With rolling vineyards, luscious dunes, soaring volcanoes and a capital crammed with art and culture, there’s little wonder Brits have been drawn to holidaying in Spain for generations. The UK’s most popular overseas destination offers city breaks in exciting places like Barcelona and Bilbao, cruises around the always-warm Canaries and beach holidays in traditional resorts on the Costa del Sol. From sipping on fruity reds in La Rioja to going off grid in Formentera, here are the best places to visit in Spain.
Main photo: Cadiz in Andalusia, Spain (Alamy)
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1. La Rioja
Spain’s most famous wine region is an easy drive south from Bilbao and Santander. The rolling hills of La Rioja are home to a staggering 500 wineries, many with cellars and tasting rooms. The region is also dotted with ancient towns, villages and monasteries. Alongside a vast network of leafy vineyards to explore, La Rioja offers cycling, horse riding, 4×4 routes and hot-air ballooning. A highlight for wine lovers is the eye-popping Marques de Riscal City of Wine, home to a hotel designed by Frank Gehry and an 1860-built bodega in the medieval town of Elciego.
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In La Rioja’s capital, Logroño, the sleek Aurea Palacio de Correos is set in a former post office, with bags of character
Exodus’ seven-night self-guided Vineyards of La Rioja Cycling tour includes bike hire and accommodation in Logroño, San Millan de la Cogolla, Haro andLaguardia
2. Formentera
Until a decade or so ago, Ibiza’s tiny neighbour went well under the radar. Now, however, free-spirited Formentera has gained plenty of attention thanks to its clear waters, velvety soft sand and faraway feel (you have to get a boat from Ibiza). Dreamy Ses Illetes is a narrow strip of white sand that draws day-trippers and yachters to the north of the island. Sant Francesc Xavier is Formentera’s whitewashed capital, though travellers struggle to tear themselves from Formentera’s sultry beaches, with boutique hotels, chic restaurants and bars popping up in Migjorn and other beaches on the south coast.
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Stay at the beach-chic Gecko Hotel & Beach Club for its location right on Migjorn Beach and adult-only pool with resident DJs
Viator’s Crystal-Water Sea Experience includes a relaxing boat tour with swimming stops in Cala Saona and Illetes, and lunch
3. Santiago de Compostela
The final destination on the Camino de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela welcomes blistered pilgrims to its sensational Romanesque cathedral in Plaza del Obradoiro. The cathedral’s four-storey museum features a 16th-century cloister, with more churches, convents and monasteries dotted around the centre. The old town’s winding streets are filled with tapas bars tucked into tall stone mansions, while Mercado de Abastosis crammed with wonderful Galician produce, from fresh fish to silky albariño.
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Stay at the Parador de Santiago de Compostela. Not only is it next to the cathedral, it’s one of the oldest hotels in Spain and features a gorgeous cloister
Musem*nt’s private two-hour tour includes a guided walking tour with local entrance fees included
4. Maspalomas, Gran Canaria
What makes this subtropical spot on the sun-kissed tip of Gran Canaria one of the best places in Spain? That’s easy: it’s the 400 hectares of golden coastal dunes, part of Maspalomas Dunes Nature Reserve, which mimic scenes straight from the Sahara. The rolling dunes flank the almost-two-mile Maspalomas beach, with a lighthouse at one end and the resort of Playa del Ingles at the other. There’s also a brackish lagoon that welcomes a variety of migratory birds and a resplendent oasis of green palm trees.
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Stay at the plush Hotel Faro, a Lopesan Collection Hotel, for its beachside location, large pool and additional rooftop pool
Its free to enter Maspalomas Dunes Reserve, but try Get Your Guide’s breezy one-hour guided Segway tour of Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles
5. Cies Islands
Few places compare to this dreamy archipelago off the northwest coast of Spain. To get here is an adventure — it’s a short ferry ride from Vigo, which requires advance planning since daily visitor numbers are capped. This is to the benefit of travellers who do make it to Monteagudo, FaroandSan Martiño. There are no cars, only seabirds, chalk-white sand, crystalline water and pine forests on the archipelago. There’s a campsite, too, though most make the journey here for the day, to hike, bathe and feast on fresh clams, scallops and squid at Restaurante Rodas.
