2 Top Places to Travel with Kids in Spain

Spain’s easy-going lifestyle is a good match for family travelers, and wherever they go they’ll find plenty to see and do. Cities are lively, with open-air cafés open almost all seasons and attractions intriguing kids of all ages. These two Spanish cities are ideal for families.

Barcelona
Kids aren’t usually excited about architecture, but Barcelona will wow them with the fantastic buildings created by Antonio Gaudi. Stroll along Paseig del Gracia to find Casa Batllo, with its roof of dragon scales and balconies that look like skulls. Nearby Casa Mila has an undulating façade with balconies that seem to be covered in wrought-iron seaweed.

You can tour the inside, just as fantastic, and go to the roof to see the chimneys said to have inspired the form of Darth Vader. Go back at night when the lighted façades of these buildings are positively spooky.

Not many cities can claim a park as unusual — or as colorful — as the one designed by Gaudi. Park Güell is just as whimsical as his houses, with its fantastical stairways, colorful mosaics of broken tiles, serpentine bench and giant blue-tiled salamander. Families intrigued by Gaudi’s flamboyant mosaics can make their own tile creations using his technique at a Trencadís workshop, and take home an original work of art.

Seville

Strains of flamenco music seem to drift through the streets, and you may find dancers performing as you walk through Seville’s plazas. They are promoting their nightly shows, but families can see professional dancers at more reasonable hours at Museum of Flamenco Dancing (Museo del Baile Flamenco). If kids are hooked after seeing the show, everyone can book a dance lesson at the museum and even buy flamenco clothes and shoes at the museum shop.

Inside the gigantic cathedral is a mind-blowing gold altar, several stories tall, and beside the church rises La Giraldo, Seville’s iconic tower. Instead of stairs, you ascend on a ramped stone floor for dizzying views of the city.

Opposite the cathedral is the Alcazar, a dazzling palace with hall after hall of intricate tilework. Explore the Alcazar’s gardens to discover the fountains from the Kingdom of Dorne’s Water Gardens used in Game of Thrones.

Across the river is Maria Luisa Park, a vast green space of gardens, tree-lined paths and open forests. Younger kids will delight at the gnarled tree roots that form natural play structures, as well as the artificial waterfall they can play on. At one end of the park, Plaza de España is a colorful plaza surrounded by elaborately tiled balconies and galleries. Beneath them, a large pool is usually filled with families in rented rowboats. You can also rent a pedal cart to explore the gardens.