15 Best Tourist Attractions Destination in Spain - Spain Travel Guide
Spain is blessed with a mild climate, beautiful
coastal beaches, mountains and plains, and a long history that can be
appreciated by the architectural masterpieces found throughout the country in
many respects. In addition, vibrant cities invite travelers to linger.
Barcelona, Madrid and Seville each have their own unique charm and sites. Small
cities such as Ronda or Cuenca offer a slower pace and some unexpected scenic
delights in the countryside.
Barcelona is one of the top destinations in the
country and a place where visitors can spend a week easily. There are plenty of
sights and the pleasant atmosphere can be enjoyed from the picturesque squares
and courtyards or outdoor restaurants and cafés. The city was fortunate enough
to be selected for its unique architectural masterpieces by Antoni Guadi as a
canvas. His buildings from the 20th century stand in stark contrast to the
typical beautiful old architecture found in Spain. Gaudí's unfinished Sagrada
Família cathedral is the most famous site in the city, but Parc Güell is also a
must see, offering an insight into this man's fantastic imagination. For
general people watching, relaxing, or dining, Las Ramblas is the main tourist
hot spot in the city, where there is always something going on.
Madrid, the capital, is another place where you can
spend a lot of time. It is home to top museums in the country, many of which
are renowned internationally, including the Prado Museum. Some of the main
sights are the Royal Palace, the Real Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales and
the large Plaza Mayor, which is lined with outdoor restaurants and is
frequented by all kinds of entertainers. The 16th C Royal Monastery and the
Escorial Palace are also worth a side trip outside the city. Depending on the
length of time available, visitors may also want to take a day trip to Toledo,
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an old walled city.
Travelers heading to Seville will find a change from
the open boulevards and large Madrid squares in some of the narrow streets and
small squares. The city is more like a small city and relaxed than Madrid or
Barcelona. The main attraction is the huge Gothic Cathedral, followed by the
14th Alcazar and the Fine Art Museum.
The Alhambra Palace in Granada and the city of
Cordoba with its beautiful squares, whitewashed houses and the famous La
Mezquita-Catedral are other top sights that should be on the itinerary of
visitors when traveling through Spain. Sun seekers flock to Malaga's beautiful
wide stretch of beach and other coastal resort towns during the summer months.
Those who are looking for something more picturesque and removed from
mainstream Spain can hop on a flight to the island of Mallorca, where life is
slow.
The magnificence of the palace of a caliph, the
sybaritic sun-drenched Mediterranean beaches, the staccato stamp of the heels
of a flamenco dancer, the awful hush of pilgrims entering the cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela after weeks of walking El Camino. Spain's soul can be
found in such tourist attractions, which represent the tumultuous history, rich
culture and enchanting natural beauty of the country.
From the sunlight that plays endlessly off the
"scale" of Gehry's Guggenheim Museum and the bustling street life of
La Rambla and Plaza Mayor to the forest of columns and Moorish arches that
disappear into the silent expanse of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain exudes
a vibrant energy and a captivating blend of past and present. Plan your
adventures and things to do with our list of Spain's top attractions.
01. The Alhambra
and Generalife Gardens, Granada
No matter how much you read or how many pictures you
saw of the Alhambra palaces in Granada, this Moorish pleasure palace will take
away your breath. The royal palace of the Nasrid dynasty is the artistic
highlight of the Islamic period in Spain, when Al-Andalus represented the
epitome of culture and civilization in the Middle Ages of Europe, as they
called Andalusia.
The Alhambra complex consists of several buildings,
towers, walls, gardens and a mosque, but it is the indescribably intricate
stone carvings, the delicate filigree, the magnificent ceilings with tiles, the
graceful arches and the serene courtyards of the Nasrid palace that haunt your
dreams.
However, even in its unfinished state, the adjacent
palace built for Emperor Charles V is Spain's finest example of High
Renaissance architecture. And the terraced gardens of Generalife offer a
peaceful rest from the splendor and magnificent views of the rest of the
Alhambra.
