Spain guide
Spain's luxury destinations
Seventeen places we plan trips to, from the cities of Andalusia to the volcanoes of the Canaries.
By Ramin Jafari · Facts checked
The places in Spain we plan luxury trips to most often are Seville, Granada, Córdoba, Ronda, Málaga and Marbella in Andalusia; Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia; San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela and the wine country of La Rioja and the Duero in the north; and Mallorca, Ibiza, Tenerife and Lanzarote among the islands. Each is different from the next: for each, here is what it is like, when to go and where we would have you stay, with its own page and our luxury hotels in Spain for more. Italy and France are among all our destinations.
At a glance
- Regions
- Andalusia, Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Balearics, the Canaries
- Best seasons
- April to June and September to October, almost everywhere
- Recommended stay
- Ten days for one region; two to three weeks to cross the country
- Getting there
- Fly to Madrid or Barcelona; Málaga for the south, Palma for Mallorca
- World Heritage
- 50 sites on UNESCO’s list: 44 cultural, four natural, two mixed
Andalusia
Andalusia: the cities of the south and the Costa del Sol
Three World Heritage cities a morning’s drive apart, Ronda on its gorge, and the coast from Málaga to Marbella.
Andalusia's capital
The Patio de las Doncellas, Real Alcázar Seville
- Best months
- March to May, and October into early November
- Stay
- Three or four nights
- World Heritage
- The Cathedral, the Alcázar and the Archivo de Indias
The Real Alcázar and the Cathedral, which calls itself the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, stand at the heart of a historic centre made for walking, with orange trees that flower in March and April. We arrange a private flamenco performance in the city it comes from, and the stay in an old house: Hotel Alfonso XIII, built for the 1929 Exposition, Palacio Villapanés, an 18th-century palace, or Mercer Sevilla, a mansion of twelve rooms.
Below the Sierra Nevada
In the gardens of the Generalife Granada
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- Stay
- Two or three nights
- World Heritage
- The Alhambra and the Generalife, 1984; the Albaicín, 1994
The Alhambra and the gardens of the Generalife, above the lanes of the Albaicín, with flamenco in the caves of Sacromonte and the Sierra Nevada behind. The Alhambra books up months ahead, so we reserve it as soon as your dates are fixed, with a licensed guide, and its own night visit if you would like the palaces again after dark. We would have you stay in the centre below it, at Hospes Palacio de los Patos, a 19th-century palace.
On the Guadalquivir
Córdoba
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- Stay
- Two nights
- World Heritage
- The Mezquita and old town, Medina Azahara, the patios
The seat of the caliphs: the Mezquita-Catedral at the heart of an old town on the World Heritage List, the flower-filled patios of the Jewish quarter, and the caliphal city of Medina Azahara 8 km out. Stay at Hospes Palacio del Bailío, a palace with a Roman house beneath the glass floor of its courtyard.
In the mountains of Málaga
The Puente Nuevo at dusk Ronda
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- The town
- 739 m up, split by a gorge 100 m deep
A town split by its gorge and joined again by the Puente Nuevo, with the old town’s Arab baths and palaces on one side, and wineries and white villages in the hills around. Two or three nights, or a day out from Marbella or Seville.
On the Costa del Sol
Málaga
- Best months
- March to May, and September and October
- Stay
- At least three days
- History
- Nearly 3,000 years, since the Phoenicians founded Malaka
Picasso’s birthplace, on the sea: the Museo Picasso and the Centre Pompidou, the Alcazaba above the port, tapas in the old town and the city’s own beaches. Avelia is based here, and Málaga is the airport for the south.
On the Costa del Sol
A beach in Marbella Marbella
- Best months
- May to October, and above all June to September
- The coast
- 24 beaches along nearly 28 km, below Sierra Blanca
The Costa del Sol at its most polished: the old town around the Plaza de los Naranjos, the Golden Mile’s hotels and beach clubs, the marina at Puerto Banús and the golf. On the Golden Mile, Marbella Club Hotel has villas with their own pools in its gardens, a Thalasso Spa, and its own golf course in the hills twenty minutes away.
Madrid and the Mediterranean
Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia
The capital’s museums and palace, Gaudí’s city on the sea, and the city where paella was born.
The capital
The Gran Vía at sunset Madrid
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- Stay
- Three or four days
- World Heritage
- The Paseo del Prado and the Buen Retiro, since 2021
The Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen on the Paseo del Arte, the Royal Palace with a guide, the Retiro, the shops and restaurants of the Salamanca district, and late dinners. For a palace of your own, Palacio de los Duques, a five-star hotel in a 19th-century palace a few minutes from the Royal Palace.
Catalonia, on the sea
Park Güell, above the city Barcelona
- Best months
- April to June and September and October; July and August for the beach
- Stay
- Four or five days
Gaudí’s city on the sea, the capital of Catalonia: the Sagrada Família and Park Güell, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera on the Passeig de Gràcia, the Gothic Quarter, and a beach at the end of the street. Stay on the beachfront at Hotel Arts, or in the Eixample by the Passeig at Hotel Alma.
On the Mediterranean
The Oceanogràfic, City of Arts and Sciences Valencia
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- World Heritage
- La Lonja de la Seda, the silk exchange, since 1996
The Gothic Lonja de la Seda and the Cathedral of the Holy Grail in the old town, the City of Arts and Sciences in the old bed of the Turia, and paella in the Albufera, the lagoon where it was born.
