by car.

The palace is run by Prada a Tope, the family company founded by José Luis Prada that produces wines, preserves and sweets from El Bierzo. The staff arrange winery and vineyard tours, suggest walking and cycling routes in the valley and can book massages.

Free private parking with an electric vehicle charging point, Wi-Fi throughout, lift and accessible rooms. All rooms are non-smoking.

There are four room types: six doubles, five larger superior doubles with a sitting area, three junior suites and the El Palomar suite at the top of the tower. Parquet floors, exposed beams, handmade wooden furniture and natural fabrics; almost all rooms overlook the vineyards and the valley. The junior suites have a hydromassage bath, a small office corner with minibar and a fireplace; El Palomar, open on all four sides, has a round wooden hot tub and a stone fireplace.

Amenities: private bathroom with shower or bath, air conditioning, heating, TV, safe, free Wi-Fi, room service.

The cooking is traditional Bierzo fare, built on what the estate produces: wood-roasted peppers, home-made preserves and cherries in syrup, vegetables from the kitchen garden; everything else comes from local producers. The menu features the valley's classic dishes, such as botillo, and the DegustaBierzo tasting menu, a full tour of local cuisine paired with the estate's organic Mencía and Godello wines.

Breakfast is a buffet. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, also to non-residents, and booking is recommended. Menus for special diets are available on request.

Canedo is a small village in the municipality of Arganza, on the vine-covered hills between Cacabelos and Ponferrada. El Bierzo is a basin ringed by mountains, with a milder climate than the rest of the province of León: vineyards, chestnut groves and stone villages along the Way of St James.

Cacabelos is about ten minutes away; Villafranca del Bierzo, a stop on the Camino Francés with its Romanesque churches, and Ponferrada, with its Templar castle, are around twenty minutes. Las Médulas, the Roman gold mines listed by UNESCO, are about 45 minutes away; Peñalba de Santiago, in the Valley of Silence, just over an hour. León is about an hour and a half by car.