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Skiing is cheap in Spain and the facilities and conditions are surprisingly good. The country is also a trekking paradise, especially in the Pyrenees and the Picos de Europa. Cycling is popular, as are watersports such as swimming and surfing.
Two million years of glacial action has created two east-west valleys lined by jagged peaks of granite and slate, forming a home for pine and fir forests, open bush and grassland. Bedecked with wildflowers in spring and with some 200 small estanys (lakes), streams and waterfalls, this is a wilderness of rare splendour.
The two main valleys are those of the Riu Escrita in the east and the Riu de Sant Nicolau in the west. The Escrita flows out of the park's largest lake, Estany de Sant Maurici. The Sant Nicolau's main source is Estany Llong, 4km (2.5mi) west of Estany de Sant Maurici across the 2423m (7949ft) Portarró d'Espot pass. Three kilometres (1.8mi) downstream from Estany Llong, the Sant Nicolau runs through a particularly beautiful stretch known as Aigüestortes (Twisted Waters).
Apart from the valley openings at the eastern and western ends, virtually the whole perimeter of the park is mountain crests, with numerous spurs of almost equal height reaching in towards the centre. One of these, from the south, ends in the twin peaks Els Encantats (2746m and 2733m, 9009ft and 8966ft), towering over Estany de Sant Maurici.
tel 973 62 40 36
tel 973 69 40 00
taxi from Espot or Boí
The Córdoba mosque is one of the great creations of Islamic architecture with its shimmering golden mosaics and rows and rows of red-and-white-striped arches disappearing into infinity. Even the large numbers of tourists passing through the place today cannot destroy the mesmerising effect of the Mezquita's ever-changing perspectives and plays of light.
Architecturally revolutionary, the Mezquita recalls in a unique way the yards of desert homes that formed the original Islamic prayer spaces - in this case with a roof over the worshippers' heads, supported by a forest of columns and arches suggestive of an oasis palm grove.
What we see today is the Mezquita's final Islamic form with two big changes: a 16th-century cathedral plonked right in the middle (which explains the often-used description 'Mezquita-Catedral'); and the closing of the 19 doors which communicated the Mezquita with the outside world and filled it with light. Also missing, of course, are the rows and rows of kneeling men, praying in unison, who would have filled the Mezquita.
Calle Cardenal Herrero
(N of the Río Guadalquivir)
tel 957 47 05 12
bus 3
| full | Euro 8.00 |
| child | Euro 4.00 |
From outside, Alhambra's red fortress towers and imposing walls rise from woods of cypress and elm, with the Sierra Nevada forming a magnificent backdrop. Inside the marvellously decorated emirs' palace, the Nasrid Palace and the Generalife gardens, you're in for a treat. Water is an art form here and its sounds take you into another world. Book in advance.
The spell can be shattered by the average 6000 visitors who traipse through the site each day, so try to visit first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon, or treat yourself to a magical night visit to the Palacio Nazaríes.
The Alhambra has two outstanding sets of buildings, the Palacio Nazaríes and the Alcazaba (Citadel). Also within its walls are the Palacio de Carlos V, the Iglesia de Santa María de la Alhambra, two hotels, several book and souvenir shops and lovely gardens, including the supreme Generalife.
Cuesta de Gomérez
(atop La Sabika hill)
www.alhambratickets.com
tel info 902 44 12 21
tel info 902 22 44 60
bus 30, 32 from Plaza Nueva
| full | Euro 10.00 |
| concession | Euro 5.00 |
| child | free |
Rapunzel towers, turrets topped with slate witches' hats and a deeeeep moat at its base make Alcázar a prototype fairytale castle, so much so that its design inspired Walt Disney's vision of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Fortified since Roman days, the site takes its name from the Arabic al-qasr (castle) and was rebuilt and expanded in the 13th & 14th centuries.
What you see today is an evocative over-the-top reconstruction of the original which burnt down in 1862.
Highlights include the Sala de las Piñas, the ceiling of which drips with a crop of 392 pineapple-shaped 'stalactites', and the Sala de Reyes (Kings' Room), featuring a three-dimensional frieze of 52 sculptures of kings who fought during the Reconquista. The views from the Torre de Juan II are exceptional, and put the old town's hill-top location into full context.
www.alcazardesegovia.com 921 46 07 59
bus 2 (from train station)
| full | Euro 3.50 |
| concession | Euro 2.50 |
Toledo is known as La Ciudad Imperial (the Imperial City) for a reason; this is Iberia's Rome with a cultural slug of mosques, synagogues, churches and museums. Toledo's labyrinthine narrow streets, plazas and inner patios are reminiscent of the medinas of Damascus and Cairo. Stay until dusk, if you can, when the streets take on a moody, other-worldly air.
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.
In 1986 Unesco declared the city a monument of world interest. In spite of this, people are abandoning the old city for the characterless but comfortable modern suburbs sprawled out beneath it, leaving behind public servants, tourists, the rent-protected elderly and a medieval city in urgent need of attention.
(above the Río Tajo)
www.t-descubre.com
Famed as a ritzy resort for wealthy Spaniards who want to get away from the hordes in the south, stunning San Sebastián has been a stronghold of Basque nationalist feeling since well before Franco banned the use of Euskera, the Basque language, in the 1930s.
Donostia, as the city is known in Euskera, is a surprisingly relaxed place with a small-town feel. Those who live here consider themselves the luckiest people in Spain and won't hesitate to tell you so. After a short stay you may well begin to appreciate their immodest claim.
After a makeover lasting more than two decades, Barcelona has transformed itself into one of the most dynamic and stylish cities in the world. Summer is serious party time, but year-round the city sizzles - it's always on the biting edge of architecture, food, fashion, style, music and good times.
The buildings, especially 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 creative spirit, 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.
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 acclaimed 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).
In true Spanish style, cultural events are almost inevitably celebrated with a wild party and a holiday. Among the festivals to look out for are La Tamborrada (Festividad de San Sebastián) in San Sebastián on 19 January, a short but rowdy event where the whole town dresses up and goes berserk. Carnaval takes place throughout the country in late February; the wildest are said to be in Sitges and Cádiz. In March, Valencia has a week-long party known as Las Fallas, which is marked by all-night dancing, drinking, first-class fireworks and colourful processions. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the week leading up to Easter Sunday, and is marked by parades of holy images through the streets; Seville is the place to be if you can get accommodation. In late April, Seville's Feria de Abril is a week-long party counterbalancing the religious fervour of Semana Santa.
The last Wednesday in August sees the Valencian town of Buñol go bonkers with La Tomatina, in which the surplus from its tomato harvest is sploshed around in a friendly riot. The Running of the Bulls (Fiesta de San Fermín) in Pamplona in July is perhaps Spain's most famous festival. Along the north coast, staggered through the first half of August, is Semana Grande, another week of heavy drinking and hangovers.