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Book this stylish one-bedroom Airbnb apartment in Vigo for easy access to the ferry port to reach the Cies Islands
Viator has a full-day private Cies Islands sailboat excursion for up to ten people, including snacks while sailing
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6. Barcelona
The Catalan capital doubles as a sizzling seaside resort with miles of beaches skirting the city’s eclectic neighbourhoods. Barcelona also has a treasure trove of cultural landmarks, including the Museum of the History of Catalonia and the Gothic Quarter’s Picasso Museum. Visitors tracing the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí head straight to the ever-changing Sagrada Família, followed by a trip to the whimsical Park Guell and Casa Mila. For a night to remember, Barcelona’s beautiful Gran Teatre del Liceu on La Rambla always delivers.
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Stay at the boutique Yurbban Trafalgar Hotel for its rooftop pool and Gothic Quarter location
Intrepid has a seven-day Barcelona to Madrid itinerary that also includes Tarragona, Peñiscola and Valencia
7. Teide National Park, Tenerife
Dominated by the hulking Teide-Pico Viejo stratovolcano, the highest peak in Spain at 3,718m (12,198ft), Teide National Park has a wild landscape of jagged rock formations and ochre-hued terrain. This central Tenerife park is a Unesco world heritage site, drawing hikers and stargazers with the wonderful lack of light pollution revealing faraway galaxies and near-Earth planets. There’s a restaurant where chefs cook using heat from the ground and a cable car that takes travellers close to the summit. Those up for a hike to the very top require an official permit from the national park.
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This four-bedroom Hacienda Tenerife in Charco del Pino has an outdoor pool and spacious interiors
Exodus’ excellent seven-night self-guided Contrasts of Tenerife Walk itinerary includes three days walking in Teide National Park, accommodation, some meals and car hire
8. Cadiz
Hispanophiles have long adored this glorious deep-south city, one of the oldest in Spain, with a history spanning 3,000 years. It has the best of everything: long golden beaches, a gorgeous warren of old town streets and some fabulous museums and galleries. White sugar cube buildings covered with bougainvillaea are overseen by Cadiz’s baroque cathedral, with its shiny gold domed roof glistening in the Andalusian sunshine. Taberna Casa Manteca is a sweet spot in the old town to sip sherry and savour fried fish.
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Stay at Parador de Cadiz for its old town location, multiple pools and rooms with balconies
Exodus’ seven-day self-guided Cycling in Andalusia: Seville to Cadiz tour includes six nights’ hotel accommodation, bike hire and some meals
9. Madrid
Spain’s majestic capital lies smack-bang in the middle of the country on a lofty arid plateau. First-timers flock to the Prado, Madrid’ssublime art gallery, and its neighbours, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofia, next to the gorgeous botanical gardens. Worshippers go straight to Almudena Cathedral or the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid. Others prefer to head to hip Lavapies for its colourful street art, cool cafés and Sunday flea market.
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Stay at Totem Madridfor its top-drawer restaurant and its Salamanca barrio location
Cosmos’ 14-day Sensational Spain starts and ends in Madrid, including accommodation, guided sightseeing and some meals
cosmos.co.uk
10. Montserrat, Catalonia
This rugged mountain retreat north of Barcelona is home to an extraordinary Benedictine abbey carved into the mountain. The monastery is more like a small village, built around 1,000 years ago amid soaring rock formations and thick pine and holm-oak forests. It’s home to the all-boys Escolania de Montserrat choir, who perform twice daily at the basilica. The monastery features works by Picasso, Dali and El Greco and there’s a museum and hiking trails.
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Stay at the Hotel Abat Cisneros Montserrat for its location, right by the monastery
Explore has a nine-day Northern Spain Explorer including time in Montserrat
11. San Sebastian
Few cities are truly spellbinding, but San Sebastian captures the heart with its sweeping golden beach, elegant promenade and belle époque buildings. There’s a higgledy-piggledy old town packed with pintxosbars, gothic, renaissance and baroque churches and the porticoed Plaza de la Constitucion. The San Telmo Municipal Museum, partially inside is a 16th-century former convent, is a delightful stop to delve into the Basque Country’s backstory.
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Stay at the Hotel Maria Cristina for its riverfront location next to the old town
Insight Vacations has a ten-day Pace Spain tour featuring eight cities, including San Sebastian
insightvacations.com
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