Spain Travel Guide

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From sizzling cuisine and riotous fiestas to cutting-edge contemporary art, rigorously conserved natural spaces and a stunning network of rural accommodation, Spain offers the lot.

Spain's old urban centers exude architectural jewels, with Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque churches, Moorish fortresses and Renaissance palaces. Plazas and bars ensure ancient city streets remain the focus of social activity, and a sprinkling of modern masterpieces adds a contemporary tone.

Sun, sea, and sangría can certainly be had along the country's south coast, but Spain's natural beauty extends to many different terrains. Mountainous national parks offer stunning hiking in alpine environments, while the north coast offers rolling green hills, huddled fishing villages and isolated sandy coves.

Coastal and island holidays remain extremely popular, but many visitors are also turning inland: an artistically restored rustic stone farmhouse is a beautiful base for exploring the wonderfully relaxed pace of Spanish village life.

Geography

Spain shares the Iberian Peninsula with its smaller neighbor, Portugal, and is bordered to the northeast by the Pyrenees mountain range, which separates Spain from France. The Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera), 193km (120 miles) southeast of Barcelona, and the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa, are part of Spain, as are the tiny enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the North African mainland.

Mainland Spain is the second highest and most mountainous country in Europe, with an average height of 610m (2,000ft). The Pyrenees stretch roughly 400km (249 miles) from the Basque Country's Atlantic coast, eastwards to the Mediterranean Sea. In places the peaks rise to over 1,524m (5,000ft), the highest point being 3,404m (11,169ft).

The main physical feature of Spain is the vast central plateau, or meseta, divided by several chains of sierras. The higher northern area includes Castile and León, the southern section comprises Castile/La Mancha and Extremadura. In the south, the high plains rise further at the Sierra Morena before falling abruptly at the great valley of the Guadalquivir.

Southeast of Granada is the Sierra Nevada, part of the Betic Cordillera, which runs parallel to the Mediterranean, rising to 3,478m (11,411ft) at the summit of Mulhacen, the highest point on the Spanish peninsula (at 3,718m (12,198ft), the Pico del Teide on Tenerife in the Canaries is the highest peak in Spain).

The Mediterranean coast extends 1,660km (1,030 miles) from the French frontier to the Straits of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, and separating Spain from North Africa.