At almost any point along Spain’s thousand or so miles of coast stretching from the French Riviera to Portugal’s Algarve, it’s easy to find the beach. Just head to the sea, and there will be a stretch of sand. It would be a shame, though, to miss the other pleasures of Spain’s coasts, or to think the only time to visit is beach season.

If it’s too cool — or even too hot — for the beach, or if lolling in the sand just isn’t your idea of fun, consider dipping into the rich local culture instead: wines, cutting-edge architecture, UNESCO sites, art and Spain’s most jaw-dropping festival, to name a few. For active options there’s golf, diving, sailing and windsurfing.

Some of Spain’s most exciting cities anchor its fabled costas. Costa Brava beaches begin right in the heart of Barcelona, extending north to the French border. Valencia sits squarely amid the Costa del Azahar, and Alicante’s castellated hill anchors the Costa Blanca. Málaga is the capital of the Costa del Sol’s Mediterranean beaches. Beyond Gibraltar, where the Atlantic starts, Cádiz begins the Costa de la Luz. And rarely mentioned are Spain’s pristine Atlantic beaches at Vigo, in Islas Atlánticas National Park.

There’s no wrong season. The Mediterranean coasts have 300 days of sunshine annually, more than anywhere else in Europe. Even usually quiet March is anything but, as Valencia fires off tons of explosives and sets ablaze four-story bonfires during Las Fallas.

Barcelona and Costa Brava

Within a leisurely stroll of Barcelona’s historic Gothic Quarter, travelers and locals catch rays on golden sand backed by skyscrapers and a promenade of cafés and restaurants; shimmering above is Frank Gehry’s giant metal-scaled fish. Even those with no interest in architecture can’t resist Antonio Gaudí’s playful Modernista architecture — the curvaceous “La Pedrera,” the dragon-back roof on Casa Batlló, and Sagra Familia church, still in progress, all comprising a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Costa Brava was a haven for 20th-century artists including Picasso, Dalí and Chagall. The Lancha Litoral “sea bus” shuttles between their haunts, coves hidden under sea-sculpted rocks, long beaches and medieval villages clustered inside ancient walls. Sitges, hang-out of Modernista artists a century ago, is still an art enclave.

Valencia and Costa del Azahar

Rarely is an architect handed such a blank canvas as Santiago Calatrava was in Valencia. A former riverbed became a huge park, where he was charged with designing one of Europe’s largest museum-and-arts complexes. Calatrava performed brilliantly. Along with this City of Arts and Sciences, stroll through the old city to admire ornamented façades, especially the Marques de Dos Aguas Palace, now the Ceramics Museum.

Costa del Azahar’s long white beaches are backed by verdant orange groves, where fortified Peñíscola and its castle invite a side trip. So do the 13th-century Gothic El Puig Monastery and San José grottoes, toured by boat on an underground river.

The time to be here is March, when Valencians cast off winter by burning hundreds of giant cartoon-like figures, setting off tons of fireworks and offering a 50-foot mountain of flowers to the Virgin Mary. If you can’t wangle an invitation to watch the grand finale with the mayor from her terrace overlooking Plaza del Ayuntamiento, book a front room at Hotel Meliá Plaza (www.solmelia.com). This region is known for lively festivals: At Denia, the Toros a la Mar in early July includes a bull run where the two-legged participants’ only refuge is jumping into the sea.

Alicante and Costa Blanca

Costa Blanca’s long white beaches stretch south from dramatic rocky Cabo de la Nao, carved by sea caves and rising to spectacular 1,000-foot cliffs. Amid popular beaches, Alicante remains thoroughly Spanish in character, with its atmospheric old Santa Cruz quarter, hilltop castle and palm-lined promenade paved in colored marble.

Málaga and Costa del Sol

Whatever anyone expects in a Mediterranean beach resort, they’ll find it here: Throngs of package-tourists breakfasting in English pubs, sophisticated nightlife, stylish resorts, world-class golf, long sand beaches, chic tapas bars, overdeveloped shoreline, yachts of the very-very rich, secret cove beaches, swarms of sunburned bodies, sidewalk cafés, bullfights — they’re all here, the good, the bad, the beautiful, all in full measure.

Málaga, freshly restored, is now well worth visiting for its shops and thriving art scene. Marbella’s narrow streets climb among whitewashed buildings that betray Andalucía’s Moorish past. Chic little Puerto Banus was built in the 1960s for big yachts and their well-tanned owners, seen in the upscale boutiques and bars while passersby stroll the dockside promenade to ogle their yachts. For tiny cliff-backed beaches, head for Nerja, where the sierra ends abruptly. Paleolithic Cro-Magnons may have bathed here, after painting the walls of Cueva de Nerja. The prettiest part lies east, beyond Almería, as the coastal road rounds Cabo de Gata to a beach and lighthouse. Inland, distinctly Moorish Mojácar looks as though a Cubist artist had built it.

Cádiz and Costa de la Luz

Cádiz, perhaps Europe’s oldest city, punctuates one end of the miles of fine white sand that stretch to the Portuguese border. Development lies gently on this land, with no high-rise resorts and a national park protecting a vast delta known as Europe’s Everglades. Although the beaches remain largely a Spanish secret, nearby Jerez de la Frontera is known worldwide for Spanish sherry — called Jerez here — and Andalucian horses.

