Spain and Portugal,
from home.

We write Atalaya from Málaga, so Iberia is the part of the atlas we test most often: on weekends, on the AVE, in borrowed cars on mountain roads. Our eight choices here are spread across the whole peninsula on purpose, because Spain and Portugal change character every few hundred kilometers.

In the south, three hotels tell Andalusia's story. The Hotel Alfonso XIII was built in Seville for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. The Parador de Granada occupies a 15th-century Franciscan convent within the Alhambra's walls. The Marbella Club began in the 1950s as a prince's private retreat and helped turn a fishing town into a resort.

Madrid has the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, opened in 1910 opposite the Prado and restored a few years ago. In the north, the Hotel María Cristina has watched over San Sebastián since 1912, and the Hostal de La Gavina has stood on the S'Agaró headland since the 1930s. Offshore, Cap Rocat turns a 19th-century military fort on the Bay of Palma into a hideaway. Across the border, Six Senses fills a restored manor in the terraced vineyards of the Douro.

Good for: food-driven trips, slow rail journeys, beach weeks with a city at either end, and anyone who would rather spend a long weekend than a long-haul flight.

Iberia is three or four climates sharing one passport, so the right month depends on which corner you mean.

The south and the interior

Seville, Granada and Madrid are at their kindest from March to early June and again from late September into November. July and August bring real heat: Seville regularly passes 40°C in the afternoon, and Madrid is not far behind. Locals cope by moving their day toward the night, and you should too. Winter is mild and bright on the coast, cold at night inland, and the Sierra Nevada behind Granada is usually snow-capped from December.

The festival calendar

Semana Santa, the week before Easter, fills Seville, Granada and Málaga with processions of hooded brotherhoods and candlelit floats; it is moving, crowded and expensive, so book months ahead. Seville's Feria de Abril follows a couple of weeks later, with casetas, flamenco dresses and horse carriages. May brings Córdoba's flower-filled patios, and late September the San Sebastián film festival.

The north, the islands and the Douro

San Sebastián is green because it rains; summer is the surest season, and September is lovely. The Costa Brava and Mallorca are best from May to October, with August the busiest month and many seaside hotels closing in winter. In the Douro, the grape harvest runs from about mid-September into early October, the moment many visitors aim for.

Spain has one of the longest high-speed rail networks in the world, and most of it radiates from Madrid. From Atocha station, AVE and other fast trains reach Seville, Málaga and Barcelona in around two and a half hours, often faster than flying once you count the airport. Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo all run on the main lines, so compare fares.

Use short flights where the train is slow or impossible: Madrid or Barcelona to Palma takes about an hour, and San Sebastián is quicker by air than by rail. For the Douro, fly into Porto and drive east, or take the scenic train up the river to Peso da Régua and arrange a pickup.

A car is useful on the Costa del Sol, the Costa Brava and in the Douro, and a nuisance in the old centers of Seville, Granada and Madrid, where restricted zones and fines catch many visitors.

1. 1

   Three nights · Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid

   Arrive Barajas · about 25 min by taxi

   The Prado, the Thyssen and the Reina Sofía along one boulevard, the Retiro at dusk and a late dinner in La Latina.

2. 2

   Three nights · Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville

   AVE · about 2h 30m

   The Real Alcázar next door, the cathedral and Giralda, Triana across the river and an evening of flamenco.

3. 3

   Two nights · Parador de Granada, inside the Alhambra

   Train · about 2h 30m

   The Nasrid palaces at your timed slot, the Generalife gardens after the crowds leave, and the view from the Mirador de San Nicolás.

4. 4

   Four nights · Marbella Club Hotel, Costa del Sol

   Car · about 2h

   Beach days, a drive up to Ronda, the old town's whitewashed lanes and a slow lunch at a chiringuito. Fly home from Málaga.

Or head north instead

For a cooler summer route, start with three nights at the Hotel María Cristina eating your way through San Sebastián's pintxo bars, fly to Barcelona and drive up to the Hostal de La Gavina for three nights of coves and coastal paths, hop over to Mallorca for three nights at Cap Rocat, then finish with three nights at Six Senses Douro Valley via a flight to Porto. Each leg is a short flight or drive, but book the island and the Douro hops early in high season.

• The clock: lunch is the main meal in Spain and runs from about 2pm to 4pm. Dinner rarely starts before 9pm, and 10pm is normal in summer. Portugal eats roughly an hour earlier.
• Siesta hours: in smaller towns and the south, many independent shops close from around 2pm to 5pm and reopen into the evening. Department stores and city-center chains stay open.
• Sundays: expect many shops to be shut, though bars and restaurants are busy with families.
• Tipping: modest. Leave small change at a bar and around 5 to 10 percent in a good restaurant if service was attentive. It is appreciated, not expected.
• Couvert in Portugal: bread, olives or cheese placed on the table are charged if you eat them. Send them back if you don't want them; nobody minds.
• Pintxo bars: in San Sebastián, ask for what you want or take a plate, keep track of what you ate, and settle up at the end. Move on after one or two; that is the point.
• Greetings: friends greet with two light kisses, right cheek first. Say "buenos días" or "bom dia" when you walk into a shop.
• Portugal is not Spain: a few words of Portuguese go much further than Spanish.