Getting around
Getting around within Spain is best done by bus; the bus network gives you better coverage and more mile for your dollar than the rail system. If you're swanning off to the Balearics, you can go the whole luxury hog and get a flight, or pleb it on a ferry.
The only time you might seriously consider flying within Spain is to get out to the islands. From Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante, there are often good deals on charter flights.
There are plenty of bus routes serviced by dozens of independent companies, and the bus network is more extensive than the train system and cheaper.
Ferries regularly connect the mainland with the Balearic Islands, but flying is a better choice considering the time saved.
NOT TO MISS
Barcelona
Barcelona has transformed itself from smug backwater into one of the most dynamic and stylish cities in the world. Summer is serious party time, with week-long fiesta fun. But year-round the city sizzles - it's always on the biting edge of architecture, food, fashion, style, music and good times.
The buildings, many the work of the eccentric genius Gaudí, will blow you away. The art, with significant collections by Picasso and Miró, will make you clammy all over. The people, with their exuberance, their duende, their persistent egalitarianism, will fascinate you.
Barcelona's enviable position between the mountains and the sea ensures year-round outdoor fun. It is a city that is inconceivable until you get there, unbelievable while you walk its streets and unforgettable after you've gone - if you ever manage to tear yourself away.
Bilbao
Post-industrial Bilbao, the largest city in Basque Country (the País Vasco) is transforming itself with ambitious urban-renewal projects, most notably the marvellous Museo Guggenheim. This twist-up of glass and titanium, designed by US architect Frank Gehry and inspired by the anatomy of the fish and the hull of a boat, is the city's showpiece.
The contents of this sardine can are no less stunning than its exterior: works by Serra, Braque, Kandinsky, Picasso, Warhol and more line its walls and halls. The Museo de Bellas Artes, just 300m up the road, is also worth a look. When you tire of art riches, wander over to the restaurants and bars of the medieval casco viejo (old town).
Toledo
Toledo is an intact medieval city of narrow winding streets perched on a small hill above the Río Tajo. The city is crammed with fascinating museums, galleries, churches and castles. The awesome cathedral harbours glorious murals, stained-glass windows and works by El Greco, Velázquez and Goya.
Unfortunately, it is also crammed with daytrippers, so travellers wanting to enjoy the city should stay overnight and explore in the evening and early morning to see it at its best. The dominant Alcázar has been the scene of military battles from the Middle Ages right through to the 20th century. Other attractions include the city's two synagogues, the Iglesia de Santo Tomé (which contains El Greco's greatest masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz) and the Museo de Santa Cruz. Archaeologists working on Toledo's Carranque recently uncovered a 4th-century Roman basilica, Spain's oldest.
Alhambra
The Alhambra is one of the greatest accomplishments of Islamic art and architecture. The Palacio Nazaries is the centrepiece, noted for the intricacy of its stonework, while the Generalife - the summer palace of the sultans - is set in soul-soothing gardens thick with fountains and roses.
Museo del Prado
Converted in 1819 from a natural history museum to a repository of Spanish art held in royal collections, the Museo del Prado hosts over 7000 works. The strongest collections are the 17th- and 18th-century Spanish paintings on the first floor, featuring the likes of Velázquez, Goya and da Ribera
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Explore Spain's natural beauty and abundant wildlife by visiting one of the National Parks. Walks, hiking trails and jeep excursions take visitors to marshes and wetlands, coastal dunes, isolated mountain peaks or Atlantic beaches. At certain times of the year, the skies are filled with migrating birds heading for North Africa and the parks are also the habitat of a wealth of indigenous flora and fauna. With a bit of luck it is possible to spot rare and endangered species like the royal eagle, the capercaillie (or European grouse) and the Pyrenean mountain goat. The major national parks in mainland Spain are: Coto de Doñana (provinces of Seville and Huelva), Tablas de Daimiel (La Mancha), Ordesa (Huesca Pyrenees), Aigües Tortes (Lleida) and Montaña de Covadonga (Picos de Europa).
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Once away from the holiday costas, you could only be in Spain. In the cities, narrow twisting old streets suddenly open out to views of daring modern architecture, while spit-and-sawdust bars serving wine from the barrel rub shoulders with blaring, glaring discos.
Travel is easy, accommodation plentiful, the climate benign, the people relaxed, the beaches long and sandy, the food and drink easy to come by and full of regional variety. More than 50 million foreigners a year visit Spain, yet you can also travel for days and hear nothing but Spanish.
Geographically, Spain's diversity is immense. There are endless tracts of wild and crinkled sierra to explore, as well as some spectacularly rugged stretches of coast between the beaches.
ázquez, Goya, Dalí, Picasso - and has museums and galleries to match. The country vibrates with music of every kind - from the drama of flamenco to the melancholy lyricism of the Celtic music and gaitas (bagpipes) of the northwest.
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Welcome to Spain Info Finder the only guide you will ever need for Spain.
Whether your looking to Rent or Buy Property or simply looking for places to stay we have it right here in one place.
We also have advice on Moving to Spain, Travel guides for Trains, Planes and the best Car Rentals in Spain.
Enjoy and we hope you find what your looking for.
Once away from the holiday costas, you could only be in Spain. In the cities, narrow twisting old streets suddenly open out to views of daring modern architecture, while spit-and-sawdust bars serving wine from the barrel rub shoulders with blaring, glaring discos.
Travel is easy, accommodation plentiful, the climate benign, the people relaxed, the beaches long and sandy, the food and drink easy to come by and full of regional variety. More than 50 million foreigners a year visit Spain, yet you can also travel for days and hear nothing but Spanish.
Geographically, Spain's diversity is immense. There are endless tracts of wild and crinkled sierra to explore, as well as some spectacularly rugged stretches of coast between the beaches.
ázquez, Goya, Dalí, Picasso - and has museums and galleries to match. The country vibrates with music of every kind - from the drama of flamenco to the melancholy lyricism of the Celtic music and gaitas (bagpipes) of the northwest.
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