Vigo and Islas Cies

Vigo, in Spain’s northwest, faces a harbor guarded by the Cies Islands, part of the Islas Atlánticas National Park, one of Spain’s most ecologically important — and beautiful — natural landscapes. Surrounded by turquoise-colored waters, the islands are a world of 300-foot cliffs, white sand beaches, dunes, pine forests and 15,000 nesting pairs of sea birds. The Romans called them “the islands of the gods.”

This is Spain’s best shellfish region, and restaurants in Vigo’s old fishermen’s quarter brim with prime oysters, plump mussels and langostinos. In spring, gardens painted with camellias surround the 17th-century manor house museum. Santiago de Compostela, a beautiful old city of buildings from the time of Columbus, enshrines in its stunning cathedral the remains of St. James the Apostle, to which pilgrims have walked since the Middle Ages.

Diversions

On the Costa Brava, 36-hole PGA Golf Catalunya (Caldes de Malavella, tel 34 972 472 577) was named among Europe’s top 10 courses. Just outside Valencia, demanding Campo de Golf El Saler (tel 34 961 611 186), host to the Spanish Open, is considered one of the purest European-style courses. On the Costa del Sol, head west of Marbella, nicknamed Golf Valley for its 50-plus courses. For sheer beauty, choose 18-hole Villa Padierna (tel 34 952 889 150), landscaped with Roman artifacts overlooking the Mediterranean. Near Jerez, the 18-hole championship course at Montecastillo (tel 34 956 151 200) designed by Jack Nicklaus is one of several. The Ria de Vigo Golf Club offers 18 holes in a challenging landscape among six small lakes (Pontavedra, tel 34 986 327 051).

The most diverse sea life of Spain’s coast is at Islas Medes, a Costa Brava nature reserve off L’Estartit, where year-round divers find dramatic eroded cliffs under crystal water. Diving can be arranged through Calypso Diving International. Equally clear water invites year-round diving off Cabo de Gata on the Costa del Sol; dive with Buceo Las Negras Diving Center (Las Negras Beach). At Cape Trafalgar near Gibraltar, mountains rise directly from the sea, and under them the town of Tarifa offers excellent windsurfing at usually empty beaches.

Can Bonastre Wine Resort, in the vineyards of Masquefa outside Barcelona, teaches guests regional cooking with winetasting. Master perfect paella Valenciana at La Matandeta in Saler (tel 34 962 112 184). Jerez means sherry, so taste the best at Valdivia Bodegas, whose tour is not just a sales spiel (Jerez de la Frontera, tel 34 956 328 997).

Picasso’s hometown shows hundreds of his works at the Picasso Museum of Málaga (Calle San Agustín 8), and his early art fills the Picasso Museum of Barcelona (Calle Montcada 15). In Figueras, the Dalí Theatre-Museum claims to be the world’s largest surrealistic object. Cádiz churches display paintings by Goya, El Greco and Murillo while avant-garde artists fill three Vigo museums.

Bullfighting (corrida) takes place daily during Valencia’s Las Fallas festival in March as well as in July, at its Plaza de Toros (tel 34 963 519 315). Málaga’s bullring is busy even in August when most close (get tickets at Viajes El Corte Inglés, tel 800 333 2469). Andalucian thoroughbreds perform high-precision ballet at the Royal Andalucian School of Equestrian Art (Avenida Duque de Abrantes, tel 34 956 319 6 35) at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Spanish cities never seem to sleep. In Barcelona, hear live jazz at Jamboree (tel 34 933 017 564) until 1 a.m., when it morphs into a dance club, or enjoy techno at Torres de Avila (tel 34 934 249 309). The most typically Valencian nightlife, from easy-going to very cosmopolitan, is in Canovas, along Calle Serranos Morales, best from 1–4 a.m. For real Gypsy flamenco, go to Jerez; experience authentic peña flamenco at Centro Cultural Flamenco Don Antonio Chacón (tel 34 956 347 472).

Lodging

Conde de Gondomar
Inside the walls of a medieval fortress, guestrooms have magnificent views of the Islas Cies. Bayona, tel 34 986 355 000 $$$$

Hotel Villa Padierna, Marbella
Fine art and antiquities decorate this magnificent palazzo, where the spa includes a Turkish hammam. Carretera de Cádiz Km. 166, Marbella, tel 34 952 889 152 $$$$

Meliá Valencia
Spacious guestrooms in Valencia’s new business district overlook Calatrava’s latest masterpiece. Menorca 22,Valencia, tel 34 963 350 380 $$$

Dining

Agua
Overlooking the beach and sea, Agua’s succulent seafood quickly draws attention from the view. Maratim de Barcelonetta, Barcelona, tel 34 932 251 217 $$$

Arrop
The décor may be minimalist, but no detail is spared in the inventive menu based on local bounty. Calle Almirante 14, Valencia, tel 34 963 925 566 $$$

Skina
Sophisticated but not pretentious dishes are expertly prepared and served in the heart of Marbella’s old town. Calle Aduar 12, Marbella, tel 34 952 765 277 $$$