02. Barcelona's
Sagrada Familia and Gaudi Sites
Antoni Gaudi took the Art Nouveau architectural style
a step further into absurdity, even some have argued. The fantastic and
outrageous buildings he created in Barcelona have become landmarks, this
Catalan city's signature attractions. First and foremost is the Church of the
Sagrada Família, officially the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família or the
Church of the Expiation of the Holy Family. One of the most unconventional
churches in Europe, it is also unfinished, so you can see the work in progress
below when you look down from its tower.
In Gaudi's Casa Milà, his last and most famous
secular work, you can search in vain for absolute straight lines; it looks more
like a piece of sculpture than a functional building. Be sure to climb to the
roof - it is said that the chimneys inspired Darth Vader's image from Star
Wars.
From a hillside, Parc Güell overlooks the city, the
views and gardens surrounded by fantastic creatures -salamanders, fish, a pulp
-and designs in bright mosaics of ceramic chard. A fancy towered house is
largely covered with colored ceramics near the entrance. Unlike most buildings,
the appeal of Gaudi even to children and adults who don't care about
architecture for one simple reason-they're just fun to look at.
03. The Great
Mosque of Cordoba (Mezquita)
Once Western Islam's main mosque and still known as
the Mezquita, Cordoba's mosque is one of the largest in the world and the
finest achievement of Spanish Moorish architecture. The Great Mosque ranks with
the Alhambra in Granada as one of the two most splendid examples of Islamic art
and architecture in Western Europe, despite subsequent alterations that
designed its center to build a Catholic cathedral in its heart.
The construction, which began in 785, used building
materials from Roman and Visigothic buildings and grew to its present
dimensions by 1000, its prayer hall with no less than nineteen aisles. Wherever
you stand or wherever you look, its rows of columns and rounded Moorish arches
are symmetrical.
Narrow, winding streets; small squares; and low
whitewashed houses with beautiful patios visible from the street fill the old
Juderia around the mosque, a Moorish atmosphere inherited from its past.
04. The Prado and
Paseo del Artes, Madrid
The Prado alone ranks for the richness of its
collections with the world's top art museums. But add the Reina Sofia National
Art Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the CaixaForum, along Madrid's
miles of tree-shaded boulevard, and you have the highest concentration of
priceless art treasures in the world. No wonder this is called El Paseo del
Arte-Arts Boulevard.
The Prado added another 12 galleries in 2009 to
house a collection of works by Goya and other artists of the late 19th century
after an expansion in 2007 that doubled its exhibition space. The Prado has the
world's largest collection of Spanish art, an impressive continuum of medieval
works from the 12th century through the avante-garde movement of the early 20th
century, and is particularly famous for the works of El Greco, Velazquez and
Goya from the golden age of Spain.
Other highlights include medieval murals and
retablos, paintings by Flemish and Dutch artists (be sure to see Hieronymous
Bosch's fantasy world and works by Rubens and Brueghel), and Italian art
(Botticelli, Raphael, Correggio, Titian, and Tintoretto).
Highlights of the Reina Sofia's impressive 20,000
works are Picasso's Guernica and works by Miró, Dalí, Dubuffet, Braque, Serra,
Calder, and Magritte.
05. San Lorenzo de
El Escorial
San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometers
northwest of Madrid, was the summer home of the kings of Spain, and work began
here in 1563 on a huge complex, including a monastery, a church, a royal
palace, a mausoleum, a library and a museum, all designed as a monument to
Philip II and his reign. The result is an amazing collection of attractions,
constructed around 16 courtyards, rooms and structures connected by 16
kilometers of corridors. At its heart is the church, the highlight of which is
the 30-meter-high retablo of Herrera, made of jasper and red marble, which is
approached by a 17-step flight.
In addition to Tibaldi's vaulted and frescoed
ceilings in the rooms off the lower cloister, the monastery's highlights are
the Panteón de los Reyes (the Spanish kings ' baroque burial vault) and the
library, which is also decorated with frescoes by Tibaldi.
See the Bourbon Suite in the palace, where Charles
IV's state apartments are decorated with rare furniture and 338 tapestries. The
picture gallery below contains a large collection of fine paintings, including
works by Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese,
Velázquez and El Greco.
