Spain Tours with Flights from €1,115

The standard 10-day Spain tour hangs off the AVE high-speed spine that links Madrid, Andalucía and Barcelona. Days one and two are Madrid: the Prado, the Reina Sofía, a night in La Latina chasing tapas, and a half-day run out to Toledo (30 minutes by AVE and back in time for dinner).

Day three you train down to Córdoba for the Mezquita, then push on the same afternoon to Seville for three nights. Seville earns that extra day easily: the cathedral and the Giralda, the Alcázar, a full day for Itálica or a Jerez sherry-and-horses detour, and at least one proper late-night tablao. From Seville it's a three-hour coach or train to Granada for two nights, timed around a pre-booked Alhambra slot, which is non-negotiable, so book months out or let your tour handle it.

Day eight picks up the AVE north: Granada to Barcelona direct in roughly six and a half hours, or via Madrid in seven. Two nights in Barcelona covers the Sagrada Família, a morning of Gaudí (Casa Batlló and Park Güell), the Gothic Quarter and one long lunch in El Born. Plan on €1,500-€2,200 before flights for the land portion of a mid-range small-group tour; VPT Tours, Julia Travel and Expat Explore all run variations of this route every week.

If you've already done the classic loop, or you've only got a week, pick one region and go deep.

Andalucía-only tours (5-7 days) skip Madrid and Barcelona altogether and hand you Seville, Granada and Córdoba plus Ronda, the pueblos blancos and a night in Málaga. VPT's 5-day Andalucía and Toledo sits around €930 before flights and is the pick of the short-format options here.

The Basque Country and the Camino de Santiago are the other serious regional draw. A week in the north takes in Bilbao and its Guggenheim, San Sebastián (pintxos bars and Michelin stars at Basque prices), Rioja wine country and a stretch of the Camino Francés. Macs Adventure and CaminoWays run self-guided Camino weeks from €700-€1,200 before flights; the final 100 km from Sarria to Santiago is the most popular slice and earns you a Compostela certificate at the end.

The islands are a separate trip entirely. The Canaries (Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria) work all year as a warm-winter bolthole; the Balearics (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza) are strictly May to October. Both fly cheaper and more directly than most mainland combinations.

And for food-first travellers, Catalan tours around Barcelona, Girona and the Costa Brava (El Celler de Can Roca country) run €1,800-€3,200 for 5-7 days.

Coach tours are the default for first-timers and couples over 50. Expat Explore, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Costsaver all run 9-15 day Spain or Spain-and-Portugal itineraries in the €1,600-€2,800 range before flights. You get the coach, a tour director, three and four-star hotels, most breakfasts and a fixed route. The pace is brisk and the optional excursions do add up, but you cover a huge amount of ground without planning a single transfer.

Small-group tours (10-16 people) are better value for independent travellers under 45. Intrepid, G Adventures and Exodus run 8-15 day Spain trips at €1,400-€2,200 land-only, usually on the public AVE trains rather than a coach, with a mix of three-star hotels and local guesthouses. You get more free time, better food and far fewer factory-visit stops.

Camino tours are a category of their own. Macs Adventure and CaminoWays are the specialists, both running self-guided walking weeks with luggage transfer, B&B beds and GPS notes from €700-€1,200 for the final 100 km, or €1,800-€2,600 for a full two-week stage.

Luxury private tours (Kensington, Butterfield & Robinson) run €5,000 and up, and are for travellers who want a driver and the paradores rather than AVE seats and city-centre hotels.

Spain runs a short shoulder-season sweet spot and a genuinely punishing summer, especially down south. April to mid-June and September to late October are the windows you want: days warm enough for the Alhambra gardens and Barceloneta lunches, nights cool enough to walk home from dinner without melting.

May is probably the finest single month on paper. Everything's open, Seville's Feria de Abril and Córdoba's patios festival fall early in the month, the flights haven't hit summer peak, and Andalucía sits at a kindly 25-28°C. September matches it for weather and throws in the bonus of post-summer hotel rates sliding 15-25% off their August high.

July and August are brutal in Andalucía: Seville, Córdoba and Madrid routinely hit 38-42°C and half the locals clear out of town. Tours still run, but you'll be moving at 7am and 7pm with a long siesta gap in the middle, and the open-air sections of the Alhambra turn genuinely unpleasant. If summer is your only option, head north to the Basque Country, Galicia or Asturias, or out to the Balearics.

Winter (December to February) is quiet and cheap on the mainland. Madrid and Barcelona sit at 8-14°C, Andalucía a sunny 12-18°C, the Canaries 20-24°C. Flights from most EU capitals slip under €100 return in January, and Alhambra tickets are finally easy to grab on the day.

Four gateways are worth knowing. Madrid (MAD) is the main hub and the right place to start a classic loop. Barcelona (BCN) is the natural end point, or the start for a Catalonia or south-of-France trip. Málaga (AGP) is the cheapest way into Andalucía and skips the Madrid leg entirely if the south is your focus. Palma (PMI) is the gateway to Mallorca and the Balearics.

From the US, both Madrid and Barcelona pull strong direct service. The East Coast flies nonstop: New York (JFK and EWR), Newark, Boston, Washington, Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia all run direct to Madrid or Barcelona on Iberia, United, American, Delta and Level, in around 7-9 hours. Reckon on US$600-$950 return in the April-June and September-October shoulder, US$1,000-$1,500 over the summer peak. From the West Coast (Los Angeles, San Francisco) expect Iberia's nonstop to Madrid or a one-stop routing, 12-15 hours all in, at US$800-$1,300. Book three to five months out for the best fares.

From Australia it is a long-haul with no nonstop, so you connect once through a Gulf hub (Emirates or Qatar via Dubai or Doha) or Singapore, for roughly 22-24 hours door to door from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. Return fares run around A$1,800-$2,600 in the shoulder and A$2,600-$3,500 at peak. Spain pairs well with a stopover, so break the trip with a couple of nights in Dubai, Doha or Singapore on the way through.

From Canada, Air Canada flies Toronto and Montreal direct to Madrid and Barcelona in summer (about 7-8 hours), with one-stop routings off-season and from Vancouver; budget roughly C$850-$1,500 return depending on season.

From the UK and the rest of Europe, fares are cheap and frequent. Iberia is the flag carrier, and from most European origins you'll be on Ryanair, Vueling, easyJet, British Airways or Aer Lingus. Return fares from Dublin, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Rome sit at €60-€150 in winter, €100-€220 in the shoulder months and €180-€350 at the July-August peak. Book Ryanair and Vueling direct for the keenest fares, and keep a sharp eye on the baggage rules.

Open-jaw flights (into Madrid, out of Barcelona, or the reverse) usually cost the same as a return and spare you a three-hour AVE backtrack at the end of the trip. Most operators build their itineraries around exactly this, and Multiday.tours surfaces both flight legs in the combined price, in your own currency, so you can see the full cost before committing to either one.