Spain trip planning guide

When to go, region by region

Spain is big enough to have several climates, so choose the region before the month. Andalusia and the interior, Madrid included, are at their best in spring and autumn; inland summers are hot enough that you plan the day around the midday heat. Holy Week brings Seville's Semana Santa processions, and with them some of the city's highest hotel demand of the year.

The north coast is the opposite case. The Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia are greener, cooler and rainier, and summer is their strongest season. The Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands are classic summer beach territory, while the Canary Islands, far to the south-west off the African coast, are Spain's mild-winter option.

The main regions

Madrid and central Spain. The Prado and the capital's late-evening food culture, with Toledo and Segovia as easy day trips.

Catalonia. Barcelona's Gaudí buildings and city beaches, and the Costa Brava to the north.

Andalusia. Granada's Alhambra, Córdoba's Mezquita and Seville's cathedral and old quarter, plus the white hill villages inland.

Valencia. A city-and-beach base on the Mediterranean, and the home of paella.

The Basque Country and Galicia. San Sebastián's pintxos bars and Bilbao's Guggenheim, then Santiago de Compostela, where the Camino de Santiago ends.

The islands. The Balearics (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza) for summer, the Canaries for winter sun.

Our top places to visit in Spain goes deeper on individual sights.

Getting around

High-speed AVE trains are what make a multi-city Spain trip work. Spain's official tourism site says they connect Madrid with Barcelona, Seville or Valencia in three hours or less. Madrid is the hub, so a route that passes back through the capital is often quicker than one that follows the coast. Renfe is the state operator; fares on the busiest lines vary a lot by departure, so compare before you book.

Domestic flights take under two hours to almost everywhere except the Canaries, which makes flying the sensible choice for the islands and for long diagonals. Hire a car for Andalusia's hill villages and the mountains of the north. Our guide to choosing between the train and a flight in Europe walks through that decision leg by leg.

For a ready-made route, the 10-day Europe itinerary through Lisbon, Porto, Madrid and Barcelona shows the transfer time across four bases, and the Portugal and northern Spain trip stays on the green north coast. Crossing the border? Our Portugal trip planning guide covers the west of the peninsula, and Barcelona is the natural link to the France trip planning guide.

Entry and money

Spain is in the Schengen area, so visitors who do not need a visa can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across every Schengen country on the trip rather than per country. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational since 10 April 2026: non-EU travellers have their fingerprints and a facial image recorded at the border, which replaces the passport stamp. ETIAS, the separate pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors, is not running yet. The EU says it will announce the start date several months before launch, so check the official page before paying any site that claims to sell one.

Spain uses the euro, and cards are accepted almost everywhere in the cities. Meal times run later than in most of Europe, so a restaurant that looks empty at 7pm may simply not have started dinner service.