Stretching sun-drenched and untamed to the south of the wild and majestic Pyrenees, this passionate nation works a mysterious magic. Spain is littered with hundreds of glittering beaches; flamenco bailaors (dancers) swirl in flounces of colour; and toreros (bullfighters) strut their stuff in the bullrings. Summer holidaymakers gather around great pans of steaming paella (at its tasty best in Valencia) and pitchers of sangria.

Beyond these clichéd images, a vast, unexpected panorama unfolds before you. Emerald green mountains seem to slide into the wild blue Atlantic in the north. Proud, solitary castles and medieval towns are strewn across the interior. White villages glitter in inland Andalucía. Rugged mountain ranges such as the Sierra Nevada (Europe’s most southerly ski resort) are draped across the country. The Celtic music of Cantabria, Asturias & Galicia reminds one of the misty lands of Brittany, Scotland and Ireland.

From its Roman relics to Muslim palaces, from baroque cathedrals and Modernista constructions, the country is a treasure chest of artistic and architectural marvels across a matchless cultural palette. More than 30 years of democracy and rapid economic development have spurred Spain’s cities to bedeck themselves with sparkling new ornaments. An army of local and international architects has left a slew of daring signature buildings in Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid, to name a few.

Up and down the country, a zest for life creates an intense, hedonistic vibe in its effervescent cities. Indeed, if there is one thing Spaniards love, it is to eat, drink and be merry, whether gobbling up tapas over fine wine in Madrid and the south, or its elaborate Basque Country equivalent, pintxos, over cider in the north.

The meseta (high tableland of central Spain) and Ebro basin have a continental climate: scorching in summer, cold in winter, and dry. Madrid regularly freezes in December, January and February, and temperatures climb above 30°C in July and August. Valladolid on the northern meseta and Zaragoza in the Ebro basin are even drier, with only around 300mm of rain a year (little more than Alice Springs in Australia). The Guadalquivir basin in Andalucía is only a little wetter and positively broils in high summer, with temperatures of 35°C-plus in Seville that kill people every year.

The Pyrenees and the Cordillera Cantábrica, backing the Bay of Biscay, bear the brunt of cold northern and northwestern airstreams, which bring moderate temperatures and heavy rainfall (three or four times as much as Madrid’s) to the north coast. Even in high summer you never know when you might get a shower.

The Mediterranean coast and Balearic Islands get a little more rain than Madrid, and the south can be even hotter in summer. The Mediterranean, particularly around Alicante, also provides Spain’s warmest waters (reaching 27°C or so in August). Barcelona’s weather is typical of the coast – milder than in inland cities but more humid.

In general you can usually rely on pleasant or hot temperatures just about everywhere from April to early November. In Andalucía there are plenty of warm, sunny days right through winter. In July and August, temperatures can get unpleasantly hot inland.

Snowfalls in the mountains can start as early as October and some snow cover lasts all year on the highest peaks.

Depending on what you’re after, Spain is a year-round destination. The ideal months to visit are May, June and September (plus April and October in the south). At these times you can rely on good to excellent weather, yet avoid the sometimes extreme heat – and the main crush of Spanish and foreign tourists – of July and August, when temperatures can climb to 45°C in inland Andalucía; at this time, Madrid is unbearable and almost deserted.

There’s decent weather in some parts of Spain virtually year-round. Winter (December to February) along the south and southeast Mediterranean coasts is mild, while in the height of summer (June to August) you can retreat to the northwest, to beaches or high mountains anywhere to escape excessive heat. You can be sitting outside enjoying a beer in a T-shirt in Granada in February, or rugged up against the cold while trekking the Picos de Europa mountains in July.

Spain is one of Europe’s top holiday destinations and is well linked to other European countries by air, rail and road. Regular car ferries and hydrofoils run to and from Morocco and there are ferry links to the UK, Italy, the Canary Islands and Algeria.

As competition in the air grows, flying is increasingly the cheapest and fastest option from other European countries.

Some good direct flights are available from North America. Those coming from Australasia have fewer choices and will usually have to make at least one change of flight. There are great connections from the U.K. with Ryan Air,Easyjet , Wizzair and Jet2, There are also growing connections from Eastern Europe to Spain (with Wizzair most notably).

High season in Spain generally means Christmas/New Year, Easter and roughly June to September. This varies somewhat, however, depending on the specific destination. You may find reasonably priced flights available to places such as Madrid in August because it is stinking hot and everyone else has fled to the mountains and the sea. As a general rule, November to March is when air fares to Spain are likely to be at their lowest, and the intervening months can be considered shoulder periods.

The main gateway to Spain is Madrid’s Barajas airport (Aeropuerto de Barajas; national flight information 902 40 47 04; www.aena.es), although many European direct flights serve other centres, particularly Barcelona’s Aeroport del Prat, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia. Charter flights and low-cost airlines (mostly from the UK) are flying direct into a growing number of regional airports, including A Coruña, Alicante, Almería, Asturias, Bilbao, Girona (for the Costa Brava and Barcelona), Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Murcia, Reus and Seville.

Iberia, Spain’s main national carrier, flies to most Spanish cities (many via Madrid) from around the world but is generally the expensive way to go. for the best flight deals go to http://www.paylessflights.com