Madrid
It’s true that Spain's capital doesn’t have the immediate cachet of Rome, Paris or even that other city up the road, Barcelona. Its architecture is beautiful, but there’s no Colosseum, no Eiffel Tower, no Gaudí-inspired zaniness to photograph and then tell your friends back home, ‘this is Madrid’. But this city is an idea, a way of living for the moment that can be hard to resist. Madrid’s calling cards are many: astonishing art galleries, relentless nightlife, its transformation into Spain's premier style city, an exceptional live music scene, a feast of fine restaurants and tapas bars, and a population that’s mastered the art of living the good life. It’s not that other cities don’t have some of these things. It’s just that Madrid has all of them in bucketloads.
Barcelona
Barcelona has been breaking ground in art, architecture and style since the late 19th century. From the marvels of Modernisme to the modern wonders of today, from Picasso to the likes of Susana Solano, the racing heart of Barcelona has barely skipped a beat. The city's avant-garde chefs whip up a storm that has even the French reaching for superlatives.
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a region with its own language, character and history – many Catalans think of their home as a separate country. The city itself could keep you occupied for weeks but just outside it are sandy beaches, Sitges and the Montserrat mountain range
It’s true that Spain's capital doesn’t have the immediate cachet of Rome, Paris or even that other city up the road, Barcelona. Its architecture is beautiful, but there’s no Colosseum, no Eiffel Tower, no Gaudí-inspired zaniness to photograph and then tell your friends back home, ‘this is Madrid’. But this city is an idea, a way of living for the moment that can be hard to resist. Madrid’s calling cards are many: astonishing art galleries, relentless nightlife, its transformation into Spain's premier style city, an exceptional live music scene, a feast of fine restaurants and tapas bars, and a population that’s mastered the art of living the good life. It’s not that other cities don’t have some of these things. It’s just that Madrid has all of them in bucketloads.
It’s often said that this is the most Spanish of Spain's cities and it is indeed Europe's most passionate city writ large. Very few Madrileños come from here originally, possibly making this Europe's most open and welcoming capital. If this can be summed up in a single phrase, it’s the oft-heard, ‘If you’re in Madrid, you’re from Madrid’. It’s not that they’ll knock you over with the warmth of their welcome. Rather, you’ll find yourself in a bar or lost somewhere and in need of directions, and you’ll suddenly be made to feel like one of their own. Just as quickly, without knowing when it happened, you’ll realise that you never want to leave.
Set on a plain rising gently from the sea to a range of wooded hills, Barcelona is Spain's most cosmopolitan city and one of the Mediterranean's busiest ports. Restaurants, bars and clubs are always packed, as is the seaside in summer. You might get the impression it's dedicated exclusively to hedonism, but it's a hard-working, dynamic place hoping to place itself in the vanguard of 21st-century Europe with a heavy concentration of hi-tech and biomedical business.
It regards its long past with pride. From Roman town it passed to medieval trade juggernaut, and its old centre constitutes one of the greatest concentrations of Gothic architecture in Europe. Beyond this core are some of the world's more bizarre buildings: surreal spectacles capped by Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família church.
Barcelona has been breaking ground in art, architecture and style since the late 19th century. From the marvels of Modernisme to the modern wonders of today, from Picasso to the likes of Susana Solano, the racing heart of Barcelona has barely skipped a beat. The city's avant-garde chefs whip up a storm that has even the French reaching for superlatives.
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a region with its own language, character and history – many Catalans think of their home as a separate country. The city itself could keep you occupied for weeks but just outside it are sandy beaches, Sitges and the Montserrat mountain range
Bilbao
Is a city to dream about – vital, vibrant and culturally dynamic, yet somehow stress-free and, above all, civilised in the true sense of that overused word. The Basque Country’s biggest and busiest city, Bilbao lies on Ría Nervión and is neatly wedged into the green hills of Vizcaya province. At its heart it is sliced in two by the murky waters of Ría de Bilbao, the Nervión’s channel to the sea.
Is a city to dream about – vital, vibrant and culturally dynamic, yet somehow stress-free and, above all, civilised in the true sense of that overused word. The Basque Country’s biggest and busiest city, Bilbao lies on Ría Nervión and is neatly wedged into the green hills of Vizcaya province. At its heart it is sliced in two by the murky waters of Ría de Bilbao, the Nervión’s channel to the sea.
Bilbaínos (residents of Bilbao) have long called their city the botxo, the ‘orifice’, an ironic and affectionate multimetaphor for the city’s topography and its once-ugly industrial sprawl. Post-industrial decline into an even deeper black hole seemed to be Bilbao’s fate during the late 20th century. Yet by the 1990s visionary planning, and Bilbao’s tradition of hard work, saw the city well on the way to reinventing itself as a 21st-century metropolis, even before Frank Gehry’s iconic Museo Guggenheim gave it international cultural status. Bilbaínos appreciate ‘El Goog’, but they know also that their city was going places anyway.
Today, Bilbao throngs with sophisticated yet earthy locals, its cuisine is positively lip-smacking, there’s nonstop partying if you want to burn out in style, and a rich Basque culture more than matches the internationalism of the Guggenheim.
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If you are arriving in Madrid early, or if planning to extend your tour, click this link for a suggested range of short, half, full or multi day tours.
