ES · Curated travel guide
Sagrada Família, Teide, Alhambra and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.
Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Spain and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets. 5 are on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
World Heritage
Basilica under construction since 1882 in Barcelona, Spain
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, known simply as the Sagrada Família: a Catholic church in Barcelona's Eixample district, in Catalonia, Spain. Antoni Gaudí, the Catalan architect, designed it, and no church anywhere is taller.
Photo: Canaan, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Volcano and highest mountain in Spain
Also called Mount Teide, an active stratovolcano on Tenerife, a Spanish island of the Canaries. Its summit is Spain's highest point, and higher than that of any other island in the Atlantic Ocean.
Photo: Thomas Wolf , www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
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World Heritage
Cave with prehistoric paintings in Spain
A complex of caves near Santillana del Mar, a historic town in Cantabria, Spain, famous for prehistoric art: polychrome paintings and charcoal drawings of human hands and of the animals living there at the time.
Photo: José-Manuel Benito, Public domain
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National art museum in Madrid, Spain
Officially the Museo Nacional del Prado, Spain's main national art museum, in central Madrid. Built on the former Spanish royal collection, it holds European art from the 12th century to the early 20th, and is the finest single collection of Spanish art.
Photo: Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, Spain
In English the Way of St. James, a network of pilgrims' routes leading to the apostle James's shrine in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, where tradition says his remains lie. Pilgrims walk its routes as a spiritual path or retreat, to grow spiritually.
Photo: stephenD, CC BY-SA 4.0
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World Heritage
Cathedral and former mosque in Córdoba, Spain
Officially the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, dedicated to Mary's Assumption: the seat of Córdoba's Roman Catholic diocese, in Andalusia, Spain.
Photo: Toni Castillo Quero, CC BY-SA 2.0
World Heritage
Catholic cathedral in Burgos, Spain
Officially the “Holy Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica Church of St Mary of Burgos”, a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the historic centre of Burgos, Spain.
Photo: José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Modern and contemporary art museum in Bilbao, Spain
A museum of contemporary and modern art in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain, one of several museums linked to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, with permanent and visiting exhibitions of work by international and Spanish artists.
Photo: Naotake Murayama, CC BY 2.0
World Heritage
Roman lighthouse
An ancient Roman lighthouse above the Atlantic coast at A Coruña, Galicia, Spain; no other Roman lighthouse is fully preserved and still used for signalling to ships.
Photo: Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0
Officially the Kingdom of Spain, a country of Western and Southern Europe with territories in North Africa. It has continental Europe's southernmost point, is Southern Europe's biggest country and ranks fourth by population among European Union (EU) members. It covers most of the Iberian Peninsula, and also includes the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the eastern Atlantic, and Ceuta and Melilla, autonomous cities on the African mainland.
Officially The Kingdom of Spain. Known locally as España, Espanya, Espainia.
Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.
This guide lists 10: Sagrada Família, Teide, Alhambra and Cave of Altamira and others. Sagrada Família, Cave of Altamira, Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, Burgos Cathedral and Tower of Hercules are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Spain that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.
5 of the 10 in this guide: Sagrada Família, Cave of Altamira, Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, Burgos Cathedral and Tower of Hercules. That is not the full count for Spain, only the listed sites that made this guide.
Spanish, Catalan, Basque. The currency is EUR.
A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $2.15 for 2GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.
Orange and Movistar. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.
Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to Orange and Movistar once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.
| Plan | Data | Valid | Price | Order |
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| 2GB per day Cheapest | 2 GB | 1 day | $2.15 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 15 days | 3 GB | 15 days | $2.69 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 30 days | 3 GB | 30 days | $2.86 | Get it → |
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| 5GB for 30 days | 5 GB | 30 days | $4.26 | Get it → |
No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.
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