Things to do in Spain: 34 experiences worth the trip

An evening, three or four barsNo booking needed

Granada is one of the few Spanish cities where most bars still bring a tapa with every drink, at no extra cost.

About 90 minutesTimed entry

Gaudí planned the stained glass around the sun; at 9:00 the east windows glow green and blue before the nave fills.

1.5 to 2 hoursFree

Seville's old centre comes alive once the sun is down, and the lanes of Santa Cruz are far quieter at night than at midday.

3 to 4 hoursTimed entry

Get the Nasrid Palaces slot right and the rest of the Alhambra, from the Alcazaba to the Generalife, fits around it.

Half a day from Port de SóllerBook ahead

Swim in a small pebble cove where the Torrent de Pareis gorge meets the sea, with rock walls up to 200 metres above you.

2 to 3 hours, four or five barsNo booking needed

San Sebastián's old town works as one long bar crawl: one or two pintxos and a drink per bar, then on to the next.

90 minutes for one focused routeBook ahead

The Prado is free for the last two hours of the day, just enough for one chosen painting and the rooms around it.

A day, or about a week for the last 100 kmBook ahead

Walk the last stretch of the Camino Francés from Sarria and finish at Santiago's Cathedral with a Compostela to show for it.

About 1 hour per showBook ahead

Seville has flamenco every night; in a small room without microphones you hear the footwork and the guitar unamplified.

1 hour on foot around the outsideFree

Gehry's titanium building changes shape as you walk around it, and seeing it from the outside costs nothing.

A morning; the battle itself lasts 1 hourTimed entry

One hour, from a shell at 12:00 to a second at 13:00, when a whole town square turns into a tomato fight.

1 to 1.5 hoursGo alone or with a tour

A forest of red and white double arches, with a cathedral built into its centre, and an hour each morning when entry is free.

Half a dayFree

A city beach with calm water in an almost closed bay, the old town at one end and a car-free island offshore.

1 to 1.5 hours for the showBook ahead

A flamenco show in a whitewashed cave that recreates a Gitano wedding, with the dancers a metre from the front row.

A day trip from Granada, or a weekendBook ahead

Spain's southernmost ski resort is close enough to Granada for a day trip, with lifts climbing to just below the Veleta.

1 to 1.5 hours in the Monumental ZoneTimed entry

The mosaic dragon, the columned hall and the long serpentine bench of Park Güell sit in one ticketed zone, inside a free wooded park.

3 to 4 hours with the access tracksTimed entry

Walk boardwalks pinned to the walls of the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, more than 100 metres above the river.

2 to 3 hoursTimed entry

Low sun on the tiled courtyards and gardens emptier than at noon, then the Giralda or the river in evening light.

A night, until sunriseBook ahead

Pick the night by the resident DJ, then let the Discobus carry you between Ibiza's two clusters of clubs.

Half a day with the cable carBook ahead

The Teide cable car climbs from 2,356 m to 3,555 m in under eight minutes, with trails over both sides of the island.

A long lunch, about 2 hoursBook ahead

Rice on Valencia's seafront since 1898, cooked to order at lunch, the way paella started, with the beach promenade outside.

A full day from Cangas de OnísBook ahead

Two mountain lakes, Enol and Ercina, at the top of a road above Covadonga, linked by an easy loop.

An hour at the aqueduct, a day for SegoviaFree

167 granite arches held together without mortar, reaching 28.1 metres, and it costs nothing to stand beneath them.

60 to 80 minutes for the cellar tourBook ahead

Walk through century-old cellars where hams cure for up to three years, then taste the ham with a glass of wine.

1 hour outside, most of a day insideNo booking needed

Calatrava's buildings and Europe's largest aquarium fill the end of Valencia's old riverbed, and walking among the pools costs nothing.

At least two evenings; the week runs 21 to 28 March 2027Book ahead

Nearly 70 brotherhoods carry their pasos from church to Cathedral and back, and you do not need a paid seat to see them.

1 to 2 hoursFree

Walk 1.2 km downhill from Plaça de Catalunya to the old port, with a Miró mosaic underfoot and a working market in the morning.

2 hours 43 minutes end to endNo booking needed

A slow train day from Bilbao to San Sebastián, with the sea in the last hour and a stop for Zumaia's layered cliffs.

Half a day, better with a nightBook ahead

Ochre houses climb from a river meander to walls along the ridge, in a town that was the capital of its own Taifa kingdom.

About 1 hour 15 minutesBook ahead

Gaudí's remodelled town house ends on a rooftop with a dragon-scale ridge and tiled chimneys, if your ticket includes it.

A full day from MadridBook ahead

High-speed trains reach Toledo from Madrid's Atocha in about 33 minutes, so a day in the old town is easy.

Most of a day from BarcelonaNo booking needed

A Benedictine monastery halfway up a massif of rock fingers, an hour from Barcelona by train and rack railway or cable car.

About 2 hoursBook ahead

Climb the old minaret of Seville's mosque on 35 ramps wide enough for pack animals, then walk into the Gothic cathedral.

A full day, or a night to see it without day-trippersNo booking needed

Ronda's Puente Nuevo spans the El Tajo gorge, and the classic view of its arch is from the paths below.