Explore the history of Toledo

Toledo is a city steeped in more than 2,000 years of history, blessed with striking views and rich in epicurean pleasures, an easy day trip from the Spanish capital, Madrid. Curling around the bends of the Tagus River, Toledo’s walled Historic City, built high on a granite hillside, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, yielding a triumphant arrival by road. With Christians, Jews and Muslims living here in harmony for centuries, it’s renowned for diversity and tolerance. A highlight is Santa Maria la Blanca, one of Europe’s oldest synagogues, while the city’s Gothic cathedral impresses with artworks by Goya, Rubens, Rafael and hometown boy, El Greco. Food is prepared passionately in Toledo, with dishes inspired by the city’s multicultural heritage, served in Michelin-starred restaurants and cosy Old Quarter tavernas.

Track bears and wolves in León

Once hunted almost to extinction, around 400 endangered Cantabrian brown bears now roam the Cantabrian Mountains in Spain’s northern reaches of León province, along with a large number of Spain’s 2,500-3,000 Iberian wolves. This spectacular wilderness is a key area for spotting both iconic species in spring and late summer, although they are shy and can be elusive, so prepare to persevere and be patient.
Explore the mountains and beech forests in reserves including Montaña Palentina Natural Park, also home to otters and chamois, and Picos de Europa, Spain’s first national park. Wild Watching Spain (wildwatchingspain.com) and Nature Trek (naturetrek.co.uk) offer wildlife tracking tours, so you can learn more about the species and conservation measures from qualified guides.

Hit the desert in Granada

With rugged ravines, fossil-rich cliffs and Europe’s largest dolmen landscape, featuring more than 240 megalithic tombs, Granada’s UNESCO Global Geopark in Andalusia resembles the Badlands of South Dakota, much closer to home.

Protecting the Gorafe Desert, which stretches across 15 square miles, the Geopark offers hot air ballooning, hiking and biking, plus the unique opportunity to stay in a cave house: a minimalistic, design-led dwelling with dramatic desert views.

Roam Tarragona’s ruins

It’s not just Italy where you’ll find incredible architecture dating back to the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. Founded by the Romans in 218 BC, Tarraco was the first Roman centre established outside the Italian Peninsula. Today, Tarragona’s ancient Roman Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with some of the most impressive Roman ruins in Spain. It’s easy to imagine 14,000 spectators filling its amphitheatre to watch gladiators sparring on the edge of the Balearic Sea, or chariots thundering around the ancient city’s Roman Circus, the best-preserved in Europe.

Travel through time in Zaragoza

If Tarragona is Spain’s testament to the Romans, Aragon’s capital, Zaragoza, picks up this historical thread, with Moorish, Jewish, Christian and Roman cultural heritage woven through the city’s breathtaking palaces, fortresses and ruins.

With its UNESCO World Heritage centre focused on Mudéjar architecture, a unique Spanish style which blends Islamic Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance motifs, highlights for visitors include the Aljafería Palace, built as a fortified palace for Islamic rulers in the 11th century. The city is also home to two historic cathedrals: the Basilica del Pilar and the Cathedral of the Salvador, known as La Seo.

But Zaragoza isn’t content to live off its past, with modern architectural marvels including the futuristically fluid Bridge Pavilion, designed for Expo 2008 by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, and a thriving arts scene that includes the avant-garde International Urban Art Festival, Asalto, in September.

Raise a glass in Galicia

The Rías Baixas, four coastal inlets on the Atlantic coast of Galicia in northwestern Spain, is a region known for producing one of the country’s most sophisticated white wines, Albariño. Similar to other epicentres of wine making, like the Loire Valley and the Rhine, Rías Baixas boasts mineral-rich soils and a cool climate, yielding tipples that are crisp and fresh, and the perfect accompaniment to the seafood gifted by the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, ‘Green Spain’, as the area is known, offers kayaking around the estuaries, surfing on the beaches and hiking along dramatic coastal trails, while flower lovers can drive the region’s Camellia Route, which winds past gardens blooming with more than 8,000 varieties of vibrant shrubs and trees.

Discover Menorca’s megaliths

Generally quieter than neighbouring Balearic Islands like Ibiza and Majorca, Menorca lies in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, helping to protect its natural and cultural heritage.

Home to 220 species of birds and more than 1,000 species of plants, the island is one of the Mediterranean’s best-preserved isles, with largely untouched coves, cliffs and beaches.

There’s much for history lovers to enjoy here, too, with more than 1,500 Talayotic settlements dating from the Bronze Age (1600 BCE) to the Iron Age (123 BCE), also protected by a UNESCO World Heritage designation. Rural sites, including the Talayot towers and the megalithic chamber tomb of Naveta d’Es Tudons, rise from fields of wildflowers that light up in spring, as guests are invited to wander peacefully through the island’s past.

Sculpt a visit to Oviedo

Known for its magnificent medieval Old Town, with its café-fringed plazas, Oviedo is the capital of Asturias in northern Spain, lying an easy three-hour rail journey from the capital, Madrid.

At its centre stands the impressive Gothic Cathedral of San Salvador, while more than 100 statues are the star attractions in the city’s open-air public art museum, including celebrations of femininity, such as The Maternity, and a bronze dedicated to a much-loved local dog, Rufo, El Perro de Oviedo.

This is also Spain’s cider country, so after wandering among the artworks, pull up a chair at one of the city’s many cider houses on Calle Gascona, the ‘Cider Boulevard’, to try a glass in true Asturias style – poured from a great height to maximise the bubbles.

Star gaze in La Palma

The lesser-visited Canary Island of La Palma is one of the best places in Europe to stargaze. Strict regulations on light pollution protect the dark skies overhead, and the constellations can be viewed with the naked eye or at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. Visitors can join a daytime tour of the observatory and its 20-plus telescopes with dedicated Starlight Guides, while its location high on the rim of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park makes it the perfect spot to witness the island’s dazzling celestial display after dark.

Look beyond the beaches in Lanzarote

A popular choice for a beach break, Lanzarote lies in the Canary Islands archipelago and is known for its year-round balmy weather. But away from the island’s lively coastal resorts, visitors will find plenty of surprises.

Lanzarote’s 300 volcanoes and unique rugged landscapes are protected within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and the destination was the first in the world to be awarded Biosphere Responsible Tourism certification.

Explore the lava tubes and underground lake at Jameos del Agua, catch a surf lesson at Caleta de Famara or swim in the nearby lagoon, visit traditional villages near Los Volcanes Natural Park, or go wine tasting amidst the black volcanic vineyards of La Geria, where the views – and the wines – are out of this world.

Find out more about lesser-seen Spain at spain.info