Spanish lakeside and river towns off the beaten path.

Less-touristed lakeside and river towns in Spain, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.

Frías has claimed the title of Spain's smallest city since 1435, its castle and 12th-century bridge rising above the Ebro while the medieval buildings share walls as if holding each other up. These 78 towns — from the Arlanza wine country around Lerma to the white-walled reservoir village of Zahara de la Sierra — were each shaped by the water beside them, whether a Pyrenean confluence like Vielha's or the Guadalquivir's source above Quesada.