Spain is one of Europe's most rewarding travel destinations — a country that packs Moorish palaces, Roman ruins, Gothic cathedrals, avant-garde architecture, world-class art, flamenco, great wine, and some of the world's best food into a single extraordinary country. From the architectural wonders of Barcelona to the free tapas culture of Granada and the wild Atlantic beaches of Galicia, these are the best things to do in Spain.
1. Visit the Sagrada Família, Barcelona
Antoni Gaudí's masterpiece is the most visited monument in Spain — and arguably the most extraordinary work of architecture in the world still under construction. Begun in 1882 and still not complete, the Sagrada Família is a surreal fusion of Gothic structure and organic Art Nouveau form: its towers soar above Barcelona's skyline like stone stalagmites, while the interior is flooded with colored light through intricate stained glass windows. Book tickets and a time slot well in advance.
2. Tour the Alhambra, Granada
The Alhambra is the supreme achievement of Moorish architecture in Spain — a palace-fortress of breathtaking beauty built by the Nasrid sultans in the 13th and 14th centuries. Its Nasrid Palaces contain some of the most elaborate decorative art in the world: honeycombed muqarnas ceilings, intricate geometric tilework, and serene water gardens. Book tickets weeks in advance — daily entry is strictly limited.
3. Experience Flamenco
Flamenco is one of the world's great performance arts — a UNESCO-listed tradition of music, dance, and song that emerged from the fusion of Romani, Moorish, and Andalusian cultures. The emotional intensity of live flamenco in a small, intimate tablao in Seville, Jerez de la Frontera, or Granada's Sacromonte caves is unlike anything else in European culture. Avoid tourist-oriented shows and seek out peñas flamencas (flamenco clubs) for the most authentic experience.
4. Explore the Mezquita, Córdoba
The Mezquita-Catedral of Córdoba is one of the world's most spectacular buildings — a forest of 856 red-and-white striped columns supporting arches in a space the size of a football pitch, built as a mosque in the 8th century and converted (controversially) by the addition of a Gothic cathedral in the 16th. The effect of walking into the hypostyle hall is genuinely overwhelming.
5. Eat Tapas and Pintxos
Eating is one of Spain's greatest pleasures, and tapas culture — small plates shared over long social evenings — is central to Spanish life. Each region has its own specialties: jamón ibérico in Andalusia, pintxos (Basque tapas on bread) in San Sebastián and Bilbao, patatas bravas in Madrid, pan con tomate in Barcelona, and paella in Valencia. A tapas crawl through the bars of Seville's Barrio Santa Cruz or Madrid's La Latina neighborhood is one of Spain's essential experiences.
6. Visit Park Güell and Barcelona's Gaudí Landmarks
Beyond the Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí left a trail of extraordinary buildings across Barcelona. Park Güell — a UNESCO World Heritage Site on a forested hilltop above the city — is a fantastical public park of mosaicked terraces, gingerbread gatehouses, and serpentine tile benches with panoramic views. Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (La Pedrera) on the Passeig de Gràcia are equally astonishing examples of Gaudí's organic architecture.
7. Watch the Running of the Bulls, Pamplona
The San Fermín festival in Pamplona (July 7–14) is one of the world's most famous — and controversial — events. Eight consecutive mornings, six bulls and two steers are released to run through the narrow streets of the old city to the bullring, accompanied by hundreds of runners. Ernest Hemingway immortalized the festival in The Sun Also Rises. Whether you run, watch, or simply experience the extraordinary atmosphere of a city consumed by festival, San Fermín is unforgettable.
8. Visit the Prado Museum, Madrid
The Museo del Prado is one of the world's greatest art museums — a collection of 8,000 paintings spanning five centuries of Spanish and European art, including the largest collection of Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, and Rubens works under one roof. The walk-distance Museo Reina Sofía holds Picasso's Guernica and the world's finest collection of 20th-century Spanish art. Together with the Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid's "Golden Triangle of Art" rivals any museum city in the world.
9. Take a Road Trip Through Andalusia
A road trip through Andalusia — connecting Seville, Córdoba, Granada, Ronda, and the White Villages (Pueblos Blancos) of the interior — is one of the great European road trips. The landscape shifts from olive groves to dramatic limestone gorges, and every town reveals another layer of Spain's Islamic, Jewish, and Christian heritage. Arcos de la Frontera, Grazalema, and Vejer de la Frontera are among the most beautiful White Villages.
10. Hike the Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago is one of the world's most famous pilgrimage routes — a network of trails converging on the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwestern Spain. The most popular route, the Camino Francés, begins in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France and crosses the Pyrenees before traversing northern Spain over 780 km (typically 30–35 days). Shorter alternatives allow walkers to complete the minimum 100 km pilgrim certificate distance from O Cebreiro or Sarria.
11. Explore Seville's Alcázar
The Real Alcázar of Seville is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe — a complex of palatial rooms, gardens, and courtyards built and modified by successive rulers from the Moorish caliphs through to the Spanish monarchs. The Mudejar palace built by Pedro I of Castile in the 14th century is the highlight — its exquisitely decorated rooms rival the Alhambra in their beauty and are far less visited.
12. Visit the Dalí Triangle, Catalonia
Salvador Dalí left behind three extraordinary institutions in Catalonia: the Teatro-Museo Dalí in Figueres (Europe's most visited museum after the Louvre in its opening years), the Castell Gala Dalí in Púbol, and the Casa-Museo Salvador Dalí in Port Lligat on the Costa Brava. Together they form one of the world's most surreal cultural circuits — a completely immersive journey into the mind of Spain's most famous 20th-century artist.