Huelva is a ticket to an altogether different side of Andalusia that the resorts of the Costa del Sol can offer. Straddling the mouth of the Rio Tinto just a short drive from the border with Portugal, the bustling city was built on shipping and fishing. These days, it's tailor-made for treading untrodden beaches washed by sky-blue Atlantic waves, tasting grilled sardines cooked by tanned Spanish mamas, and for launching expeditions to the wilder reaches of south-western Iberia.

Huelva tour guides might begin with a jaunt through the shopping and tapas bars of Calle Palacio and the palm-topped walks of fountain-babbling Plaza de las Monjas. But once you’re out in the greater province, be prepared to encounter the Wild West town of El Rocío, with dust-swirling streets and Baroque church fronts that look like they've been plucked straight from a Clint Eastwood flick. Further up the Tinto River is Moguer and its stunning Mudéjar-Gothic monastery, where Christopher Columbus himself once came to seek Christian blessings for his adventures to the Americas. 

However, the real piece de resistance of the area is the Doñana National Park. Stalked by flamingos and European lynxes, it covers undulating sand dunes and wetlands, all topped off with dashes of Spanish rice paddies and gold-tinted beaches that run for miles on end.