Spain
Eight hundred years of Moorish architecture, three of the world's great art museums, and a country that does not sit down to dinner until nine.
Several countries wearing one flag
Spain rewards travelers who stop thinking of it as one place. Andalusia in the south carries eight centuries of Al-Andalus in its architecture — the Alhambra, the Mezquita at Córdoba, the whitewashed hill towns. Catalonia in the northeast has its own language, its own politics and, in Barcelona, a city shaped almost single-handedly by Antoni Gaudí. The Basque Country in the north is greener than Ireland, speaks a language unrelated to any other on earth, and has more Michelin stars per head than almost anywhere.
The daily rhythm is the thing most first-time visitors get wrong. Lunch is the large meal and runs from roughly two to four. Shops in smaller towns still close in the afternoon. Dinner starts at nine or later, and in summer the streets are fullest at eleven at night when the heat has finally broken. Fighting this makes for a frustrating week; adopting it makes the trip.
On timing: April through June and September through October are the sweet spots. July and August are genuinely punishing inland — Seville and Córdoba regularly pass 100°F — though the northern coast stays mild all summer. Holy Week in Seville and the Feria that follows are extraordinary, and require booking the better part of a year out.
Spain, four ways
What we'd actually send you to do
Not an exhaustive list — the handful of things our travelers come home talking about.
Things to do
- Book the Alhambra months aheadGranada's Nasrid Palaces sell a fixed number of timed tickets a day and they go early. Without one you see the grounds and not the point.
- Eat your way through a pintxos crawlSan Sebastián's old town, standing up, one bite and one small glass per bar. The best meal in Spain is not sat down.
- See flamenco somewhere smallA tablao in Seville or Jerez seating forty people, not a dinner show for four hundred.
- Walk a stage of the CaminoYou do not have to do all five hundred miles. A few days into Santiago de Compostela gives you the arrival without the month.
- Take the AVE between citiesMadrid to Seville in two and a half hours at 190 mph. Faster and far nicer than flying.
Places to go
- MadridThe Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen sit within ten minutes of each other. Base yourself here and day-trip to Toledo and Segovia.
- AndalusiaSeville, Córdoba and Granada — the classic southern triangle, and the reason most people come.
- BarcelonaGaudí, the Gothic Quarter and the Mediterranean. Sagrada Família is still unfinished and still astonishing.
- The Basque CountryBilbao for the Guggenheim, San Sebastián for the food, and a coastline of green cliffs between them.
- Asturias & the green northCider houses, the Picos de Europa and beaches like Torimbia. Almost no American visitors.
Things to see
- The Alhambra, GranadaThe finest surviving Islamic palace complex in the western world. Go in the evening if you can get it.
- The Mezquita, CórdobaA cathedral built inside a great mosque, both left standing. Nothing else looks like it.
- Las Meninas at the PradoVelázquez's painting of a painting. Give it twenty minutes and you will see why.
- Sagrada FamíliaBook the tower access. The interior light in the late afternoon is the whole argument.
- The Guggenheim BilbaoThe building that turned a declining industrial port into a destination.
On the table in Spain
Dishes to order
- Jamón ibérico de bellotaAcorn-fed, aged for years, sliced paper-thin. Not the same product as anything sold as "Spanish ham" at home.
- Paella, in ValenciaRabbit and beans, not seafood, and eaten at lunch. Order it anywhere else and lower your expectations.
- Tortilla españolaPotato and egg, served at room temperature, argued about endlessly (runny or set).
- Pulpo a la gallegaOctopus with paprika and olive oil on a wooden plate. Galicia's gift to the rest of the country.
Where locals eat
- Mercado de San Miguel, MadridTouristed but genuinely good, and a painless introduction to twenty things at once.
- Sidrerías in AsturiasCider poured from overhead into a wide glass, drunk in one go, repeated. Cheap and enormously fun.
- Any bar with the floor covered in napkinsIn older Spain that was the sign of a busy, well-liked kitchen. It still broadly holds.
What to drink
- Rioja and Ribera del DueroThe two reds Spain is known for. Ask for a crianza and you will rarely go wrong.
- Sherry in JerezFino and manzanilla, bone dry and chilled, with olives. A revelation if you think you dislike sherry.
- Vermut on a SundayThe pre-lunch drink, on tap, with a slice of orange.
Let's put dates on Spain
Spain works beautifully as two or three cities by high-speed rail, and we build those itineraries regularly. Tell us roughly when you'd like to travel and we'll come back with real options and current pricing.
