Costa del Sol, Costa Brava, Costa Blanca — Spain has more famous coasts than one country’s fair share. Their names conjure up images of long stretches of golden sand washed by an eternally blue Mediterranean.

Some names — Costa del Sol, especially — may also bring images of unchecked development, rows of cookie-cutter hotels broken only by English pubs and T-shirt shops, places with about as much Spanish character as Atlantic City.

How do you choose the right coast — or even know if the old stereotypes are still true? Follow us on a tour of these fabled costas, along more than a thousand sea-washed miles stretching from the French border northeast of Barcelona to the Portuguese line west of Seville.

Costa Brava, Spain’s “wild coast,” has been a haven for artists and writers ever since a journalist gave it the name in 1909. This coast north of Barcelona celebrates its century of life in 2009–2010 with art exhibits, concerts, sports events and a touring route highlighting local artists including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Marc Chagall. At Figueres, Dalí’s birthplace, the Dalí Museum is dedicated to the Spanish surrealist; and Cadaqués, still a haven for artists, hosts summer international painting and music festivals.

Tossa de Mar is the prettiest of the Costa Brava towns, its white houses lining narrow lanes inside 12th-century walls and towers. Secluded coves and long sand beaches line the shore nearby. Pals is another medieval village, with beautiful views from the 11th-century ruins of Sant Pere de Rodes monastery.

With less scenery and ambience but more long beaches, the Costa Daurada lies southwest of Barcelona. Only Sitges offers much diversion, as outrageous an enclave of art, architecture and wild festivals as it was when the Modernistas gathered there in the early 20th century. Closer to Valencia, the Costa del Azahar is verdant with orange groves, with good beaches around Castellón de la Plana. Peniscola is a fortified medieval town with a Knights Templar castle, standing alone almost surrounded by sea.

South of Valencia, the Costa Blanca stretches between two capes, around the city of Alicante. Dramatic caves break the cliffs around Javea, where there is a parador, an upscale government-owned hotel. Benidorm’s swarms of international tourists assure that its nightlife will be the liveliest along this coast, with dozens of bars, pubs and clubs to choose from.

In the midst of all the fun-in-the-sun, it is surprising that Alicante manages to retain its authentically Spanish character, with an atmospheric old quarter. The same is true of the beaches near the city, such as Eliche, popular with Spanish families.

Best known of Spain’s coasts, the Costa del Sol stretches from Málaga to Gibraltar. Perhaps it’s not the most spectacular of the coasts, but it has Europe’s highest number of guaranteed sunny days, assuring a steady stream of northern Europeans seeking winter warmth. It’s international but, apart from a few marinas, hardly jet-set. This lively goodtime land of sunny beaches has plenty of amusements for kids and enough culture, class and character to make sure you know you’re in Spain.

Whether you’re looking for bullfights or golf, shopping or Picasso, you’ll find it on the Costa del Sol. For authentic tapas bars, Old World charm and a taste of the Moorish influence, climb the winding streets of Marbella’s old town, only a few blocks away but worlds apart from the beach. Marbella’s not tarted up or artsy — for that go to chic little Porto Banus, built in the 1960s to welcome spectacular yachts. They and their suntanned owners can be admired from the promenade. Designer boutiques, upscale jewelers, smart nightlife and a decidedly moneyed air set it apart from neighboring fun spots. Like Porto Banus, Torremolinos is populated mostly by foreigners, but not such wealthy ones, and has its own lively flavor.

Determined to become one of Europe’s “Cities of Art,” much-maligned Málaga has transformed itself in the past few years. Spain’s second-most-important cruise port has replaced its traffic-clogged main shopping street with a sparkling pedestrian boulevard and filled it with sculpture, benches and cafés.

West of Gibraltar, the Andalucian coast is washed not by the Mediterranean but by the Atlantic Ocean. Near Gibraltar, around the Cape of Trafalgar, mountains rise sharply from the sea. At its tip, laid-back Tarifa is a magnet for windsurfers, and not far from it is a line of never-crowded beaches. In the steep hills behind them lie some of Andalucia’s White Towns — the closest to the coast is Vejer de la Frontera.

