Madrid is a city so full of life and culture that it’s hard to do justice to it in a few paragraphs. Artistically the city holds its own against any in Europe, with the of the best art museums on the continent where renaissance masterworks and seminal 20th-century pieces are waiting to captivate you. Take …
Capital of Catalonia and Spain’s second city, Barcelona is utterly incomparable. It’s one of a few must-see cities with its own identity. This is partly down to a generation of early-20th-century artists and architects, like Antoni Gaudí, whose unforgettable buildings are like nothing you’ll see anywhere else. There’s something to delight everyone in Barcelona. If …
The Costa Brava in Catalonia’s Girona Province attracts holidaymakers for all kinds of reasons: For families or young people out for fun in the sun there are resorts like Lloret de Mar and Blanes, laden with activities, nightlife and sandy beaches. Sightseers can tour the walled medieval towns of Girona, Pals and Tossa de Mar, …
Known to many as the capital of the Costa del Sol, Málaga is more than a seaside city. You can learn about Spain’s Islamic past at the majestic Alcazaba fortress palace, while Pablo Picasso was born here, so there are museums that shed light on his early years. And during the city’s famous festivals you …
Journey’s end for tired pilgrims and the purported resting place of one of the 12 Apostles, Santiago de Compostela is a city with a staggering artistic and historical wealth. It’s one of the most important destinations in the Catholic world. You’ll need a lot of time to see the old centre and its rich ensemble …
Almería is Spain’s sunniest city and is right on the Mediterranean at the eastern edge of Andalusia. The rural landscapes around Almería are arid and dusty, and this is part of the fun of the place: Europe’s only real desert is here, and was chosen as a shooting location for several spaghetti westerns in the …
Granada is blessed with Moorish heritage dating back more than 700 years. The pinnacle of this is the Alhambra, a compound with palaces, courtyards and gardens where the Emirs of Granada would escape the summer heat. You can work your way along the streets of the old Moorish city, laid out exactly as it was …
You can’t talk about this city in northern Spain without mentioning San Fermín, the explosion of merry-making every July. During a week of mayhem there are daily bull runs, in which crazy tourists and locals try not to get trampled or gored by marauding fighting bulls and steers. There’s a lot more to the fiesta …
Toledo’s historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where a glorious past greets you at every turn. The old city is a cross-fertilisation of Jewish, Islamic and Christian cultures, and in many buildings you’ll see how all these influences are blended together. You’ll gaze at sumptuous renaissance paintings and find out about the Spanish …
A thousand years ago Córdoba (Spain) was the largest city in the world, with a population three times its current 320,000. It was the capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba, which for several hundred years controlled much of the Iberian peninsula. The Umayyad Caliphate is long gone, but its heritage is visible throughout the historic …