Top 10 Most Beautiful Cities in Spain

Spain's capital city combines regal grandeur with contemporary energy, housing three of the world's greatest art museums — the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen-Bornemisza — within walking distance of each other. The Royal Palace, Retiro Park, and legendary tapas culture make Madrid an endlessly rewarding destination. Its nightlife is legendary, with the city truly coming alive after midnight.

Seville is the soul of Andalusia, home to the magnificent Gothic cathedral and Giralda tower, the ornate Alcazar palace complex, and the atmospheric Barrio Santa Cruz neighbourhood. The city is the birthplace of flamenco and hosts Spain's most spectacular Easter processions and April Fair. The bullring of La Maestranza and the Espana Plaza from the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition are unmissable.

Granada's crowning glory is the Alhambra, a breathtaking 13th-century Moorish palace complex that stands as one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in the world. The adjacent Generalife gardens with their fountains and cypress trees add to the magic. From the Albaidin hilltop neighbourhood, visitors can gaze across to the Alhambra with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains as a backdrop.

Valencia is a sun-drenched Mediterranean city that invented paella and built a futuristic City of Arts and Sciences complex that seems to belong on another planet. The old town preserves a magnificent Gothic cathedral said to house the Holy Grail, while the converted Turia riverbed is now a 9-kilometre green park threading through the city. Valencia's famed Las Fallas festival in March features enormous sculptural monuments that are ceremonially burned.

Toledo rises dramatically above the Tagus River on a rocky promontory, its skyline dominated by the imposing Alcazar fortress and the soaring Gothic cathedral that contains works by El Greco. Known as the City of Three Cultures, Toledo was home to Christians, Muslims, and Jews for centuries, and this multicultural heritage is visible throughout its extraordinarily well-preserved medieval street plan. The city's sword-making tradition and marzipan are also famous throughout Spain.

Salamanca glows golden at dusk when the setting sun illuminates its extraordinary concentration of Renaissance and Plateresque architecture, giving it the nickname La Dorada. The University of Salamanca, founded in 1218, is one of the oldest in Europe, and the city's historic centre is presided over by the magnificent twin cathedrals. The Plaza Mayor is widely considered the most beautiful in all of Spain.

San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque) is a jewel of the Bay of Biscay, combining a perfect crescent-shaped beach, a charming old town, and the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita of any city in the world. The pintxos bars of the Parte Vieja old quarter offer an extraordinary gastronomic crawl, while Monte Igueldo provides panoramic views over the Concha Bay. The city hosts an internationally renowned film festival each September.

Cordoba's Mezquita-Catedral is one of the most astonishing buildings ever constructed — a vast Moorish mosque with 856 columns of jasper, marble, and granite that was later converted into a Christian cathedral, creating a breathtaking architectural hybrid. The medieval Jewish quarter surrounding it preserves flower-filled courtyards that come into full glory during the May Patio Festival. Cordoba was once the largest city in Western Europe during its Islamic golden age.

Bilbao transformed itself from a declining industrial port into one of Europe's most exciting cultural destinations through the 1997 opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, whose titanium-clad curves triggered the so-called Bilbao Effect. The regenerated waterfront, the excellent Basque cuisine, and the lively Casco Viejo old quarter make this city a compelling destination. The surrounding Basque Country offers dramatic coastlines and verdant mountains.