Best Places To Visit In Spain
Explore Spain easily at your own pace
Planning a trip to Spain with a road trip along scenic routes should be booked with Drive Europe. A trip to Spain has to be wisely designed because the country is fairly big and when you don't have more than two weeks time for a tour then you have to decide where to go. You cannot visit the major Spain destination in two weeks! When you plan a road trip in Spain then we would recommend a northern Spain itinerary with Barcelona and/or Madrid as the main starting points with the Mediterranean coast and/or the Pyrenees. As an alternative you can do a southern Spain itinerary with Andalucia, maybe starting and ending in Madrid. Strongly requested are driving tours with a combination os Spain and Portugal but you will need at least 3 weeks time for such a road trip.
Spain tour packages between the famous cities in Spain like Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia can be done by rail as well but when you want to explore the countryside, getting to some rural areas then we strongly recommend a driving tour. We will provide the best driving tours of Spain from the Pyrenees in Catalunya to the luxurious villas at Costa del Sol, from the galleries and museums of Madrid to the picturesque villages of Galicia. Wine lovers will be fascinated of the Rioja wine region, visit historic and famous Spanish bodegas or follow the road to Santiago de Compostela.
Our tours to the most beautiful places in Spain include "Must-see" sights and special-interest sightseeing, historic sites and natural history, scenic routes and recommended walks, special spots for children, and also restaurant recommendations. Get the most out of your driving tour with our special knowledge.
Catalunya, The Levant And Spanish Holiday Island Of Mallorca
This region has a variety of panoramas, but features like the long sweep of Mediterranean coastline and the common language bind it together. It includes three of Spain's best-known tourist areas - the Costa Brava, the Costa Blanca and Spanish holiday island of Mallorca.
The capital of Catalunya is Barcelona, a thriving commercial centre. To the north are the eastern Pyrenees, which separate the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe. This is a sparsely populated area dominated by rugged mountains and green valleys
irrigated by the rivers Ter; Llobregrat and Segre, together with tributaries of the Ebro. To the east, the rugged coastline of the Costa Brava features high cliffs, rocky coves and sandy beaches.
The Levant, including the Valencia region, famous for rice-growing, extends to the palm groves south of Alicante. The coast flattens out into long stretches of sandy beaches broken up by rocky promontories. This is the region of the "Huertas", fertile cultivated lands, irrigated by water from the Turia and Jacar rivers, that produce a rich harvest of oranges, lemons, olives, vegetables and flowers. Inland, in the south, lie desolate, lunar-like landscapes.
Opposite the Levant lies the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands. Between the Sierra de Tramuntana in the west and the gentler slopes of the Sierra de Levante in the east are a plain of orchards, fields, and windmills. Known for the
beauty of its coast, pinewoods and olive groves, the island is at its best in spring when the almond blossom is out.
Andalucia And The White Villages
To many people, the image of Spain is the reality of Andalucia: dazzling white villages perched on mountain tops silhouetted against brilliant blue skies, sun-oaked beaches, and high-rise blocks. Its past has included some 600 years of Roman domination and almost 800 years of Moorish occupation. This brought the region rich cultures and some unique monuments, of which the Alhambra in Granada, the Mosque of Cordoba and the Alcazar de Sevilla are the finest examples. The Moorish past is more evident in Andalusia than in any other part of Spain.
Aragon, Navarra And La Rioja
Aragon, Navarra, and La Rioja lie to the north and south of the basin of the River Ebro, which runs from the Cantabrian Mountains and down to the Mediterranean. Along the banks of the Ebro are the green irrigated lands known in Spain as "Huertas". The capital of Aragon, Zaragoza (Saragossa), lies in the Ebro depression on the right bank of the river and is a major agricultural center. Southern Aragon is an area of arid plains and the bleak windswept plateaux that form part of the Montes Universales mountain range. Temperatures here are extreme.
To the northwest is a small province of La Rioja, one of Spain's most important wine-growing regions, known particularly for its red wines, which have an unmistakable flavor. The Upper Rioja is mountainous and humid, while the Lower Rioja consists of irrigated flatlands and enjoys a mild climate. Navarra has links with the Basque country and was once the home of the "Vascons", the Basque ancestors. Late in the 8th century, Charlemagne wrested it from the Moors. The pilgrim route to the shrine at Santiago de Compostela went through Navarra and as a result there was a great flowering of Romanesque art all along the "Way of St James".
Green Spain
This region in the north of Spain consists of the Basque country (Euskadi), Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia. Although there are historical, cultural and administrative divisions, the area shares some common geographical factors. Spain's Atlantic seaboard is wetter than any other part of Spain, resulting in fresh green landscapes. To the north the Bay of Biscay, or "Mar Catabrico", has a magnificient coastline of rugged cliffs, inlets and sandy beaches. the Basque mountains start where the western Pyrenees end and give way to the
Cordillera Cantabrica, whcih sweeps across the north. The Cordillera includes the Picos de Europa and rises to more than 2.500m (8.000feet). Galicia to the west has a distinctive coastline of rugged cliffs and fjord-like inlets known as the "Rias Altas" in the north and the "Rias Bajas" down the west.
The four areas have very different histories. The Basques were a strong, independant race, with a long history of seeking self-determination. Cantabrica, further west has a number of caves containing wall paintings that prove the presence of palaeolithic man. Asturias was once a separate kingdom, and played an essential part at the very beginning of the Reconquest. In Galicia which was occupied by the Celts as early as the 6th century BC. Santiago de Compostela, where the tomb of St James the Apostle was the goal of pilgrimages, led the development of the area from the 9th century.
