What to do in Palencia

Palencia concentrates its highest altitude and most emblematic wildlife in its northern mountains: Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente Cobre harbours the greatest density of Cantabrian brown bear alongside Asturias, with Espigüete peak rising to 2,450 m above high-altitude meadows. Bear-watching tours are guided and seasonal (May–October); the animal moves between beech forests and high mountain grasslands. The Canal de Castilla has its most photogenic section at Frómista: the town's four locks operate with the original 18th-century mechanism, and the towpath follows the water between poplars in soft autumn morning light. The Laguna de la Nava, restored in 1994 after decades of drainage, is now one of Castile's most important inland wetlands: cranes arrive in thousands in November. The French Camino de Santiago crosses the province east to west, with the Sahagún–Burgos stretch being the most austere and plateau-like section.