We’d recommend at least a week for any trip to Spain, using that time to focus on one region to really immerse yourself in its culture, landscapes and cuisines. At the other end of the scale, there’s plenty to pack out a month-long driving holiday, or even longer if you have time on your side.
One-week Spain itinerary ideas
Most of our walking holidays fit perfectly here. By focusing your time in one area and by going at a slower pace, you can truly embed yourself into the rural landscapes, local communities and historic richness of a place, even on a relatively short trip.
8 days is time enough to cross the three provinces of the Picos de Europa for example. You’ll pass through woodland, wildflower meadows, rocky highlands, steep gorges and remote red-roofed hamlets and villages. You’ll eat prize-winning cheeses, enjoy crisp Asturian cider, meet countless locals and come to understand something of the agricultural and ecological heritage of these hills, of how humans have shaped, but far from tamed this beautiful national park.
It’s a similar story in Catalonia, where a week of walking can carry you from forested volcanic cones deep in the hinterland, all the way out to the sea and the shimmering coves of the characterful Costa Brava. The colourful fields and vineyards of Basque Rioja, the terraced hillsides, olive groves and white villages of Andalucía and the glacial valleys and alpine meadows of the Pyrenees can each be thoroughly explored on a relaxed week of walking with us.
Two-week Spain itinerary ideas
With more time to play with, you could expand your horizons to explore a particular region or two more deeply, usually with the aid of a hire vehicle.
Andalucía is ideal - its size, variety and cultural richness make for wonderful road trips. Have a look at this Andalucía Food & Culture holiday, which can be two or three weeks, or tailored to suit you.
If you're looking for a longer walking holiday, these trips to Andalucía and the Pyrenees provide more than enough beautiful trails to fill a two-week break. In fact all of our walking holidays can also be extended with time to explore further by car, or even combined into one two-week walking holiday. Here's one we made earlier... La Gomera to Tenerife: Walking the Canary Islands
Three-week Spain itinerary ideas
Now we’re really talking. Some of our longer driving holidays hit the three-week mark squarely on the nose. Andalucía can be thoroughly explored, walked, tasted and soaked up on the Food & Culture road trip. The entire Pyrenees range can be traversed on a truly epic walking holiday from the Basque Country to Catalonia, one of Spain’s great drives in our opinion. Or you can take a road even less followed and make your way west from fishing village to pilgrim path, bustling market to sunny vineyard, on a wonderfully textured drive along Spain’s unspoilt northern coast.
Again, lots of options. Please do give us a call if you have questions or just want to chat through the sorts of things you love doing and would hope to enjoy on a trip through Spain. Putting that into a bespoke journey with you is what we do best.
Four-week Spain itinerary ideas
Given everything we know and love about Spain, there are endless ways we could tie together the bits that most excite you into a trip of a month or more. But it’s probably best if we simply steer you in the direction of our Spain Month of Wonders Road Trip, which showcases a lot of it. Once you’ve had time to absorb it, come and tell us what you think and how we can make it yours.