It’s clear that to add the most before an adjective always brings a certain controversy. Even more if it’s about choosing the most beautiful village of a country. In this decision, several factors are kept in mind such as its artistic and historic heritage and the landscape that surrounds it. To this effect, its citizens, associations and institutions make an effort and put all their determination in embellish it, because it will affect favourably in attracting tourism and its develop.

In Spain, the association Los pueblos más bonitos de España makes its selection choosing between the most isolated, in the mountains, or the historical, or the beautiful villages bathed by the Mediterranean Sea or the Cantabric Sea. Towns like Ronda in Málaga, Vejer de la Frontera in Cádiz, Cangas de Onís or Cudillero in Asturias, Altea in Alicante, Albarracín in Teruel, Úbeda in Jaén, Priego de Córdoba in Córdoba, Comillas in Cantabria, Laguardia in La Rioja or Alquézar in Huesca never miss these rankings.

In France, the association Les plus beaux villages de France has its own list, where villages like Pesmes, Eguisheim, Yvoire, la Grave, Saint-Suliac, Parfondeva, Josselin, Monte Saint-Michel o la Roque-Gageac are the highlights.

In Italy we have a multitude to choose amongst the little villages distributed all over the Tuscany, the colorful towns in the South, Vernazza or Manarola in Cinque Terre, San Gimignano or Tropea in the Calabrian coast, not to mention its fairytale charming villages that spread Germany or Switzerland.

In England also exists this interest to get declared the most beautiful town. Per se, the picturesque English countryside is an excelent frame, with beautiful landscapes and splendids medieval towns with an enormous historical value.

In the area of Cotswolds there are huge pile of them, so it is difficult to decide for one. Perhaps a good candidate to gain such valued title seems to be Knaresborough. It’s a town with medieval origins that was, for a long time, a spa town for the burgeoisie, in the county of North Yorkshire, at the north-east of England.

It keeps excellent historical monuments, like Knaresborough Castle, the viaduct over the Nidd river, passages that surround you in mistery and its houses, squares and stone stairs, which weave a path through the river until the peak of the hill.

We can also approach to Shanklin, a little village in the east coast of the Wight Island, that was an usual beach destiny during the Victorian epoch. What makes it so special are its vegetable roofs which give particular charming and a kind of rustic air.

Its sand beaches that continues beyond Desando and Shanklin, the Victorian pier, the picturesque defile that leads until the old beach and its old quarter, where the old methods of building roofs are preservated, make this town a solid candidate of the most beautiful town in England.

But, apparently, the prize is shared between Bibury and Castle Combe. The secret of the charming of Bibury, in Gloucestershire county, lies in its stone houses and its loftly roofs. Also the natural landscape of the town, surrounded of streams and ponds.

That’s how the poet and artisan William Morris thougt it, who baptised it years ago as the most beautiful town in England. And so The Huffington Post, that named it in the ranking of "The Most Charming Towns In Europe You'll Want To Visit ASAP".

On the other handm Castle Combe has been the setting of lots of movies, such as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse or Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust, among others. And it’s not of coincidence. Castle Combe is placed very close from the Cotsworlds Capital, Cirencester, a series of hills that crosses the south-east and west zone of England.

All the zone stands out for its natural beauty and this town has shown worthy of be one of the most beautiful places. Without any discordant in its architecture and by its charming and the peace that one can breath, Castle Crombe conquers everyone that visits it.

But, as there’s no accounting for taste, the best way to choose is go to England, take a look and decide for oneself.

Picture Castel Combe by Saffron Blaze

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Discover Andalusia: an unforgettable journey through its 8 provinces, where history, gastronomy, nature and beaches combine to offer unique experiences.

With the huge, varied offerings in its restaurants, Seville is well worth a culinary visit. From the oldest in the city, Rinconcillo (Calle Gerona, 40. Seville), where the waiters write your order down on the bar counter with a piece of chalk, to the modern Eslava (Calle Eslava, 3-5. Seville), award-winner for such tapas as Un cigarro para Bécquer (a cigar for Bécquer), which emulates a cigar, made of brik pastry filled with algae, cuttlefish and squid-ink calamari.

Then there is the canned fare of La Flor de Toranzo (Calle Jimios, 1-3), the varied side-dishes of Catalina Casa de Comidas y Más (Plaza Padre Jerónimo de Córdoba, 12. Seville) and the legendary piripi (sousing) at Bodeguita Antonio Romero (Calle Antonio Díaz, 5, Antonio Díaz, 19 y Gamazo, 16. Seville), a bread roll filled with bacon, cheese, tomato and mayonnaise, with a touch of garlic and pork fillet.

If Seville is worth visiting, its environs also deserve a culinary tour, either to taste the local fare or to find out more about such emblematic products as their cured ham.

At Sanlúcar la Mayor, some 25 kilometres from Seville, is the restaurant Alhucemas (Avenida del Polideportivo, 4. Sanlúcar la Mayor), an eatery serving deep-fries which, according to many chefs, have the best fried fish in Spain. While they have not yet earned a Michelin star, the managers are regulars at gastronomic congresses, where they reveal their culinary secrets. The restaurant is also frequented by shrine pilgrims seeking their spicy skewered meat known aspinchos morunos,and their lobster salad.

A bit further afield – just one hour away by car – is the must-see ham museum unveiled five months ago at the Cinco Jotas (Calle San Juan del Puerto, s/n), in Jabugo, Huelva. The trip is rewarding as it reveals all the secrets of the production and curing of 100% Iberian bellota ham via a series of talking panels, graphics, videos, interactive screens and a 12-metre-long cyclorama which plunges you into the meadows where the hogs roam free… There are three unforgettable moments: walking through the impressive cellar, where 50,000 (maybe more) legs of ham are kept, the room where a contest is held – with screens, as if in a TV set – where visitors are quizzed about what they see and awarded virtual slices of ham, and the end of the visit, where you are treated to a tasty delicacy, washed down with red wine or sherry.

Nearby the museum you can visit the Gruta de las Maravillas (Calle Pozo de la Nieve, s/n. Aracena) in Aracena, a complex of monumental, millenary caves with interior lakes and figures so incredible they seem hallucinatory. You can have lunch at the Arrieros restaurant (Arrieros, 2. Linares de la Sierra) in Linares de la Sierra, where they serve one of the best hamburgers in Spain, made of tenderloin and field mushrooms. (According to Martín Berasategui, it’s the best hamburger he’s ever tasted, and he must be right.) Indeed, the menu is based on Iberian pork, field mushrooms, fruit and vegetables from their allotment and local aromatic herbs. In a nutshell, what their chef, Luismi López, describes as alta cocina serrana (“highland haute cuisine”), which materialises in the form of excellent dishes, notably Iberian game carpaccio, foie gras and vinaigrette del Condado, tomato soup, strawberry gazpacho, scrambled blood sausage and king prawns, toast with semi-cured cheese and herbs…

Text and images Ferran Imedio (Gastronomistas)

Enjoy autumn in Andalusia by visiting white towns like Ronda, Grazalema, Mojácar, Frigiliana, Vejer de la Frontera, Zuheros, Arcos de la Frontera and Cazorla. Narrow whitewashed streets, breathtaking viewpoints, local food, nature and lots and lots of art.