Best Spanish road trips recommended by travel editors
Spain’s diversity makes it the perfect place for road trips, especially for those who love the open road and the freedom to explore at their own pace. You can drive past lush green valleys one day and through seemingly endless desert the next. The best part is that you get to see places you might otherwise miss. Here are some of the best routes to discover the real Spain. THE COSTA BRAVA
One of the most beautiful parts of the Mediterranean coast is the Costa Brava, a rugged and natural area of great beauty and with excellent infrastructure. The best way to discover it is to take the coastal road from Blanes to Portbou, on the border with France. You’ll be able to enjoy the beautiful beaches, the cliffs and the little coves with crystal-clear waters, surrounded by pine trees and other native vegetation. The Costa Brava is also the ideal place to discover the works of artists like Salvador Dalí. You should visit the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueras, the Salvador Dalí House-Museum in Portlligat and the Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol. You’ll find a host of charming little villages along the way including Cadaqués, one of the most beautiful, with its whitewashed houses clustered around the bay and a labyrinth of narrow, cobbled streets which climb up to the church of Santa María. THE WAY OF SAINT JAMES
The Way of Saint James is the most important pilgrimage route in Europe. There are many routes leading to Santiago de Compostela, but the most popular is the French Way which runs across the north of Spain from Roncesvalles and is 764 kilometres long. It was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1993. You can do it all on foot, or just some stages, and you can also drive the whole way. Whatever you decide, it’s sure to be a unique, unforgettable experience. You’ll drive through a number of autonomous regions, each with its own culture and gastronomy. From the imposing Pyrenees in Navarre and Aragón, to the green valleys of Cantabria, La Rioja and Galicia, and the plains of Castile-León. You’ll discover a host of beautiful places, lovely villages and historical towns, lush vineyards, mountains, rivers and valleys. You’ll experience a journey full of spirituality and where you’ll enjoy all kinds of cultural and natural treasures. THE CANTABRIAN COAST
As you travel along the Cantabrian coast in the north of Spain you’ll discover a host of beautiful places. In the Basque Country you’ll find San Sebastián, a city with a great gastronomic tradition, incredible beaches and the ideal starting point for your journey. The Basque coast is a land of fishermen, great cliffs and spectacular beaches. The first stage of your journey will take you to Bilbao, a city that has reinvented itself and has become a great international icon of culture and architecture. You’ll love the avant-garde design of the Guggenheim Museum, the first to be built outside the USA. As you travel further along the coast you’ll reach Cantabria, where the mountains are especially beautiful and they contrast with the blue of the sea and the green of the valleys. You should stop in Santander, a cosmopolitan, elegant city with beautiful beaches. You shouldn’t miss the Altamira Cave, one of the greatest examples of prehistoric art in the world. It is located in Santillana del Mar, one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, with cobbled streets and beautiful stone houses. THE WHITE VILLAGES OF ANDALUSIA
The route through the white villages of Andalusia takes you through a series of charming villages in the mountains of Cádiz and Málaga, with their whitewashed houses and balconies overflowing with flowers. Arcos de la Frontera is the perfect starting point for a route leading through a series of extraordinary villages: Grazalema, Zahara de la Sierra, Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda. Located in the heart of the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Reserve, you’ll be surrounded by high peaks, caves and gorges where the griffon vultures live. If you like walking, there are a number of routes in the area which will take you to some of the most beautiful places in the countryside. You can also visit the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Reserve in Málaga, with its vast forests of Spanish firs and where you can find out all about the local flora and fauna in the El Burgo Nature Reserve Visitor Centre. In the province of Málaga, you should visit Ronda, one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Spain. The village is divided in two by the gorge of the River Tajo, a spectacular gorge 120 metres deep, which is crossed by a stone bridge. THE ROUTE OF DON QUIXOTE
The Route of Don Quixote runs through some of the most beautiful landscape in La Mancha. It is inspired by the adventures of the famous gentleman knight, created by Cervantes, the greatest Spanish writer of all time, in his novel Don Quixote de la Mancha. You can follow it by car, on horseback, by bike or on foot. Along the way you’ll discover the vineyards of La Mancha, castles, huge fields of wheat and the windmills which Don Quixote mistakenly attacked, thinking they were giants. The route passes through the regions of La Alcarria, Campos de Montiel, La Mancha, Manchuela and Serranía de Cuenca, all in the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha. As you travel along the route you’ll come across places that still have the feel of Cervantes’s time. You should visit the castle of Belmonte in Cuenca, which dates back to the 15th century, and the historical centre of Ciudad Real, with its cathedral and the church of San Pedro. In Consuegra, in Toledo, you’ll find the windmills that Don Quixote fought against and the castle which dominates the town. THE CASTLES AND FORTRESSES OF THE INTERIOR
A journey through the interior of Spain is a great opportunity to discover the land of castles and fortresses. You’ll find them all over Spain, but some of the most interesting are in the autonomous regions of Madrid and Castile-León. In Madrid, you should visit the Castle of Manzanares el Real, a beautiful 15th-century building. In the same province, the Castle of Chinchón is also worth visiting, especially during the summer, when there are open-air performances of plays by Cervantes. In Castile-León, you should stop in the village of Peñafiel, in Valladolid, where you’ll find a castle with a curious shape, almost like a ship, and where the Provincial Wine Museum is located. It is also a good opportunity to try the local wines from the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin. As you travel along the route you’ll also find some incredible buildings. For example, the Castle of Coca, in Segovia, is one of the best examples of the Gothic-Mudéjar style in Spain. Or the Castle of La Mota, in Valladolid, which is a great example of a fortified palace.
