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Entertainment in Spain
Spain's Top
20 Adventures |
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Hike Camino de Santiago Spain's Top 20 Adventures You don't have to be a pilgrim to grab your bike or boots and join in a 1,000-year-old tradition, traveling all or part of the 460-mile Camino de Santiago. But as you walk its footpaths, country lanes and forest tracks, you're following in the footsteps of generations of pilgrims. After all, this is Spain, where every child has both a birthday and a saint's day, and even the tiniest pueblo holds its annual fiesta in honor of the local saint. The pilgrims, another sign of the country's faith, walk toward their goal: the stunning cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, western Spain, once Christendom's third-holiest site (after Jerusalem and Rome). Hike down from Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees to thread, via Pamplona and the vineyards of Rioja, up to the Meseta, Spain's vast inland plateau. Overnight at refugios and hospitales, simple, centuries-old accommodations, which dot the well-marked trail about every 10 miles. Sail off Gibraltar Spain's Top 20 Adventures Locals call it the wind capital, and with good reason. Tarifa, which faces out to the Strait of Gibraltar at the Mediterranean's narrow western neck, serves up some awesome sailing winds. Here, dazzling white sands, clear waters, and constant waves draw windsurfing aficionados to what is Europe's southernmost mainland point. Offshore, your sail billows to the same steady breezes that brought Arab colonizers to Spain in the eighth century and later impelled Columbus's caravels westward to a New World. Tarifa's a year-round thrill; winters are mild, and the searing heat of Andalusian summers is tempered by the winds that power you across the waves. Bike Rioja Wine Country Spain's Top 20 Adventures Here's a gentle one for sybarites and wine lovers. The vineyards of La Rioja, Spain's most famous wine-growing area, sprawl over the banks of the wide Ebro valley. Savor their delights by cycling the minor roads of the valley's northern flank. Get the flavor at the Museo del Vino in Haro, take in the hilltop town of Laguardia, then overnight in Logroqo, the area's capital. It's worth detouring to the south bank to explore some of the Ebro River's seven tributaries, including the Rio Oja, which gives the region its name. Allow a couple of days, and build in plenty of time for a tipple or two. Dive the Canary Islands Spain's Top 20 Adventures El Hierro may be the smallest and least visited of Spain's Canary Islands, but for divers it's Spain's premier destination. The tiny volcanic island was the world's end for Europeans until Columbus "discovered" the Americas. Nowadays, you can swim with the divers who trawl the waters off its southern tip and discover for yourself its underwater charms. Here, where rivers of petrified lava flow into the sea, is the offshore Reserva Marina de la Punta Restinga, a protected marine park where the shelf drops a dizzying 1,650 feet a mere 650 feet offshore. Bring your camera: The village of La Restinga, which has four diving schools waiting to take you out, plays host annually to Fotosub, one of the world's major underwater photography competitions. Climb in Andalusia Spain's Top 20 Adventures The Garganta el Chorro (El Chorro Gorge), two and a half miles long, up to 1,300 feet deep, and, in places, barely 30 feet wide, briefly splits the Andalusian heartland. Join the countless climbers who home in from all over the world and whose bright colors make its walls shimmer. Choose from over 200 routes traced into the rock face. Their names—The Policeman Stole My Walkman, Brain Clot, Mama Wants to be a Bullfighter—are as intriguing as the routes themselves. Standards range from beginner-type clambering up the Placa de los Cotos to scary routes up the near-vertical walls of the gorge's steepest sections. Trek the Picos de Europa Spain's Top 20 Adventures Located south of the Bay of Biscay and swept by its humid winds, the valleys of the Picos de Europa teem with trippers in summer. Crowds are slimmer in the upland reaches, but there's no question that this is the place to trek. Of its three massifs, you'll find the Macizo Occidental and Macizo Central the most exhilarating. Stretch your legs with demanding day walks, or take on a challenging circuit such as a four-day route from the base of the cabin lift at Fuente Di or a nine-day trip starting and finishing at Lago de la Ercina. Unmissable highlights include the seven-and-a-half-mile Garganta del Cares gorge and the Vega de Liordes valley, hemmed in by sawtooth peaks. Refugios (mountain huts) are well spaced. Otherwise, drop down to find accommodations in the villages sprinkling the valley bottoms Surf in Basque Country Spain's Top 20 Adventures Here in the country of the Basques, a small, fiercely independent people whose origins continue to mystify historians and anthropologists, the waters of the Gernika River push into the deep, unsheltered Golfo de Vizcaya (Bay of Biscay). And Mundaka, with its legendary left-hander—steady and consistent, its 1,000-foot length broken by deep tubes—draws surfers from