Why visit SpainOne country, several nations' worth of character — Moorish palaces, Gaudí's mosaics, Atlantic pintxo bars and beaches in two seas.
Spain is a country of strong regional characters — Moorish palaces in the south, Gothic quarters and Gaudí's mosaics in Catalonia, green mountains and pintxo bars along the Atlantic north, and islands in two different seas. Madrid holds the great art museums at the centre of it all, Barcelona pairs modernista architecture with a city beach, and Andalusia keeps the Alhambra, flamenco and the orange-scented courtyards of Seville and Córdoba. Use this hub to plan your trip: browse our Spanish city guides below, or read on for the regions, seasons and rail routes that tie the country together.
Map of Spain The finest season in the south: Seville and Córdoba fill with orange blossom and courtyard flowers, and the great Andalusian festivals — Semana Santa and the Feria — land in spring. Days are warm without the summer furnace, though the north stays cool and showery and the mountains hold snow.
Beach season, and a hot one. The Mediterranean and Balearic coasts are at full tilt, the Atlantic north stays far cooler and greener, and cities move outdoors after dark for late dinners and street festivals. Inland Andalusia and Madrid can push well past 100°F in July and August, when many locals head for the coast.
A generous shoulder season. September still swims on both coasts, the grape harvest runs through Rioja and Catalonia, and the cities become comfortable again for walking. October is one of the best months for Andalusia; by November the north turns wet and the days shorten.
Mild and bright in the south and on the Canaries, cold and crisp in Madrid and the interior, and snowy in the Pyrenees and the Sierra Nevada, which has skiing within sight of the Mediterranean. It's the cheapest, calmest time for the museums and the Alhambra, and Christmas markets and Three Kings parades fill the squares.
The Mediterranean northeast, where Barcelona sets Gaudí's Sagrada Família and Park Güell beside a Gothic quarter and a city beach, with the monastery of Montserrat, the Costa Brava coves and the Dalí museum at Figueres all close by.
The high plains capital and its ring of historic cities: the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen art triangle in Madrid itself, with medieval Toledo, the Roman aqueduct of Segovia and the walled city of Ávila each under an hour away.
Moorish Spain at its richest — the Alhambra above Granada, the Mezquita of Córdoba, Seville's cathedral, Alcázar and flamenco bars — plus the white hill villages, the sherry towns near Cádiz and the beaches of the Costa del Sol.
The Mediterranean middle, where Valencia pairs a futuristic City of Arts and Sciences with the birthplace of paella and a long city beach, backed by the citrus country and resort coasts of the Costa Blanca.
Spain's rainy, mountainous Atlantic edge: San Sebastián's pintxo bars and crescent beach, Bilbao's Guggenheim, the cider houses and cliffs of Asturias and Cantabria, and the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
Two very different archipelagos — Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza in the Mediterranean, with coves, hill villages and nightlife; and the volcanic Canaries off Africa, where Tenerife's Mount Teide and Lanzarote's lava fields deliver year-round warmth.
Spain has the longest high-speed rail network in Europe, and it radiates from Madrid: AVE trains reach Barcelona, Seville, Málaga and Valencia in two to three hours each, so the classic city circuit needs no car. Madrid and Barcelona have excellent metros, most cities have trams or dense bus networks, and the historic centres — Seville's, Granada's, Barcelona's Gothic Quarter — are made for walking. A car comes into its own for the white villages of Andalusia, the Rioja wine country, the Picos de Europa and the coastal back roads, though parking inside old towns is a genuine chore. Ferries connect the mainland to the Balearics, and the Canary Islands are a two-to-three-hour flight from the peninsula rather than a drive.
An AVE loop through the capital, the Moorish south and the Mediterranean coast — high-speed trains link every stop in two to three hours, so no car is needed. Run it in either direction.
A focused long weekend in the Catalan capital, pairing Gaudí's modernista landmarks with the Gothic Quarter, the market halls and a beach afternoon — all metro and on foot.
A southern circuit through Moorish Spain, easy by train between the cities and far better with a car if you want the white villages and sherry country in between.
Spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October) are the sweet spots almost everywhere — warm days, swimmable seas at the edges of the season, and no summer furnace inland. July and August are peak beach season but genuinely hot in Madrid and Andalusia. Winter is mild in the south and the Canaries and quiet everywhere, with skiing in the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada.
Barcelona or Madrid each fill three to four days easily. A week lets you pair one of them with Andalusia — Seville and Granada, say — using the AVE for the long hop. Ten days to two weeks covers Madrid, Andalusia and Barcelona at a civilised pace, or swaps one of those for the green north. The islands are better as their own trip than a bolt-on.
Not for the cities. AVE high-speed trains link Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Málaga and Valencia in a few hours each, and every big city has a metro or tram, so most visitors never rent one — and old-town parking is a headache. A car pays off for Andalusia's white villages, the Rioja wine country, the Picos de Europa and the quieter coasts, where the buses thin out.
Spain is best known for the Alhambra and its Moorish architecture, for Gaudí's Sagrada Família in Barcelona, and for flamenco, tapas and late-night dining. It's also famous for the art of the Prado, the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, football at Camp Nou and the Bernabéu, and beaches spanning the Mediterranean coast, the Balearics and the Canaries.
In Barcelona, Madrid and the resort coasts, yes — hotels, museums and restaurants deal with English all day. Inland and in smaller towns it's much less common, and a little Spanish goes a long way. Note that Spain is genuinely multilingual: Catalan, Basque and Galician are co-official in their regions and you'll see them on signage alongside Spanish.
Spain is a member of the European Union and part of the Schengen Area, and it uses the euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including small amounts, though it's worth carrying some cash for village bars, markets and smaller tapas places.
Eat regionally: paella in Valencia, pintxos in San Sebastián, jamón and gazpacho in Andalusia, seafood in Galicia, and tapas everywhere — often free with a drink in Granada. Drink Rioja and Ribera reds, cava in Catalonia, sherry around Jerez and vermouth before lunch. The bigger adjustment is the clock: lunch runs from about 2pm and dinner rarely starts before 9pm.
City breaks, coast and road trips.
