Europe

1. Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias is the main attraction in Valencia. There are 4 different attractions here and the Arts and Craft center gets over 4 million visitors a year. You will find the Hemisferuc, which is a planetarium, IMAX cinema and a laser show. Then you will have the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe which is an interactive science museum. The Oceanographic is one that the children will not want to miss. There is enough water here to fill 15 Olympic pools, with underwater tunnels and a place where people can see different forms of marine life. The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia has seating for 4,400 people where people perform plays and operas.
2. Cathedrals are found in many Spanish cities. This cathedral was built using different architectural styles. It is claimed that the Holy Grail is kept here.
3. Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM) is being expanded and it houses an impressive collection of 20th Century Spanish art. At the top of the tower you will be able to see the marks left by the cannonballs fired by Napoleon’s troops during the invasion in the 19th century.
4. Museo de Bellas Artes has artwork by El Greco, Goya, Velazquez, Murillo and other artists.
5. Museo de Historia de Valencia shows more than 2,000 years of the history of Valencia.
6. Palacoio del Marques de Dos Aguas has a display of ceramic from around the world.
7. Plaza del Marcado used to be the Valencian commodity exchange and it is now a World Heritage Site. You also have the Mercado Central which is a covered market.
8. Torres de Serranos and Torres de Quart are part of the old city walls. Torres de Serranos was the main exit to Barcelona and the Torres de Quart faced towards Madrid.
9. Palau de la Generalitat is a 15th Century building built in the Gothic style and is the government building of the area.
10. Plaza de la Virgen is on a site that was once a forum for the Roman Valencia and it is where the north, south, east and west highways met. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary who is the patron of the city. You also have the Cripta de la Carcel de San Vicente Martir which was used as a prison for the 4th century martyr San Vicente.

Seville is the once city in Spain that is probably most like you would imagine it would be. When you visit you should see the top ten tourist attractions in Seville.

1. Cathedral has to be the top of the list for any visitor. The cathedral has many different areas which you will want to spend time seeing. The cathedral is one the largest churches and it is built on the site of the Muslim mosque. Christopher Columbus is thought to have been buried here. Some bones were brought back from the Caribbean in 1899 that were thought to be his.
2. Giralda is in the northeastern corner of the Cathedral, and you can climb to the top where the minaret was built. Make sure that when you visit the cathedral, you visit Giralda.
3. Torre del Oro is a 13th Century Islamic watchtower. You will find a small maritime museum inside.
4. Alcazar has been the residence of many kings. Since it was built over a span of centuries, you will find it has several different designs.
5. Semana Santa is a celebration which takes place during the week before Easter. There are many processions and floats carried by the people through the city.
6. Plaza de San Francisco was a lively Muslim market. It has been a public square since the 16th century.
7. Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza was started being built in 1758 and is thought to be one of the best buildings in Spain. It is a bullring and it was here, in the 18th century, that bullfighters performed on foot rather than horseback. You can take a guided tour in English and you can visit the mini hospital for those who didn’t fare too well with the bull.
8. Archivo de Indias holds more than 80 million pages of documents from 1492 until the end of the empire in the 19th century.
9. Praque de Maria Luisa and Plaza de Espana is a favorite place to relax by the fountains and mini-canals. Take a walk to the Praque de Maria Luisa which has over 3,500 trees. This is a great place to get away from the rush of the city.
10. Antigua Fabrica de Tabacos was a former tobacco factory. This is the setting for Bizet’s opera Carmen. You will find it has its own jail and its own stables for 400 mules.

When you decide to take a vacation to Barcelona, you will want to spend time enjoying the sites. What are the top ten tourist attractions in Barcelona? Where should you visit?

1. Sagrada Familia by Antonio Gaudi (2,056,448 visits/year) and if you only have time to visit one site, then this is the one you should see. It is the most visited site in Barcelona. Work is ongoing since the building has never been completed. The work has been going on for 100 years. It is thought that it will be completed by 2020 but there are no guarantees that will happen either. At the moment it looks like the first Mass might be held in 2008, but only if the roof is completed on time.
2. L’ Aquarium de Barcelona (1,375,271 visits/year) is a great place to take children. Here they have an 80 meter long shark tunnel. You can even arrange to dive among the sharks if that is a dream you have always had. As a special for children between the ages of 8 – 12, you can spend the night with the sharks where you can see what they do at night.
3. Poble Espanyol de Montjuic (1,346,938 visits/year) otherwise known as the Spanish Village, has different areas where houses and architecture can be seen which cover different locations and styles seen in Spain.
4. La Pedrera – Casa Mila by Antonio Gaudi (1,133,220 visits/year) This building has wavy bricks and tiles which are very colorful. This gives it a very distinctive look.
5. Barcelona FC Museum (1,032,763 visits/year) If you love football/soccer then you will want to visit this museum. You can take a tour that starts in the changing rooms, goes out through the tunnel, onto the pitch and then ends up in the presidential box.
6. Barcelona Zoo (1,015,000 visits/year) You will find the zoo located at the arc de la Ciutadella. If you go to the park you will be able to walk to the zoo by following the signs.
7. Picasso Museum (887,958 visits/year) Here you will find a collection of Picasso’s paintings. You should allow quite some time to visit here because you will want to look at sketches, oils, doodling and painting.
8. Imax Cinema (671,512 visits/year) When you visit the L’ Aquarium de Barcelona go to the Imax Cinema because they are next door to each other.
9. Miró Museum (518,869 visits/year) This is a wonderful art gallery which has many of Miró’s works.
10. National Museum of Art of Catalunya MNAC (442,692 visits/year) is a museum which has art from 1,000 years ago and which encompasses many different art forms.