The miles and miles of fine white sand from this rocky promontory to the Portuguese border are known as the Costa de la Luz, with an average of 300 days of sunshine each year. Developed later, the region heeded the lesson of the earlier resorts, opting for high-end and low-rise. The beaches, natural attractions and scenery are preserved, and the coast is a bit of a Spanish secret. Only around Rota and at Matalascañas Beach is there much foreign influence; elsewhere, the resort towns still offer an authentic local experience.

Mazagón, south of Huelva, is a peaceful resort with a beautiful beach backed by pines; and in Cádiz the beaches come right up to the city center — one is book-ended by a pair of defensive forts, Santa Catalina and San Sebastián. Although it’s the region’s major port, Cádiz seems more like a little provincial town, its charming streets lined by Moorish-looking white homes with wooden balconies.

Sanlucar de Barrameda and Jerez de la Frontera are best known for fine sherries, although both have other reasons to visit: Sanlucar for outstanding seafood restaurants and Jerez for flamenco and the magnificent Andalucian horses at the Royal School of Equestrian Art.

INFO TO GO

Flights from Madrid’s Barajas Airport (MAD) connect to Seville (SVQ) for Costa de la Luz, Málaga (AGP), Valencia (VLC) and Barcelona (BCN). Rent a car at the airport or arrange private transfers to adjacent coasts (www.shuttle-airport.eu). Visit www.spain.info.

LODGING

HOSTAL DE LA GAVINA
The only 5-star resort hotel in Catalonia sits on its own little peninsula between two beaches. $$$$
HOSTAL DE LA GAVINA
Plaza de la Rosaleda, Castell-Platja d’Aro, Girona
tel 34 972 321 100
www.lagavina.com

HOTEL MONASTERIO SAN MIGUEL
The converted convent retains its historic architecture but adds contemporary comforts and fine dining fit for the kings and queens who visit. $$$
HOTEL MONASTERIO SAN MIGUEL
Calle Virgen de los Milagros 27, El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz
tel 34 956 540 440
www.jale.com/monasterio

THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL VILLA PADIERNA
This sumptuous art-filled Costa del Sol palazzo includes in-room espresso machines in Executive Suites and a Turkish hammam in the spa. $$$$
THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL VILLA PADIERNA
Carretera de Cádiz Km. 166, Marbella
tel 34 952 889 152
www.ritzcarlton.com

DINING

ELBULLI
In Costa Brava, expect surprises from Michelin-acclaimed chef/owner Ferran Adrià, whose tasting dinner runs to 30 courses. $$$$
ELBULLI
Cala Montjoi, Roses, Girona
tel 34 972 150 457
www.elbulli.com

RESTAURANTE EL FARO
Locals flock here, not just for the daily catch but for paper-thin morsels of famed Iberian hams that hang from the rafters. $$–$$$
RESTAURANTE EL FARO
Calle San Felix 15, Cádiz
tel 34 956 211 068

RESTAURANTE SANTIAGO
Despite its location, Santiago is not limited to seafood, serving outstanding air-dried Iberian pork and roast sucking pig. $$$
RESTAURANTE SANTIAGO
Paseo Marítimo 5, Porto Banus, Marbella
tel 34 952 770 078
www.restaurantesantiago.com

DIVERSIONS

For the best views of the Costa Brava’s little sand beaches and pine-crowned sculpted rocks, take the Lancha Litoral “sea bus” between towns and beaches that are hard to access by road. The Pals Golf Club (tel 3 4 972 667 739, www.golfplatjadepals.com), one of 10 courses here, is built among pines whose shade is welcome on those legendary sunny days. The 36-hole PGA Golf Catalunya at Caldes de Malavella (tel 34 972 472 577, www.pgacatalunya.com), named one of Europe’s top 10 courses, hosts an event in the 2009 PGA European Tour.

