If you see only one town in Spain it must be GRANADA . For here, extraordinarily well preserved and in a tremendous natural setting, stands the Alhambra - the most exciting, sensual and romantic of all European monuments. It was the palace-fortress of the Nasrid sultans, rulers of the last Spanish Moorish kingdom, and in its construction Moorish art reached a spectacular and serene climax. But the building seems to go further than this, revealing something of the whole brilliance and spirit of Moorish life and culture. There's a haunting passage in Jan Morris's book, Spain , which the palace embodies: "Life itself, which was seen elsewhere in Europe as a kind of probationary preparation for death, was interpreted [by the Moors] as something glorious in itself, to be ennobled by learning and enlivened by every kind of pleasure."

See our blog article on the Alhambra Palace - Granada

Google Map of Granada

Barcelona

Barcelona has boomed since the early 1990s, when preparations for the Olympic Games wrenched it into modernity, and today it remains well in the vanguard of other Spanish cities (with the possible exception of Madrid) in terms of prosperity, stability and cultural activity. It's a confident, progressive city, looking towards the rest of Europe for its inspiration and its innovations - the classic tourist images of Spain seem firmly out of place in Barcelona's bustling central boulevards and stylish modern streets. And style is what brings many visitors here, attracted by enthusiastic newspaper and magazine articles which make much of the outrageous architecture, user-friendly city design, agreeable climate and frenetic nightlife. Even the medieval Gothic quarter and its once-notorious red-light area have been swept up by the citywide renovation programme, which is still running at full tilt. As the new millennium starts Barcelona has continued to blossom from provincial city to putative European capital.

Being the number one city tourist destination in the world Barcelona really does offer accommodation to suit absolutely every ones needs from a vast array of modest low budget hostels and hotels to some of the most luxurious accommodation you will find anywhere in Spain. Top travel companies such as travelnow and booking.com also offer quality and low budget accommodation in Barcelona.

See related blog articles on Barcelona

Google Map of Barcelona


A night on the tiles in Spains famous capital - Madrid

Madrid nightlife is a pretty serious phenomenon. This is one of the few cities in Europe where you can get caught in traffic jams at 4am, when the clubbers are either going home or moving on to the dance-past-dawn discos. As with everything madrileño , there is a bewildering variety of nightlife venues - all of which are covered, to some degree, in the area reviews following. Most common are the discobares - bars of all musical and sexual persuasion, whose unifying feature is background (occasionally live) rock, dance or salsa music. These get going from around 11pm and will stay open routinely to 2am or 3am, as will the few quieter cocktail bars and pubs.

Frommers Madrid Guide:
Plaza Mayor/Puerta del Sol -- The most popular areas from the standpoint of both tradition and tourist interest, they can also be dangerous, so explore them with caution, especially late at night. They are filled with tapas bars and cuevas (drinking caves). Here it is customary to begin a tasca crawl, going to tavern after tavern, sampling the wine in each, along with a selection of tapas. The major streets for such a crawl are Cava de San Miguel, Cava Alta, and Cava Baja. You can order pinchos y raciones (tasty snacks and tidbits).

Gran Vía -- This area contains mainly cinemas and theaters. Most of the after-dark action takes place on little streets branching off the Gran Vía.

Plaza de Isabel II/Plaza de Oriente -- Another area much frequented by tourists. Many restaurants and cafes flourish here, including the famous Café de Oriente. Chueca -- Along such streets as Hortaleza, Infantas, Barquillo, and San Lucas, this is the gay nightlife district, with dozens of clubs. Cheap restaurants, along with a few female striptease joints, are also found here. This area can also be dangerous in the early hours of the morning, though the customary presence of weekend revelers who throng the streets till around 3am often manages to deter potential pickpockets and muggers. The reasonably active police presence at night also helps.

Argüelles/Moncloa -- For university students, this part of town sees most of the action. Many dance clubs are found here, along with ale houses and fast-food joints. The area is bounded by Pintor Rosales, Cea Bermúdez, Bravo Murillo, San Bernardo, and Conde Duque."

Discotecas are rarely worth investigating until around 1am (the madrugada - early morning). Most of them pick their clientele through a dress code exclusivity and you may at times need to ingratiate yourself with the doorman. Being foreign, oddly enough, seems to make it easier to get in. Entry charges are quite common and quite hefty (?3.50-18) at discotecas (and some of the more disco-like discobares ) but tend to cover you for a first drink. Free entries can sometimes be picked up from touts in the streets, in tourist offices or bars. Be aware that many discotecas in Spain are fairly ephemeral institutions and frequently only last a season before opening up somewhere else under a different name.

Google Map of Madrid


The Mezquita, Córdoba

CÓRDOBA lies upstream from Sevilla beside a loop of the Guadalquivir, which was once navigable as far as here. It is today a minor provincial capital, prosperous in a modest sort of way. Once, however, it was the largest city of Roman Spain, and for three centuries it formed the heart of the western Islamic empire, the great medieval caliphate of the Moors. It is from this era that the city's major monument dates: the Mezquita , the grandest and most beautiful mosque ever constructed by the Moors in Spain. It stands right in the centre of the city, surrounded by the old Jewish and Moorish quarters, and is a building of extraordinary mystical and aesthetic power. Make for it on arrival and keep returning as long as you stay; you'll find its beauty and power increase with each visit, as of course is proper, since the mosque was intended for daily attendance. The Mezquita apart, Córdoba itself is a place of considerable charm. It has few grand squares or mansions, tending instead to introverted architecture, calling your attention to the tremendous and often wildly extravagant patios . These have long been acclaimed, and they are actively encouraged and maintained by the local council, which runs a "Festival of the Patios" in May. Just 7km outside the town more Moorish splendours are to be seen among the ruins of the extravagant palace complex of Medina Azahara which is undergoing fascinating reconstruction.

