Top tourist attractions in Spain

For more detail see ►	Roman Spain	Moorish heritage	Walled cities
Natural heritage	Churches & cathedrals	Top Spanish museums	Castles and fortresses

Top attractions

   While Spain's top tourist attractions are undoubtedly its beaches, beyond the beaches, Spain has litterally thousands of heritage tourist attractions, spread throughout the country. Some are well-known and much visited, others - off the beaten track - are largely ignored by tourists passing by.
   These chapters of About-Spain.net present the most important heritage tourist attractions in Spain, by category.  For information on the tourist attractions of specific regions of Spain, see regional guides.
  Spain has a cultural heritage that is unique among the countries of western Europe in many ways, but most significantly in so far as it is the only country of Western Europe whose heritage  has been significantly marked by the art and architecture of the Islamic world.
  Spain's heritage is the result of the intertwining of three main threads, classic European Christian culture, Islamic culture brought over from North Africa, and Jewish culture. Over the centuries,  Spanish art and architecture adopted exuberant styles, that can be seen in various forms today, from the arabesques of Granadan art to the lavish baroque and platresque styles of more recent centuries.

1. Spain's best tourist cities

    These are the most visited tourist cities in Spain: but they are just the icing on the cake. Some twenty Spanish cities contain or are themselves listed as UNESCO world heritage sites; the four below are on the tourist trail, other Spanish cities are less visited (see undiscovered Spain)....

2. Spain's best classical antiquities

    Hispania was an important part of the Roman Empire, and Roman remains are to be found in many parts of Spain. The most important vestiges of Roman Spain can be found at.....

3. Spain's Moorish heritage

    Eight centuries of Moorish presence in Spain profoundly marked Spanish culture, and gave Spain some of its most visited heritage tourist attractions.

4. Best Spanish Museums & Art Galleries

    Spain has some of Europe's great museums and art galleries, located in a number of cities across the country. While Madrid's Prado museum is a clear "first" in any list of Spain's best museums, the ordering of the runners-up is liable to be a matter of personal preference

5. Top Spanish castles and fortresses

    Centuries of conflict between Christians and Muslims in Spain have left a heritage of litterally thousands of castles and fortresses throughout Spain. Several of these are among Spain's major tourist attractions, and among the most impressive in Europe.

6. Natural heritage - outdoor Spain

    Most of Spain is sparsely populated; the dry climate of much of the Meseta - the upland plateau that includes a large part of the country - has ensured that Spain has to this day thousands of square kilometers of unspoiled country - mountains, plateaux and plains. There are amazing landscapes to discover and explore throughout Spain. Here are some of the best areas -  a small selection of some of the best natural environments that Spain has to offer.

► More topics:  Spain's finest cathedrals, walled cities, natural heritage areas