around the world. Just offshore, the tiny island of Izaro nudges a mere 150 feet above the Atlantic, but it's enough to funnel the waves and send them rolling in from the northwest. Ride those steady, swelling curlers—up to 12 feet high—until they break evenly, dropping you onto sandy beach. Such is the international reputation of this small coastal hamlet (easily accessible by train from the Basque city of Bilbao) that each year it hosts a round of the World Surfing Championship Hike the Catalan Pyrenees Spain's Top 20 Adventures It's called the Parque Nacional D'Aiguestortes/Estany de Sant Maurici, but don't let the long name deter you. Within the park's 50 square miles are more than 50 lakes and ponds, fed by waterfalls and icy streams (the "twisting waters" of the park's title). Leave behind its two main glacial valleys, scoured and eroded over 2 million years, and head up high. Woods of pine and fir give way to alpine grassland, then granite and slate, soaring all the way to 8,000-foot-plus peaks. From Espot at the park's eastern limit, there's inspiring trekking for just a day or up to a week. For the latter, you can overnight at a selection of the park's 11 refugios and take either a circular loop or walk westward, exiting via the Vall d'Aran. Sail the Balearic Islands Spain's Top 20 Adventures Sprinkling the Mediterranean, the Balearic Islands—50 miles and an eight-and-a-half-hour sail from Spain's eastern coast—offer limpid waters, well equipped ports, and an infinite number of of small calas, or coves, into which you can put in and be alone. For restaurants and throbbing nightlife, put in at Ibiza or stylish Palma de Mallorca. For quieter moorings, point the prow to Minorca, easternmost of the islands and its quaint capital of Mahon, or to the intimate harbors of Addaya and Fornells. For true tranquillity, drop anchor near the nature preserve on Cabrera Island (you'll need a permit), Sa Dragonera, or the uninhabited islets of Espalmador and Espardell. Ski Northern Spain Spain's Top 20 Adventures Most Pyrenean valleys cut north into the Sierra, but the Vall d'Aran, proud of its distinct dialect and folklore, runs east to west. Until a tunnel was blasted through the mountain in 1948, all connection with Spain was severed by snow for over half the year. Nowadays, the ski station of Baqueira Beret draws a stylish and mainly Spanish crowd for winter skiing (look out for King Juan Carlos and family, who schuss the slopes each year). With skins on your skis (and, unless you're experienced, a guide), you can leave the pistes far behind and bag peaks denied to downhillers: Pincela or the Malh de Bolard if you're an intermediate skiier, Milh and the challenging Mauberme for the more advanced |
Hike El
Greco's Toledo Spain's Top 20 Adventures If you've ever seen an El Greco painting, you're already familiar with the painter's vision of this gorgeous town. Set on a rocky mound surrounded on three sides by a deep gorge cut by the Rio Tajo, Toledo is packed with churches, synagogues, mosques, and museums. The setting makes for incredible views once you get outside, and the desolate landscape around town makes for some great walking. Take the Carreta de Circunvalacion along the south bank of the Tajo, a walk between medieval bridges that takes about an hour. Or hike up the hill above the westerly bridge of San Martin for an even better view. Walk Through Galicia Spain's Top 20 Adventures The walking's a mite less wild than the waves that pound Galicia's desolate granite Costa del Morte, so named for the countless shipwrecked sailors drowned offshore. As you thread westward from the onetime whaling port of Malpica, windswept headlands and promontories are separated by rias—gentler, more sheltered estuaries. Enjoy rarely visited beaches and, in the small ports, sample the freshest of fish and seafood, washed down with chilled Ribeiro wine from small ceramic bowls. West of Cabo de Finisterre, there's nothing but sea until New England. Allow five to seven days, or do it in half the time, and just as enjoyably, by mountain bike. Accommodations en route are thin, so pack a lightweight tent. See Island Wildlife Spain's Top 20 Adventures Once the haunt of smugglers, pirates, and the occasional shipwrecked fisherman, the tiny Islas Columbretes, which lie 30 nautical miles off Spain's eastern coast, are now a nature preserve. Steep-sided and volcanic, they're a vital stopover for birds such as bee-eaters, Audouin's gull, and the rare Eleonora's falcon, which flies in to feed on young birds on their first and last migratory flight. The clear blue waters lapping the largest island, Columbrete Grande (which is only 180 feet wide at its broadest point), seethe with such rare marine life as the Mediterranean red coral. Hire a boat from Castellan or join one of the weekend trips from Peqiscola (the boat owners will sort out a permit for you) and feel privileged to be one of the only 250 daily visitors Go Birding in a NP Spain's Top 20 Adventures It's a good thing that Doqana is Spain's largest national park. After all, it needs to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of birds that are resident, seasonal, or just making a stopover on the long-haul flight between northern Europe and