While your initial impression of Spain may be one of popular stereotypes – bullfights and Flamenco dancers – in reality it’s an incredibly magnificent country of outstanding landscapes, accentuated by a synergy of mind-blowing architectural integrating a diversity of genres unlike anywhere else in the world. Combined through a smorgasbord of arts, culture, gastronomy, attitudes and styles, many reflecting its tremendous history, Spain is a constitution of a variety of original regional societies that today remain as proudly distinct as they are united within the fabric of a single country.
The Spanish people are among the most open-hearted and communicative in the world; making friends won’t be any problem, especially in the larger urban areas. There is a legendary saying that the Spanish living room is the bar where the people normally spend a lot of their time. And the only way to fully appreciate the excellence of this ‘community’ is to travel Spain from top to bottom.
This synergy has not come easily; past centuries have witnessed incursions by every dominating power of that era: Iberians, Celts, Phonecians, Greeks, Romans, Gothics, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Moors, French – each contributing to the amalgam which is now the cultural of Spain.
Travel Spain: When To Visit And How To Travel?
Typically, the most temperate climate can be enjoyed, depending on the region, between April and October, when you can rely on good moderate weather. But if your objective is to take in some of the numerous national and regional cultural festivals happening during the summer, your best bet is to visit between Easter and September.
But remember, to travel Spain in the summer means you are visiting during the high season, both the coastal and interior regions of Spain; in mid-summer, the inland cities empty out and everyone migrates to the coasts, and the Iberian Peninsula is packed with tourists outnumbering residents. If you are destined to travel Spain in the middle of summer, plan before ahead, and prepare yourself for a pleasant busy (but exciting) vacation; an additional advantage of not travelling in this peak period is naturally the rates charged by travel, accommodation and entertainment services.
Travel Spain By Train And Metro
Spain is well-serviced by international and regional airports with excellent connections to Europe and the rest of the world; a popular way to travel Spain, perhaps as a component of a European trip, is to use the excellent rail systems. Bus travel is well-developed in Spain, and may be quicker than trains of you are planning to cover a variety of destinations in any area; many train stations are located some distance outside of major cities and towns. But if your plans to travel Spain require you to be as flexible as possible, renting a car is possibly the best option.
Spanish trains are the most inexpensive in Europe, and provide excellent connection to all cities in Spain through an integrated network of national, regional and inter-city rail options, necessitated by the historical development of regional train services based on incompatible narrow and wide-gauge formats.
But the range of available rail options (for example, high-speed, sleeper car, dining/hospitality, commuter) provides you the flexibility to travel Spain while leveraging your rail component to also serve as accommodation and mobile restaurant – a savings in time and money which provides the means to extend your enjoyment of Spain’s cultural diversity a little longer.
In major Spanish cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, or to travel Granada Spain, subway systems are a convenient way to see most of the sites of the city, especially if the weather is not cooperating or you have a long distance to cover.
Travel Spain Outside The Metropolitan Areas
Why travel Spain outside of the big cities? In two words – beaches, and countryside.
Excellent beaches are found along most of Spain’s coast, near Malaga, Huelva and Almería in the south as well as near the coasts of La Manga, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Euskadi. If, however, your objective is wild and crazy packed beaches and resorts, there are plenty of crowded beaches on the Costa de la Luz and the Costa del Sol.
However, if fresh air is your objective, the Spanish countryside is filled with incredible geography unparalleled vistas and phenomenal photographic opportunities. In addition, there are areas which offer trekking, mountain-climbing, wildlife parks, cave exploration, horse riding, and even deserts. To travel Spain is indeed experience a lifetime of activities and fun in the space of a vacation.