Travel guide to Spain with accommodation search

Spain's Mediterranean coast has become famous for its beaches, and some of Europe's best can be found there. Yet Spain has so many beaches on the Mediterranean Coast alone that the options are mind-boggling, and that does not even include the country's Atlantic shores. Ibiza in the Balearic Islands is renowned for its beach-by-day, clubbing-by-night party scene. Mixing one of Europe's oldest and most cosmopolitan cities with a holiday on the coast is Barcelona. Another major beach resort is found at Alicante, in Valencia. Farther south of Alicante there are yet more beaches in Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia. Some of these have been developed into mid-sized resort areas, others are quieter and feature only a few amenities, and a few are completely undeveloped. Then there are the beaches of the often-overlooked northwest, such as those in Cantabria. Finally, if your idea of a beach holiday is of a more tropical bent, there are Spain's Canary Islands.

Neutral throughout the Second World War, the great castles and cathedrals of Spain were not devastated by bombs or bullets as were so many others in France, Germany, Poland, Italy and England. That legacy is best indicated by a single statistic: Spain has the second greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites of any country in the world. The architectural heritage of Spain includes the simple monolithic ruins left from pre-historic times, the temples and aqueducts left behind by the Carthaginians and Romans, the palaces of the Moors, and the castles and churches of the Reconquista. Granada has its famed Alhambra, Caceres and Toledo their large medieval city centres, Lugo its Roman walls and A Coruna its Roman lighthouse. Virtually every town and village in Spain has something to it that is at least 500 years old and largely intact.

Spain is also a country of outdoor and sporting adventure. The Canary Islands are the setting for some excellent scuba diving, surfing and the great volcanic mountain of Teide. Spain is also where some of Western Europe's largest national parks are to be found, particularly in the north of the country in regions like the Basque Country, Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. Football fans should pay homage to the twin seats of one of Europe's greatest rivalries, Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona. One of the world's most bizarre and dangerous festivals, the infamous Running of the Bulls, takes place every year in Pamplona, Navarre.

Two of Europe's most cosmopolitan cities are Spanish, Barcelona and Madrid. When it comes to the arts, Madrid's Golden Triangle of three major art museums rivals even the collections of Paris, while Barcelona has its Picasso Museum. Yet beyond these two great cities in the Basque Country is Bilbao, with the Guggenheim Museum.

Then there are the cultural oddities of Spanish culture that make it one of the world's most interesting destinations. Most people associate the Celtic identity with Scotland and Ireland, and just maybe Brittany in France. However, Galicia is Spain's Celtiberian enclave. The Basque Country is home to most of Western Europe's most famous ethnic minority, while Catalans still proudly speak their own language. Looking at Spain as a monolithic and thoroughly Castillian country would be a mistake, but that does not mean Castillian culture has not left its impact. Spain's most famous contribution to world literature, Cervantes Don Quiotixe, took place in the modern region of Castille y La Mancha, and the jousting windmills are still there to this day.

If you love food will love Spain. This is the country that invented tapas, gazpacho and paella. Regions like Asturias produces some of the world's finest ham, La Rioja and Navarre some of its best wine, and Andalusia much of the world's olive oil.

Spain is a country that has it all: rich and exotic culture, lovely food and fine drink, beautiful beaches, outdoor adventure, museums and great old buildings and ruins. When one considers that the only other country in Europe with islands that share the tropical latitude of Morocco is Portugal, then in some ways Spain actually offers more than countries like Italy, Greece or France. The kind of place where you could go back on month-long vacations for years and still not see everything, it is not surprising that Spain ranks so high on so many lists of places to go.