‘Hardly any travellers have heard of it’: Spain’s best hidden gems according to a tour guide

If you’re a travel aficionado, it’s likely you’ve been to Spain, maybe exploring Barcelona, Madrid and at least one Canary or Balearic island - but if you’ve ever wondered where in Spain is still relatively unexplored, we have some suggestions.

Euronews Travel spoke to Timon van Basten, a tour guide in Spain and the founder of Travel Spain 24.

He’s Dutch and has travelled to more than 40 countries but has been settled in Spain for the last five years.

We asked him for the very best places off the beaten track in his adopted country.

“Most tourists don't make it past Ronda or Seville,” while in Andalucía Timon tells Euronews Travel but, he says, “the white villages dotted throughout the mountains and hills are like stepping back in time.”

“Towns like Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema offer winding streets, tasty tapas and breathtaking views without the crowds.”

Timon recommends the historical destinations for their “white houses and small castles.” Painting an evocative picture, he adds, “olives grow around hills and cliffs. Hiking and relaxing in the village squares are fun things to do. Wildflowers bloom in spring.”

If that doesn’t sound idyllic, we don’t know what does! 

“Hardly any travellers have heard of it, but it's one of the most unique sights I've come across,” Timon says of this breathtaking spot in the north west of the country.

It has a rich history, with Romans taking gold from mines centuries ago. Today, Timon explains, Las Médulas has “a surreal landscape of towering reddish cliffs and stone pillars that is unlike anywhere else in Spain.”

While it is not a particularly well known spot, it is entirely possible to learn more about the region’s ancient heritage thanks to countless hiking trails crisscrossing the