I was able to spend several days in Zamora when my foot gave out on my Vdlp last April. I thought I was being very clever to plan my arrival for a Monday evening, so that on Tuesday I could visit all the romanesque churches. After all, all churches in Spain are closed to visitors on Monday, right? WRONG, not in Zamora. There is a list of, I think, of about 10 churches, and half are closed on Monday and half on Tuesday. This is a good thing, because it means that the Monday visitors won't be shut out of all the spectacular romanesque churches in Zamora. And spreading them out over several days was a much smarter thing to do anyway, I would have overdosed if I had insisted on visting more than 10 churches in one day!
If you go, don't miss the tiny church of Santiago de los Caballeros, from the 11th century. The capitals are really beautiful, and supposedly El Cid spent hours here in prayer. It's about a 10 minute walk from the walls if you leave near the cathedral, so it's not right in the center but it is definitely worth a visit and some quiet minutes sitting and breathing.
And I agree wholeheartedly with Rebekah's description of Zamora as a "hidden jewel." I was forced to slow down and enjoy since I couldn't walk much, and I have to say I was really awed by the beauty of this small city. It has a great ambiente, in my opinion, some pretty decent food, and many beautiful old streets and buildings. A few very nice museums, several shaded green plazas with plenty of benches, a library with plentiful interenet, a very helpful tourist office -- what more could you ask for?
I did not stay in the albergue since I had stopped walking (but the parador had a great price of 60E a night
-- not bad for a room in a Renaissance palace). Actually, the albergue is right around the corner from the parador, and the parador's outdoor terrace, which looks out on the river, has a nice bar for a drink.
Laurie