06. Guggenheim
Museum, Bilbao
You really need to see this building to believe it -
no photograph has ever done justice to this symphony of forms, so alive that they
seem to be ready to take wings. American architect Frank Gehry used calcareous
blocks and ondulating titanium sheets to change the notion of modern
architecture. He succeeded so thoroughly that two new terms were born from it:
"The Bilbao Effect"-a city's ability to turn its fortunes around by
building a single world-class building-and "architectural tourism,"
an entire segment of the travel industry that revolves around contemporary
architectural landmarks. Inside the museum are traveling exhibitions and
rotating displays of its own collections of modern art.
07. Seville
Cathedral and Alcazar
The tower of La Giralda, the cathedral of Seville
and the Alcazar form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower is a minaret,
according to UNESCO, "the masterpiece of Almohad architecture." The
cathedral has more interior space than Rome's St. Peter's and a gold-covered
37-meter main altar of carved statues. A quartet of larger-than-life figures
hold Christopher Columbus' monumental tomb. La Giralda, Seville's emblem, began
its life as a minaret and is all that remains of the city's Great Mosque, which
was destroyed to build the cathedral.
The opposite Alcazar was started by the Moors in 712
and continued in the ornate neo-Moorish style called Mudejar after King Pedro's
Christian re-conquest in the 1300s. The rooms and lounges are amazing and the
gardens, shaded by fragrant orange and lemon trees, are a pleasure to stroll
in. Santa Cruz, the former Juderia (Jewish Quarter), a neighborhood of
whitewashed houses, iron balconies and flower-filled courtyards, is next to the
east.
08. Santiago de
Compostela Cathedral
The magnificent cathedral of Santiago (St. James)
was built to house and honor the saint's relics, and since the Middle Ages it
has been the goal of pilgrims to complete the famous Camino de Santiago. One of
the most outstanding monuments of early Romanesque architecture, the cathedral
was built between 1060 and 1211, and the interior is still in the purest early
Romanesque style, despite the Baroque transformation of the exterior in the
16thto 18th centuries.
As you enter the west front, through one of Spain's
most impressive church façades, you'll see both of these periods. Step in front
of the Pórtico de la Gloria, part of the old western front now hidden by the
façade of the 18th century. This triple doorway is one of the world's largest
and most beautiful Romanesque sculpture collections.
The interior focuses on the elaborately decorated
Capilla Mayor, built over the tomb of the Apostle. The apostle's wooden figure
from the 13th century, richly adorned with precious metals and gems, is in the
center of the high altar of jasper, alabaster and silver. Narrow staircases
lead to the figure on either side, so that pilgrims can kiss the cloak of the
Apostle-culminating in their pilgrimage. The remains of the Apostle are in a
silver casket in a crypt under the altar.
09. Plaza Mayor,
Madrid
Since the 16th century, when Philip II entrusted the
task of designing it to his favorite architect Juan de Herrera, builder of the
Escorial, Plaza Mayor has played an important role in Madrid's life. It served
as a stage for ceremonial events -the proclamation of a new king, the
canonization of saints, the burning of heretics -and public entertainment such
as chivalric tournaments and bullfights. The cafes that reach their
pedestrian-only stone pavement and the restaurants shaded under their arcades
are the living room of Madrid, popular meeting places for Madrileños and
tourists alike.
10. Ciudad de las
Artes y las Ciencias, Valencia
When Valencia diverted the stream of the river that
had flooded the city repeatedly, it was left with a large, flat riverbed
spanning bridges. The brilliant Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava created an
amazing ensemble of structures that became a magnet for contemporary
architecture enthusiasts. Not only buildings, but also museums, art venues and
aquariums (by Félix Candela and the only building not designed by Calatrava)
form one of Spain's most popular tourist attractions. Europe's largest
oceanographic aquarium, L'Oceanogràfic, was built in the shape of a water lily
with buildings dedicated to different aquatic environments from the tropics to
the poles.