Africa. Flat, open horizons like a watery Montana embrace a landscape of salt marshes, shallow lagoons, and shifting sand dunes, while colonies of herons, spoonbills, and storks make the cork oak trees their second home. The park hosts around 250 bird species—including, at the last count, 15 pairs of imperial eagles (about 15 percent of the world population), and an additional 100 occasional alighters. Walk the Hills of Majorca Spain's Top 20 Adventures It's hard to believe that Majorca, the largest and most developed of Spain's offshore Mediterranean Balearic Islands and host to over 7 million visitors annually, might be a walker's paradise. But get away from the tawdry south coast resorts and head for the modest height (there's nothing over 3,000 feet) of the wild, unspoiled, underpopulated Serra de Tramuntana. This fat limestone wedge, shaped like a giant block of cheese tilting down to the island's northern coast, has walking as wild as anywhere in Spain. Base yourself at the Monasterio de Lluc (once a monastery and now a popular trekker's venue) and radiate out for day walks, such as the heart-stopping descent of the Torrent de Pareis gorge or the cliffside splendor of the track between Sa Calabra and Seller. Climb in North western Spain Spain's Top 20 Adventures You're an experienced climber looking for a challenge? Steep-sided and bare, the 8,200 feet of the Naranjo de Bulnes beckon. Rearing up from the Picos de Europa in northwest Spain like a cracked molar sorely in need of a divine dentist, it's called "the orange one" because of its rich sunset color. Choose from around 70 different ascents. Easiest—or, rather, least difficult—and most popular is the Hermanos Martinez route, two hours of tough climbing up the southern face. The most demanding routes (strictly for the specialist) thread for almost 2,000 feet up the near-vertical western face. At its feet, the Refugio Vega de Urriellu mountain hut, a friendly house of Babel, draws climbers from around the world. Go Pyrenees Canyoning Spain's Top 20 Adventures Squeeze into a wet suit, clip on your helmet, and launch yourself down the Barranco de Lapazosa. One of the most spectacular canyons in the Aragon Pyrenees, it's also, unlike its sisters, fairly easy to get to. But canyoning is a relatively new sport in Spain, so you won't have much company. Near the French frontier and an offshoot of the spectacular Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, it's near the summer activities center of Torla. Also free of major obstacles, it's a friendly gulch in which to cut your canyoning teeth. But it's never tame and, if you want to enhance the adrenaline rush, you can jump rather than rappel most of its steps. Splash, jump, rappel, and four-limb clamber your way downstream as the canyon cuts its way through upland pasture, then forest, to meet the languid Ara River after three to four hours Bike Through Andalusia Spain's Top 20 Adventures You can hike them, you can bike them. Las Alpujarras, a 45-mile east-west tumble of steep valleys and ravines, lie deep in Andalusia, nudging up to the Sierra Nevada. The last bastion of the Muslims in Spain, their tiny whitewashed villages could have been transplanted from Morocco to the Mediterranean. For a day of sturdy, varied cycling, follow the lightly trafficked GR421 minor road. From Capileira and Trivelez, highest of the villages, trails head off to the high sierras. Head for the high one and bag 11,400-foot Mulhacin, mainland Spain's tallest peak. Or attack some of the eight marked trails that thread from the Barranco de Poqueira valley. Raft the Pyrenees Spain's Top 20 Adventures White-water rafting is in its infancy here, so take advantage of the sport before it becomes overly popular—and crowded. Raft, canoe, or kayak the Noguera Pallasera River through 28 miles of clear, foaming water. Or ride it, half submerged and spluttering, on a hydrospeed, a kind of aquatic boogie board. In season, the river surges down from the Pyrenees. Within its lightly populated valley, two villages—Llavorsi and the aptly named Sport—each boast several rental outfits and a fine restaurant or two serving hearty mountain fare to restore energy at the end of the day. Every put-in offers fun, but for maximum thrills, let yourself be tossed the nine miles downstream from Llavorsi to Rialp. Aim for May or June when the river's at its racing best, swollen with snowmelt from the mountains that block the northern horizon. Hike Near the African Coast Spain's Top 20 Adventures Off the coast of Africa, you can still find the last remaining sprigs of the temperate rain forest that once cloaked the whole Mediterranean basin until frozen to death during the last ice age. Within the Parque Nacional de Garajonay on the island of La Gomera flourish over 400 varieties of plants and trees. To experience this unique patch of Spain, first stretch your legs by walking over open, cloud-covered Alto de Garajonay—at almost 5,000 feet, the island's highest point. You'll feel the contrast all the more as you then plunge into deep woodland where only a small amount of sunlight penetrates through a world of soggy moss, lichens, laurels, and wisps of Spanish moss |
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