b. A Two-Months’ and Tour through Spain.
March, April, and May are the most agreeable months for travelling. Thence to October there is intense heat, an arid landscape, and intolerable sun-glare, except in the northern provinces, where the country is in full beauty in summer.
The following circuit—comprehending the most interesting cities and scenery in Spain (Galicia and Navarre excepted)—may be made in eight weeks, allowing of three days in each of the cities of Granada, Seville, Toledo, Madrid, and Burgos; two days in Barcelona, Zaragoza, Tarragona, Valencia, Ronda, Gibraltar, Segovia, and Salamanca; and sufficient time in the other cities and towns to enable the traveller to see the principal objects of interest.
Gerona.
Barcelona.
Montserrat.
Lérida.
Huesca.
Zaragoza (return again to Lérida).
Lérida.
Poblet.
Tarragona.
Murviedo.
Valencia.
Jativa.
Murcia.
Elche.
Granada.
Malaga.
Ronda.
Gibraltar.
Algeciras.
Tarifa.
Cadiz.
Jerez.
Sevilla.
Cordova.
Toledo.
Madrid.
Escorial.
Segovia.
Avila.
Salamanca.
Zamora.
Valladolid.
Burgos.
San Sebastian.
c. Riding and Tour in Spain.
I would not advise any one, much less an invalid, to undertake a riding tour in Spain during the winter months. The best season is April, May, and June, or even earlier in Andalucia and Murcia. The whole country is then in the bloom of spring, and the climate temperate and most enjoyable. In winter all the bridle roads are a sea of mud, and the going execrable, whilst in summer the heat renders travelling by day almost impossible. Autumn is likewise undesirable, as the whole country side wears an arid and tawny appearance after the summer heat and dust. In May and June of 1880 and 1881 I rode through nearly the whole of the two Castiles, and the Pyrenean portions of Catalonia and Aragon. No expedition can be more enjoyable, and in no country will one meet with greater courtesy and civility. Owing to the recollections of the great war, an Englishman is universally well received in country towns and villages; a Frenchman the contrary. A sine quâ non is to speak Castellano fluently. Otherwise intending visitors had better stop at home, save their time and money, and keep their tempers, which they will most assuredly lose if they cannot talk the language. The next thing is to obtain a good servant. I have always had the same Castilian every year, and prefer them to Andalucians or Galicians—the latter the drudges of the Peninsula. If you treat a Castilian with proper respect, no servant in the world becomes more devoted to his master, or watchful of his employer’s interests. As to expenses, the best place to engage your servant and animals is Some minor country town. When in the Castiles I always go to Aranda de Duero, between Burgos and Madrid. In such a spot an Englishman
