Europe – Spain

‘Fair land! of chivalry the old domain, Land of the vine and olive, lovely Spain!’ declared Felicia Hemans in her poem ‘Abencerrage’. Chivalry, along with the fruit of both the vine and the olive tree, indeed still reigns in Spain, inviting visitors to have an undeniably lovely time.

Spanish history, still very much alive in its palaces and castles, presents an intriguing cavalcade of many cultures that passed through southwesternmost Europe: Celts from the north; Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians from the Middle East; Romans from Italy; and Moorish conquerors from northern Africa. A landscape crossed by snowcapped mountains and fringed with beautiful beaches, Spain feels like a venerable domain, where you could imagine coming across an armor-clad knight on horseback as readily as a hip Spaniard zipping along on the back of a moped. While the high plateau interior can seem hypnotically austere, the beaches along the Costa Brava and Costa Blanca welcome with openhearted warmth, promising glorious sunbathing, tours of world-class museums, meals at restaurants of international renown, and nightlife worthy of the most dazzling glitterati.

There’s so much to do, in fact, that it seems a shame not to linger in Spain, soaking up the sun and the culture from a home base that immerses you fully in the land of the vine and the olive.