Google Map of Cordoba


Wine

Having lived in Spain for the last 25 years one of my great pleasures is sitting down at one of my favourite tapas bars or local restaurants with a plate of fine black foot cured ham ( Pata Negra ) a small plate ( media racion ) of manchego cheese, extra cured and of course slowly washed down with one of Spain's finest red wines . Most people have heard of the great wines of the Rioja, Valdepeñas or Peñedes regions, however there are so many more wine growing regions which produce excellent quality red white and rose wines, such as Cataluña, Jerez, Castellon, Jumilla, La Mancha, Montilla, Rias Baixas, Ribeiro. There are companies in Spain which organize trips to the well known vineyards and well worth a visit.

Our Guide to Spanish Wines



Aqueduct, Segovia

This solid piece of Roman engineering, over 800m long, has been spanning the Castilian town for nearly 2000 years. Segovia has more than a full day's worth of sights. If you're on a flying visit from Madrid, obvious priorities are the cathedral and Alcazár in the old town, and the church of Vera Cruz and aqueduct , ( this solid piece of Roman engineering, over 800m long, has been spanning the Castilian town for nearly 2000 years ) just outside the walls to west and east respectively. Given more time, take a walk out of the city for the views , or just wander at will through the old quarters of the city, away from the centre: each has a village atmosphere of its own.


Picasso

MÁLAGA seems at first an uninviting place. It's the second city of the south (after Sevilla), with a population of half a million, and is also one of the poorest: official unemployment figures for the area estimate the jobless at one in four of the workforce. Yet though many people get no further than the train or bus stations, and though the clusters of high-rises look pretty grim as you approach, it has its attractions. The elegant central zone has a number of interesting churches and museums, not to mention the birthplace of Picasso and the new Picasso Museum , housing an important collection of works by Málaga's most famous son.

The Picasso Museum - Malaga
Online Picasso Project
Google Map of Malaga

Coto de Doñana

Doñana's unique habitats enable this vast national park to host a myriad of birds and other wildlife, including the Iberian lynx.

The Parque Nacional de Doñana is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. It is an immense area; the parque itself and surrounding parque natural or Entorno de Doñana (a protected buffer zone) amount to over 1,300 sq km in the provinces of Huelva, Sevilla and Cádiz. It is internationally for recognised for its great ecological wealth. Doñana has become a key centre in the world of conservationism. Doñana is well known for its enormous variety of bird species, either permanent residents, winter visitors from north and central Europe or summer visitors from Africa, like its numerous types of geese and colourful colonies of flamingo. It has one of the world's largest colonies of Spanish imperial eagles. The park as a whole comprises three distinct kinds of ecosystem: the marismas, the Mediterranean scrublands and the coastal mobile dunes with their beaches.

Google Map of Doñana

Las Alpujarras

The region of mountain villages known as Las Alpujarras clings to the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada, cloven by deep, sheltered valleys and gorges which run down towards the Mediterranean. The Alpujarra, as it is popularly known, in the singular, is famous throughout Spain because of its unique mini-ecology. Its terraced farmlands are constantly watered by the melting snow from above, constituting a high-altitude oasis of greenery which stands in dramatic contrast to the arid foothills below. This is ideal hiking terrain for adventurous travellers, provided you take along a tent and well-padded sleeping bags - the average altitude is 4,000 feet above sea level.

The cultural interest of the region lies in its fifty-odd villages, which were the last stronghold of the Spanish Muslims, or Moors. Soon after the Castillians took Granada in 1492, all the city´s Moors were forced to convert to Christianity. Those who refused took to the hills, settling in this remote, inaccessible area. Constant pressure from the Christians led to a bloody uprising, the Morisco Rebellion of 1568, which was ruthlessly crushed out, with the public execution of the leader, Ben Humeya, in the main square of Granada. Soon followed a royal decree expelling from the Kingdom of Granada all people of Arab descent, since the "new Christians", as the converts were called, were all suspected of being ¨crypto-Muslims¨ in secret...

Andalucia.Com - Las Alpujarras
Google Map of the Sierra Nevada


Toledo

TOLEDO has the status of a National Monument and UNESCO Patrimony of Mankind. The setting is breathtaking, and if you're an El Greco fan, you'd be mad to miss this city. In a landscape of abrasive desolation, Toledo sits on a rocky mound isolated on three sides by a looping gorge of the Río Tajo. Every available inch of this outcrop has been built upon: churches, synagogues, mosques and houses are heaped upon one another in a haphazard spiral which the cobbled lanes infiltrate as best they can. To see Toledo at its best, you'll need to stay at least a night: a day-trip will leave you hard pressed to see everything. More importantly, in the evening with the crowds gone and the city lit up by floodlights - resembling one of El Greco's moonlit paintings - Toledo is a different place entirely. Toledo also hosts one of the most extravagant celebrations of Corpus Christi in the country, with street processions and all the works. Other local festivals take place on May 25 and August 15 and 20.

Google Map of the Toledo