The Calzada de los Frailes — Friars' Walk — links the main plaza to the Convento de San Bernardino at the western edge of the colonial centre. It is the prettiest street in Valladolid: a cobblestoned, slightly curved avenue lined with single-storey colonial houses painted in pinks, blues, ochres, and limewash whites, each with tall wooden doors and wrought-iron grilles over the windows.
The street has been gently colonised by small boutique hotels, design shops, ice cream parlours, and a couple of well-reviewed restaurants — gentrified, but not unpleasantly so. Late afternoon and early evening are the best times: the low sun turns the colours into something close to luminous.