You should also consider buying a Barcelona card which will give reduced rates for entry to many of these attractions.

You have arrived in Madrid and you have a limited time to visit some sites. What are the top ten tourist attractions in Madrid?

1. Museo del Prado is one of the top museums in the world. Here you should plan to spend many hours or make multiple visits to get the full benefit of seeing all that is included here.
2. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia has the best of Spanish art. Many of the paintings span the 20th Century. The one painting you won’t want to miss is Picasso’s Guernica in Room 6 on the 2nd Floor. This is one of the most famous paintings in the world. There are many other famous Spanish artists’ whose works are shown at this center.
3. Arab Wall is the fortification built by the Islamic rulers as far back as the 9th century and some areas are from the 12th & 13th centuries.
4. La Casa de Campo gets nearly half a million visitors on weekends when people come to cycle, walk or have a picnic here. This isn’t so much a beautiful place as it is unkempt, but it has over 1,700 hectares for you to wander around.
5. Plaza Mayor is beautiful and a visit here will be a highlight of your vacation. It was designed in 1619 by Juan Gomez de Mora and, after a fire which destroyed it in 1790, it was rebuilt.
6. Puerta del Sol is the official center point and it has elegant facades. You can expect it to be very crowded here because many people pass through here going somewhere else, whether they are walking or using the metro. This used to be the eastern gate of the city. On New Year’s Eve, crowds gather here waiting for the clock to strike midnight. There is also a statue of a bear nuzzling a strawberry tree, which is the symbol of the city.
7. Museo Arquelogico Nacional has a collection of artifacts which cover many different cultures and periods. Some of the highlights are the mosaics in Room 22 & 24 and the gilded Mudejar domed ceiling in Room 35.
8. Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is one of the biggest and most impressive bullrings in Spain. Even if you don’t want to go to a bullfight, it is worth taking a visit here to see the bullring and its architecture.
9. Plaza de Orient is a great place to visit on a hot summer evening. This used to be the site of the old Alcazar but the square took on its current form under the French occupation in the early 1800s.
10. Parque del Retiro is a place you need to visit on a weekend. During any other day of the week, you will find it too quiet. People visit this park to read the Sunday papers, take a trip on the lake, have a drink at an outside café or, for the children, watch the puppets during the summer. The best time to visit is at sunset when people gather to watch and dance. You will also find a memorial to the victims of the 2004 bombings in the southwestern corner.

If you love camping then you will want to camp in Spain. There are over 1,000 campsites in Spain. Some of the camping grounds are near beaches, others are in the woodland, and some are near towns. What are the top ten tips for camping in Spain?

1. Have your own transport. Very few campsites are near to public transport since most are not near city centers.
2. Choose where you are going to camp carefully. If you want peace and quiet then you would want to avoid the places that come to life at night when lots of people decide to party at the campsites.
3. Choose your tent with care. Your tent will be your home for the duration of your vacation. What would happen if the weather were to turn bad and you had to remain inside your tent? Would there be enough room for all the family to spend many long hours together?
4. Choose your camping equipment carefully. You will need to decide which type of sleeping bag you are going to use and what other types of equipment you will need. You will want a bag that is warm enough in case it gets cold, but not so warm that you can’t sleep because you are too hot.
5. Know what type of amenities you need. What are the stores like and will you be able to buy all the foods that you want to cook? What are the hook-up facilities like for electricity? Will the showers be hot at all times during the day? You need to consider these types of questions before you set off.
6. What facilities are there for your children? You need to know that your children won’t be bored during their vacation. Is there a swimming pool for them? Are there activities for kids organized at the campsite? If not, then you will need to decide how to keep them from becoming bored. You might want to bring bikes so you can all go exploring together.
7. Have a checklist of items you should bring with you. This should include a first aid kit. Even though you hope you won’t need it, you should make sure you have a good first aid kit with you.
8. Learn how to cook different foods in a different way. You will find there are plenty of dishes you can cook when camping but you might need to consider what your family normally eats and what they will eat while away.
9. Discover the local attractions. You might want to find out where they are before leaving home. You might want to plan certain trips away from the campsite and knowing the hours which those attractions are open will save you a lot of time.
10. Leave valuables at home. You won’t have anywhere secured to leave your items safely at the campsite. Don’t bring your children’s expensive toys or games with you unless you want tears should they be stolen or broken.