Language · 1 published
Country guide
Spain covers 506,030 square kilometres and counts close to 50 million people, and it reads less as one country than as a set of regions that do not resemble each other. Madrid sits high and dry in the middle of the peninsula with the national collections in it; Barcelona is Mediterranean and Catalan-speaking. Andalusia in the south carries the Moorish architecture of Granada, Córdoba and Seville along with the heat that comes with it, while the green north coast from Bilbao to Galicia is wet Atlantic country most visitors never reach. The Canary Islands lie off Africa, and Ceuta and Melilla are on the African mainland itself.
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Dmitry Dzhus from London · CC BY 2.0
Photograph · dronepicr · CC BY 2.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
100 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
The Sagrada Família is a Catholic basilica in the Eixample district of Barcelona that has been under construction since 1882 and is still not finished.
Spotify Camp Nou is FC Barcelona's stadium, in the Les Corts district on the western side of the city. The club's own facilities page dates the official opening to 24 September 1957.
Park Güell is a twelve-hectare hillside park in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, and it began life as a property venture that failed.
Sant Pau Recinte Modernista is the hospital Barcelona built when its medieval one gave out, and it is now visited as architecture rather than used as a ward.
Plaza Mayor is the enclosed rectangular square at the centre of Hapsburg Madrid, the oldest quarter of the city, and it is a piece of deliberate town planning rather than a space that grew by accident.
Puerta del Sol is a semi-circular public square in the exact centre of Madrid, and it is a junction before it is a monument.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Ten to fourteen days allows three or four days in Madrid and four in Barcelona, plus selected rail day trips. Andalusia or either island group deserves a separate route instead of being compressed into the same mainland circuit.
Spain follows Schengen rules, but the traveller's nationality and route determine the required documents or visa. Confirm the current requirement through Spain's official consular information before departure.
High-speed rail makes Madrid-Barcelona and several mainland city pairs practical, while regional buses cover gaps. Island travel needs flights or ferries, and urban ticketing remains local to each city.
April to June and September to October are broad choices for Madrid and Barcelona. Andalusia, the Atlantic north, Balearics, and Canaries follow different heat and weather patterns, so a regional extension should control the final dates.
Spain uses the euro (EUR). Cards are common in cities, but a small euro reserve is useful for individual businesses; always check the billed currency and amount before approving a terminal transaction.
Spain's emergency contact is 112. Electrical outlets accept Type C and F plugs on a 230 V supply. Because this record contains no tap-water finding, use advice from the municipality serving each overnight stop.
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