Granada

Granada is one of the most singular destinations in Europe — a city where three religions and three civilisations followed and sometimes coexisted with each other, leaving archaeological and cultural layers of extraordinary richness. On the Sabika hill, dominating the red rooftops of the medina and the green plain of the Vega, the Alhambra is the most stunning legacy of the Arab-Andalusian world: a complex of palaces, fortresses and gardens built by the Nasrid sultans between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, constituting one of the supreme masterworks of world architecture.

Below, the Albaicín quarter — also a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is a labyrinth of white lanes, courtyard houses (cármenes) and viewpoints overlooking the city, the most famous of which, the Mirador San Nicolás, offers the most photographed view in Andalusia: the Alhambra directly opposite, the snow-capped Sierra Nevada behind it, and the city spread out in the late-afternoon light.

On the opposite hillside, the Sacromonte is the troglodyte quarter of Granada's Gypsy community, whose caves carved into the rock have been home to zambra flamenco artists for centuries — a form that is distinct from classical Sevillian flamenco: rawer, more improvised, more steeped in Moorish and Gypsy influence. And in the bars of the city centre, a tradition unique in Spain: every drink is accompanied by a free tapa, a custom that transforms every round into a gastronomic discovery.