Take a  journey along the coast this morning, stopping at small fishing villages that hint at Basque’s earliest origins. San Sebastian is less than an hour away, and you spend a relaxed day here, starting in the mazy lanes of the old city, where the plazas reveal a decadence that goes far beyond that seen Bilbao. The promenade takes you past golden beaches to cliffs adorned with postmodernist sculptures, then further upwards to a monastery from a forgotten time. It is a relaxed city, and through the afternoon you have a chance to relax on cafe terraces, either in the city or on the beach. This is all the warm-up for a very special dinner at Mugaritz, the main hope for a Basque restaurant being crowned as the world’s premier restaurant. Over three hours, you eat through at least 20 individual dishes that combine the best of the surrounding mountains and the sea, all the ideas of Spain’s most pioneering modern chef, Andoni Luis Aduriz. Return to Bilbao after your meal.

After two busy days, a first-class train to Madrid provides four hours to rest and relax. Watch the country roll by the window, the train ascending across the mountains of La Rioja, then across the mysteriously empty northern plateaus. This recently renovated line makes it easy to connect the north with the country’s capital. Lunch is served at a popular city restaurant, a hearty affair that connects gastronomy from regions all across Spain. After lunch, your time is free. Madrid is a beautiful city to explore at leisure, with its compact center full of alleyways and easy pleasures, such as the scents drifting from a famous chocolate and churros shop that celebrates its centenary in 2020.

Remarkable monuments are found on the plains northwest of Madrid. First El Escorial, a king’s residence turned monastic retreat, a masterpiece of religious and regal extravagance fused together. Shimmering with gold and laden with irrepressible frescoes, this palace is a Catholic king’s elaborate attempt to quash the rise of Protestantism. Next, you will visit Avila, where hundreds of gothic and Romanesque churches hide behind medieval city walls. Avila is an epithet to the medieval era, frozen in time and perfect for a leisurely afternoon listening to the sound of your shoes on the cobbles. You arrive in Segovia for the evening, with the sunset bouncing off the world-renowned Roman aqueduct. This is a city for getting lost, using the cathedral spires as compass points and discovering what hides down the tapered alleys. And when dusk falls, there are few more atmospheric places to be than Segovia’s central plaza.

Continuing the medieval theme, today takes in the fabulous sights south of Madrid, starting with the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the residence of the Spanish king. Like each of the stops yesterday, it is a World Heritage Site that continues to define an era. A glimpse at the entrance hall is just the start of the neoclassical royal excess. Toledo is a very different attraction, a city that could play an important role in 2020. Religion is harmonious here, mosque minarets and church spires juxtaposed along with Europe’s oldest synagogue, contrasting religions peacefully coming together in the city for more than a millennium. Spending the afternoon and evening here is an insight into how many of the world’s current challenges can be solved by promoting an atmosphere of respect and religious tolerance. After a guided tour of the main sites, the rest of the afternoon and evening are free, with much to find in the pedestrianized center.

Toledo to Cordoba only takes two and a half hours on Spain’s high-speed AVE service, the train racing across plains of patchwork colors. Your hotel commands dazzling views over Cordoba’s Mezquita, one of the world’s greatest buildings, a masterpiece of Islamic design and arches that has survived more than 1,400 years. Sophisticated and sublime, the building is both church and mosque, a legacy of harmony that continues yesterday’s worldly theme. Beneath the structure, you find elegant rows of cafes and restaurants, great places for a typically late Andalusian lunch. This is your first stop in Andalusia, and you will immediately notice the change in tempo, how the middle of the day is very slow, but the evenings are infused with a vibrancy that is easy to float upon.

A short hop to Andalusia’s capital, the city where Columbus is buried, and the wealth of Spain’s Golden Age is unashamedly presented. There are few old European cities as large or as grand as Seville’s, where cathedrals and churches jut out along streets of stately townhouses. The aroma of coffee and wine floats across the terraces, statues point to discoverers of the New World, and you can feel the fire of a city that has always stayed true to its traditions. While some cities absorb modern influence, Seville in 2020 is much like Seville in 1518.

The city is a fierce defender of culture, but you can uncover a subtle changing of the guard, with modern styles coming through in its art forms. Flamenco is an elaborate portrayal of this, and the Andalusian performance is alive in many atmospheric Seville bars. Tonight, you are guided to two performances, first hearing the traditional at a more tourist-orientated bar in the heart of the old city. This is an introduction to the voices and the guitar strings. Later in the evening, you dine at a celebrated modern flamenco bar, where the improvised songs have a contemporary twist, and the dancing is much faster than what came before.

Head out to the very south of Spain, a private driver leading you down weaving roads to rugged cliffs and the remarkable white villages of Andalusia. Framed by the red rocks of nature, challenging the pull of gravity, these villages start a very relaxed three days in the far south of the country. There is a change of pace, a roll-call of attractions replaced by the soft and subtle pleasures of villages that need to be visited now. You will stop at two villages before reaching Arcos in time for lunch and a siesta. These are villages opened to tourism but in danger of becoming dominated by the rising footfall of tourists. They are at their peak right now, enhanced by English-speaking services yet maintaining the ambience of their historical state.