11. Costa del Sol
Beaches
With the record as the sunniest place in Europe and
mile after mile of white sands lapped by gentle seas, it is no wonder that the
beaches of the Costa del Sol are the goal of sun-hungry northern Europeans
looking for sun-and-sand getaways. This popularity initially caused serious
over-development, but the Andalusian government has not only stopped it, it has
also begun the process of destroying the worst offenders and returning whole
areas of the coast to natural landscapes, clean beaches and attractive new
buildings that are more in harmony with their surroundings.
The beaches are not the only tourist attraction in
Costa del Sol. The revitalization of Málaga's hub city has made this coast even
more attractive for everyone. Yachtsmen love Puerto Banus ' smart marina, and
greedy golfers head west from the old-world charms of Marbella to Nueva
Andalucia, known as the Golf Valley for more than 50 courses. The old city of
whitewashed houses and well-preserved remains of the Moorish Castillo is a few
steps from the beach in Marbella.
12. La Rambla,
Barcelona
On a summer evening walking along La Rambla, you might
think that every single inhabitant of Barcelona was with you. It's definitely
the place to be on a summer evening or a weekend after work. This tree-lined
boulevard crosses the city centre, stretching northwest from the Columbus
Memorial near the port, a green line -not a very straight line.
The section of Plaça de Catalunya is lined with
plane trees, its wide pedestrian zone flanked on each side by a narrow road. La
Rambla has a number of book and newspaper stands, restaurants and cafes with
open-air tables, as well as flower and bird markets. The lively atmosphere is
enhanced by paving artists, street musicians, living statues and impromptu
performers.
13. Toledo's Old
City
Moorish, Gothic and Renaissance architecture mix and
blend into one of El Greco's most famous paintings. High on a granite hill and
surrounded by the deep gorge of the Tajo River on three sides, it has an
amazing profile; it is an unforgettable sight to approach from below.
The city's layout, with its irregular pattern of
narrow streets and many blind alleys, reflects its Moorish past, and numerous
churches, convents and hospices represent the Christian architecture. This
makes the old city a kind of open-air museum that illustrates Spain's history
and has been listed as part of the cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. The
Gothic cathedral is beautiful, its interior is richly decorated and the two
synagogues in the atmospheric old Juderia are decorated in the Moorish style.
While in that neighborhood, be sure to see the San Tome church for its masterpiece
El Greco.
14. The White Towns
of Andalucía
Poised like white frosting dabs on the steep crags
of southern Andalusia, the White Towns are not only beautiful, they talk about
the long and fascinating history of this region. Mountains rise directly from
the sea west of Gibraltar, and among them hide these white towns, each on its
top.
Most spectacular is Arcos de la Frontera, whose
square next to the Gothic church ends vertiginously in a 137-meter cliff
overlooking an olive, orange and almond valley. Its labyrinth of winding
cobbled streets leads to a Moorish castle past cafes and craft shops that sell
ceramics and pottery.
In the area around the Grazalema Nature Reserve
there are a total of 19 of these villages of small white houses. Two others
worth seeing are Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra. Jerez de la Frontera, home
to flamenco and Andalusian thoroughbreds, is a good base in the region. Visit
the Centro Cultural Flamenco for the precise ballet of these horses at the Royal
Andalusian School of Equestrian Art.
15. El Teide,
Tenerife
The highest peak in Spain, this ancient volcano -but
still cooking -is also one of the greatest natural wonders of Europe. The Pico
de Teide and the Caldera de las Cañadas, a gigantic volcanic crater, form the
National Park of the Teide in the center of Tenerife. In listing the park in
2007, UNESCO cited its natural beauty and "its importance in demonstrating
the geological processes underpinning the development of oceanic islands."
There are several ways you can explore El Teide. You
can drive or walk through the interior of the caldera -the crater floor -12
miles in diameter and a barren moonscape of colored rock formations like
driving into the center of the earth. You can climb the cone of El Teide, but
an eight-minute cable car ride is an easier way to get close to the top. Views
cover the entire archipelago on a clear day and can extend to North Africa-the
Canary Islands ' closest land mass.
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