Avoiding other tourists when you are in Spain is a great way to improve your Spanish, and to get away from all the other guiris running all over the other country. Fortunately for those who want to avoid their fellow countrymen when on holiday, most end up in Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and Seville. But what if you really want to get off the beaten track this year, and find yourself alone in a sea of Spanish? Here are a few of our favourite getaways:
Teruel: So off the beaten track that the locals have even started a website declaring ‘Teruel Exists!’ Great for Mudejar architecture and wonderful ham.
Vigo: Downtrodden backstreets and fresh oysters. Workaday Galicia with all the gastronomic trimmings.
Gijon: Stormy weather, a wonderful Chillida sculpture and the best fabada on the planet. Head onwards from here for the beaches around Llanes.
Extremadura: Trujillo and Caceres are small towns with a rich Roman and conquistador past. Most of the province of Extremadura is pretty much off the tourist trail, and there are some wonderful drives through rolling countryside. Take any B-road from Salamanca to Trujillo, via, Guijuelo, and you’ll see what I mean.
Aragon: An empty, majestic province rolling up to the Pyrenees. Try Jaca if you need a town to stay in, but get out into the villages if you can. The best plan is to go without one.
Carmona: A small town just to the north of Seville. Lovely Parador. Try the jamon on toast tapas in the museum bar. A lovely, sleepy Andaluz town.
I could go on and on, but now it’s over to you. Where do you go to escape tourism in Spain? Comments are welcome below or in this forum post.
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 