Diving is especially good at Islas Medes, a nature reserve off L’Estartit with the most diverse sea life along the entire Spanish coast. The land is as irregular and eroded underwater as above, a perfect habitat with clear water. Book an excursion with Calypso Diving (www.grn.es/calypso).

On the Costa Blanca, Collera has a good beach for families, and kids enjoy the Safari Park Vergel at nearby Denia, a quiet resort with a ruined castle. Golfers prefer Javea, where there is a 9-hole golf course (tel 96 579 2584). Take a break from the beach and explore Alicante’s old Santa Cruz quarter to find the cathedral and castle. The excellent museum exhibits works by Picasso, Braque and Miró.

For admirers of 20th- and 21st-century architecture, it’s difficult to visit this area without daytrips into Barcelona and Valencia. The first is the showcase for Antonio Gaudi’s Modernista buildings, Spain’s memorable contribution to Art Nouveau. The stars are the Sagrada Familia church, the astonishing La Pedrera and Palau Guell. In Valencia head for the City of Arts and Sciences to see how Santiago Calatrava has transformed the area with an exciting new complex of museums, performance venues and planetarium.

The Costa del Sol has more than 50 golf courses, many of them in the scenic Golf Valley between San Pedro de Alcantara and Marbella, a less-heavily developed coast known as Nueva Andalucía. Magnificently landscaped with authentic Roman stone artifacts, the 18-hole course at Villa Padierna in Marbella (tel 34 952 889 150, www.flamingosgolf.com) has sea views, and on clear days the Atlas Mountains of North Africa form the southern horizon.

Cruise between Torremolinos and Porto Banus (tel 34 952 444 881) or sail silently over the coast in a balloon, followed by a Champagne breakfast. Only 12 miles inland, one of Andalucía’s famed White Towns, Casares, perches on a steep hill under a ruined castle.

Families can visit Selwo (a nature park where animals of five continents roam semi-wild environments), Aquapark (Europe’s largest water park) and Tivoli World (for all ages, with 11 rides just for toddlers).

In newly face-lifted Málaga, browse shops along the wide marble-paved pedestrian street, then delve into the old city to follow a Picasso Trail that includes his birthplace and the sparkling new Picasso Museum Málaga (Calle San Agustín 8, www.museopicassomalaga.org), displaying hundreds of his paintings, sculptures, drawings and ceramics. If Spain just doesn’t seem complete without a corrida, check the schedule for Málaga’s bullring, one of the few places in Spain with bullfights in August (Paseo Reding 8, Viajes El Corte Ingles, tel 800 333 2469).

Get away from the crowd at quiet Nerja, where the sierra drops to the sea, hiding beaches beneath its cliffs. Admire the views from the Balcon de Europa promenade before visiting Cueva de Nerja, where Cro-Magnon man lived among the stalactites and you can see Paleolithic cave paintings. The prettiest part of the whole Costa del Sol lies east of Nerja. East of Almería, the coastal road leads around Cabo de Gata to a beach, lighthouse and crystal-clear waters for diving. A mile inland, Mojacar is Spain’s most Moorish village, a compact stack of startlingly white cubes.

In Cádiz, art lovers can follow the tourist office’s walking tour map to churches housing paintings by artists Goya, El Greco and Murillo. Sherry is the fine art in Jerez de la Frontera, where visiting at least one bodega is almost mandatory. Bodegas Valdivia has one of the best tours (tel 34 956 328 997, www.bodegasvaldivia.com), ending with an excellent multimedia show about the region. At the Royal Andalucian School of Equestrian Art (Avenida Duque de Abrantes, tel 34 956 319 635), the famous local thoroughbreds are trained in high-precision ballet, which they show off to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon.

The heart and soul of Gypsy flamenco is in Jerez, and the best authentic peña flamenco is Centro Cultural Flamenco Don Antonio Chacón (tel 34 956 347 472). Golfers will enjoy several courses, including the Jack Nicklaus-designed Montecastillo near Jerez, an 18-hole championship course (tel 34 956 151 200, www.barcelomontecastillo.com).