The north
The north and the wine country
The Basque coast and its tables, the end of the Camino in Galicia, and the vineyards of La Rioja and the Duero.
The Basque coast
La Concha Bay from Monte Igeldo San Sebastián
- Best months
- March to May and September to November; June to August for the beach
- Stay
- Three or four nights
La Concha Bay, the pintxo bars of the Parte Vieja, and the tables people cross the country for: Arzak, with three MICHELIN stars, and Mugaritz, in Errenteria nearby, with two. Our San Sebastián food guide goes table by table.
On its estuary
The Guggenheim at dusk Bilbao
- Best months
- May to October, and above all June to September
- World Heritage
- The Vizcaya Bridge, since 2006
Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim, open since 1997, on the river; the Seven Streets of the old town and their pintxo bars; and a green Atlantic coast close by.
Galicia
The Cathedral above the old town Santiago de Compostela
- Best months
- June to September, the warmest and driest months
- World Heritage
- The old town since 1985, the Camino's routes since 1993
The end of the Camino de Santiago: the Cathedral and its Pórtico de la Gloria above a granite old town, and the Mercado de Abastos for Galicia’s seafood. We arrange the last days of the Camino walked at your own pace, with the driving and the luggage taken care of.
The wine country
Bodegas Ysios, in the Rioja Alavesa La Rioja and the Duero
- Best months
- June to October, with the harvest in September and October
- Rioja
- Spain's first D.O.Ca., in 1991
- Ribera del Duero
- A D.O. since 1982
La Rioja: Haro’s century-old bodegas, Laguardia’s cellars and Logroño’s pinchos, an hour from Bilbao. The Duero Valley: wine estates and castles on the high plateau north of Madrid, where Abadía Retuerta, a 12th-century abbey, stands on its own estate.
The islands
The Balearic and Canary Islands
Coves and mountain villages in the Mediterranean, and volcanoes and year-round warmth in the Atlantic.
The Balearic Islands
On the Bay of Palma Mallorca
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- World Heritage
- The Serra de Tramuntana, since 2011
Coves and clear water, the mountain villages of the Serra de Tramuntana, and Palma’s Cathedral and old town. Stay in the mountains at Belmond La Residencia, twin manor houses on a hillside in Deià, or by the sea at Cap Rocat, a 19th-century fortress on the Bay of Palma.
The Balearic Islands
Cala Vadella Ibiza
- Best months
- April to June, and September and October
- World Heritage
- Dalt Vila, Phoenician Ibiza and its seagrass, since 1999
Dalt Vila’s Renaissance walls above the harbour, coves and clear water all round the coast, and a quiet, green north of whitewashed farmhouses, where Hacienda Na Xamena stands on the cliffs above the sea.
The Canary Islands
Roque Cinchado, with Teide behind Tenerife
- Best months
- Mild all year; March to May and September to November are best
- Teide
- 3,715 m, Spain's highest peak
An island with a mountain at its middle: Teide and the high desert around it, on the World Heritage List since 2007 (more in our national parks guide), laurel forest on the northern ridges, and a coast of black sand and cliffs. On the south-west coast, The Ritz-Carlton Abama is a terracotta citadel above its own beach, looking across to La Gomera.
The Canary Islands
The Maspalomas dunes Gran Canaria
- Best months
- Mild all year; March to May and September to November are best
- UNESCO
- Risco Caído World Heritage since 2019; a biosphere reserve since 2005
Dunes and a long sunny coast in the south, the old quarter of Las Palmas in the north, and between them the highlands, where Roque Nublo stands over ravines and pine forest. Stay at Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia, colonial-style villas in a palm garden at Maspalomas, or at Lopesan Villa del Conde, a resort in Meloneras built as a Canarian village.
The Canary Islands
Lanzarote's volcanic coast Lanzarote
- Best months
- Mild all year; March to May and September to November are best
- UNESCO
- A biosphere reserve since 1993, a Global Geopark since 2015
The lava is the landscape: the craters of Timanfaya, vines in pits of black grit, and César Manrique’s centres built into the rock. Stay at Lani’s Suites De Luxe, twenty-five suites on the sea for adults, most with a terrace and a jacuzzi, or at Hotel Fariones, on three beaches, with a wellness centre and a rooftop pool for its upper rooms.
By interest
Spain by interest
Culture and history. A private guide for the monuments and the museums, with our private architecture and cultural tours, and a private flamenco performance in Seville, where it was born.
Wine and food. Tastings with the people who make the wine, in the Duero and in La Rioja, with our wine tasting in Rioja, and the tables that need booking ahead, with our food and wine tours in Spain.
For two, or for a family. A honeymoon or an anniversary in our honeymoon trips to Spain, and days that hold every age in our luxury family trips to Spain.
Tell us which of these places you have in mind and what you want from them, and we design the trip around it: the order, the hotels, the guides and the tables. Our Spain itineraries show how a few of them fit together.
More Spain guides
- Luxury travel guide to Spain
When to go, our itineraries, and Spain's leading destinations and hotels.
- Planning a trip to Spain
How we design a trip, the hotels and experiences, and when to go.
- The best time to visit Spain
When to go, for the weather and the festivals.
City guides: Seville, Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, San Sebastián and Granada, or all our Spain guides.
Plan your Spain trip
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. Everything else we can work out together.
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