In september 2020 we planned a road trip in Andalousia, renting a car from Sevilla and visiting the maximum we could do: Cordoba and its Mesquita, Granada and the famous Alhambra, a quick stop in Rio Verde for my first canyioning session, Malaga, hiking in Caminito del Rey (close to Ronda), visiting the beautiful Cadiz to go back in Sevilla and visit the Alcazar!
Cordoba & the Mesquita
We arrived on sunday night from Sevilla where we rent a car, and sadly for us most of the sightseeings were closed on Monday. But the most famous was open: The Mesquita. This Roman catholic cathedral is a must see: it turned several time from a catholic church to a mosque, and kept its Islamic columns and arcs.
The rest of the day we walked around the streets (must do: calle de las Flores), enjoying the famous biggest Tortilla de papa, the beauty of the Sojo rooftop bar and a flamenco show by the evening.
Hotel: ApartaSuites Alberca, very nice and quiet old typical andalousian house, with a cute swimming pool and private parking
Rooftop: Soja Bar
Flamenco diner: Casa Pepe de La Juderia
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Granada & the Alhambra
Visiting the Alhambra takes at least 1/2 day. You need to book in advance your slot, and luckily (thanks to the CoVid situation) we were able to book the day before our arrival. You can visit several building from several times and used:
Palazio Nazares
Palace of the kings of Granada, this 13 century’s building is a huge complex with amazing muslin decoration.
Alcazaba
The fortified military complex. The first Arab constructions date from the Caliph period, possibly on the remains of a Roman fortification.
Generalife
Generalife Leisure villa of the sultans of Granada, surrounded by orchards and gardens, the latter created recently, together with the amphitheatre at the entrance
Museo de bellas artes
Charles V Palace is one of the emperor’s projects for the city of Granada. With its roman style it host nice exhibitions included in your Alhambra entrance ticket.
Granada sightseeings:
What we visited in one afternoon:
– Plaza de Alonso Cano
– Shopping around the Alcaicería (arab spice market)
– the Real chapel attached to the Catedral Santa María de la Encarnación with its huge dome!
– Lunch to Los Manueles (a chain with very good and cheap tapas – with the best croquetas I’ve ever tried!)
– Hill of Albaicín, the medieval Arabic quarter of the city (with the must see Mirador of San Nicolas)
– Salomonte hill, the gipsy quarter
– Carrera del Darro, full of restaurant and terrasses down by the river
Rio Verde Canyoning
Between Granada and Malaga you will find a beautiful natural reserve with a canyon close to Otívar where we met our guide for canyoning and her children in holidays! We arrived in the morning and took a good and cheap breakfast at Restaurante Bellavista in Otivar. The tour lasted more than 4 hours (which was exceptionally long thanks to our guide and her little child).
Contact: You can call or send a WhatsApp message to Nura: +34 699 97 03 36. She shared the pictures she took during our tour right after, really professional and full of security advices.
Nerja:
We made a quick stop to this very nice (and touristic) city, having a beer on Cochran’s Terrace and lunch in front of the sea: Restaurante Terraza Mar Bella.
Malaga
We passed only one day in Malaga to visit the Picasso museum and the Gibralfaro castle on top of the hill with an amazing view of the city!
We crossed the city center to the Cathedral and visited the rooftop of Marriott Malaga Palacio hotel. We took an electric scooter until Malagueta beach (you have a nice pedestrian path to go there).
We passed the evening with a friend starting at 100 Montaditos, Calle Sagasta (very nice area if you want to go out) and finishing plaza de la Merced where you have very cheap drinks and food!
Hotel: We were staying in a small studio close to Merced place: Apartamentos Marques de la Merced and left the car in the street (you have plenty of places but it’s better if you avoid the rush hours!)
Caminito del Rey
El Caminito del Rey (The Kings’s Little Pathway) is an old water channel maintenance path. About 3 kilometers long (but you will walk the double as you need to enter to the area first), this way has just been refurbished, and it goes along vertical walls and a footbridge over the gorge on the same waterway.
You can book online your slot or come directly like we did! Its a one way tour but you have a bus to go back!
Ronda
On our way to Cadix, and after our morning walk into Caminito del Rey, we made a quick stop to this very nice city of Ronda. Famous for its bridge (called Puente Nuevo but building started in 1751 and took until 1793 to complete), Ronda has also one of the oldest bullfighting ring of Spain: Corrida Goyesca. Be carefull about the timing: The corrida was closed and we didn’t have enough time to go down the bridge, where you have the best view… Plan at least a half day, it worth it!
Cadiz
Cadiz is a very cute city, with a lot of pedestrian tiny streets, It’s authentic, peaceful and warm!
We just had a half day so we only walked around the city, enjoying the central market, close to Plaza de las Flores, the Genoves parc, Santa Catalina castleand its nice creek, or passing through the roman theater of Gades.
We did visit one thing: the cathedral and its tower where you can get a great view on the full city! (second option to enjoy the view is to go to one of the restaurant rooftop, or to visit Torre Tavira).
To stay: Hotel Argantonio is a very beautiful old house combining classical andalousian and colonian styles! Ideally located, close to a parking zones.
To park your car: The hotel had a private service but we prefered to leave our car in the street (av. 4 de diciembre 1977) and pay at distance with PayByPhone application.
Sevilla
Infos:
– Hotel: Joya del Casco
– Alcazar: 11€50 entrance. We had to book our slot in advanced (CoVid rule I guess)
Tips:
We missed the visit of the Cathedral: indeed we were out of the visit hours, so we tried to participate to the mass. We couldn’t enter because my boyfriend was wearing a short behind his knees!
Sevilla is a huge city and we had only 2 days to visit it (too short I guess).
The first day we arrived around noon and enjoyed the rooftop of our hotel before searching for a tapas bar. We found it on calle San Pablo where you can eat and drink in a bunch of restaurants with terrasses!
We crossed the river to visit Los Remedios with its nice Calle San Jacinto, before crossing again by the San Telmo bridge (in front of the Torre del Oro).
The second day we visited the city center and the Casco Antiguo, passing by Basílica de Jesús del Gran Poder, and had a lunch on Alameda de Hercules. We walked until Basilica de Macarena to see the ancient wall of the city. We went back passing in front of Iglesia Saint-Louis-des-Français, Monasterio de Santa Paula, and found the Palacio de las Dueñas closed (too bad, it looked very nice to visit).
At the end of the day we visited the Alcazar and its beautiful garden, and went to see the sunset on Plaza de España. We walked back to our hotel by the very nice the Paseo Alcalde Marqués del Contadero where you can find very nice bars by the river!
Summary of our journey:
Agenda:
Day 1: Arrival at Sevilla and road to Cordoba
Day 2: Cordoba
Day 3: Alhambra and Granada
Day 4: Canyioning in Rio Verde
Day 5: Malaga
Day 6: Caminito del Rey and Ronda
Day 7: Cadix in the morning and road to Sevilla
Day 8-9: Sevilla
If we had more time:Close to Almeria we wanted to explore the Cabo de Gata. Also with 1 or 2 more days we would have visited Marbella, Estepona – known for surfing and Gibraltar
Best Of moments:
