Day-by-day programme of this 9-day itinerary across Andalusia.
Day 1 — Arrival in Seville
You land in Seville, the capital of Andalusia. After dropping your bags, a first taste of the city from the spectacular Plaza de España and, in the evening, a tapas dinner in Triana, the district across the river.
- ✈️ Seville — Aeroporto di Siviglia
- 📍 Plaza de España, Seville — The monumental square built for the 1929 Exposition: a great semicircle of brick and ceramics with the canal where you can row and the azulejo benches dedicated to the provinces of Spain. Lovely in the golden evening light. Then on foot towards the centre or Triana for the first tapas dinner, and off to sleep: tomorrow Seville reveals itself fully.
- 🏨 Hotel Rey Alfonso X — Barrio Santa Cruz, 41004 Sevilla
Day 2 — Moorish and Baroque Seville
A full day in the heart of Seville: the royal Alcázar palace with its Moorish courtyards, the great cathedral with the Giralda tower, and the white maze of the Santa Cruz quarter. Book the Alcázar online, it sells out.
- 📍 Royal Alcázar of Seville — The oldest royal palace still in use in Europe: Mudéjar rooms and courtyards, fretted arches, fountains and gardens of orange trees and palms. Its halls also appeared in Game of Thrones. Go early to skip the queue. On the way out you're already a stone's throw from the cathedral, rising right beside it.
- 📍 Seville Cathedral and Giralda — The largest Gothic cathedral in the world, built over the old mosque, with the tomb of Christopher Columbus. The bell tower, the Giralda, was the minaret: you climb it by ramps (no stairs) to the view over all of Seville. Back down, just lose yourself in the lanes alongside to slip into the Barrio Santa Cruz.
- 📍 Barrio Santa Cruz, Seville — Seville's old Jewish quarter: a maze of narrow shady lanes, flowered patios, little squares with orange trees and tapas bars. The best way to discover it is to get lost without a map, stopping for a fino and a plate of jamón. You sleep in the centre: tomorrow you pick up the car and set off for Córdoba.
Day 3 — Córdoba and the Mezquita
You pick up the car and leave Seville for Córdoba. The heart of the stop is the Mezquita-Catedral, the mosque-cathedral with its famous forest of striped arches; around it, the white Judería and the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir. You sleep in Córdoba.
- 📍 Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba — One of the most astonishing monuments in the world: eight hundred columns and red-and-white striped arches of the great Umayyad mosque, with a Christian cathedral built inside it in the 16th century. The contrast of the two religions in a single building is unforgettable. Once out, the white lanes of the Judería start right there around it.
- 📍 Jewish Quarter of Córdoba — The Jewish quarter around the Mezquita: white lanes, the small medieval synagogue and the famous Calleja de las Flores, the narrow alley with geranium-filled balconies framing the tower. In May the flowered patios are a sight. You dine among the lanes and sleep in the centre: tomorrow you drive towards Granada.
- 🏨 Hotel La Llave de la Juderia — Centro, 14003 Córdoba
Day 4 — On to Granada: the Albaicín at sunset
Morning in Córdoba, then by car to Granada, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. On arrival you climb into the Arab quarter of the Albaicín to the San Nicolás viewpoint, from where at sunset you watch the Alhambra glow: the prelude to tomorrow. You sleep in Granada.
- 📍 Roman Bridge of Córdoba — A last stroll in Córdoba on the Roman bridge crossing the Guadalquivir, with the view of the Mezquita and the Calahorra tower at the far end. Then you collect the car and head east: about two and a half hours' drive to Granada.
- 📍 Mirador de San Nicolás, Granada — Granada's most famous terrace, at the top of the Albaicín: opposite, the Alhambra stretched along the hill with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada behind. At sunset it fills with people and guitars; it's the view that stays with you. You head down to dinner in the quarter's lanes and sleep: tomorrow you enter the Alhambra.
- 🏨 Soho Boutique Granada — Centro, 18009 Granada
Day 5 — The Alhambra
The highlight day: the Alhambra, the Nasrid citadel above Granada. The Nasrid Palaces have a precise timed entry, so the ticket must be bought well in advance. Afternoon among the Generalife gardens and the evening in the Sacromonte.
- 📍 Alhambra, Granada — The last great palace of Islam in Spain: the Nasrid Palaces with their lace-like stucco, the Court of the Lions and the play of water, inside a red fortress overlooking the city. It's Spain's most visited monument: book the Palaces by date and time weeks ahead. From the complex you walk straight on, without leaving, to the Generalife gardens.
- 📍 Generalife, Granada — The sultans' summer gardens, terraced above the Alhambra: hedges, fountains and the famous Court of the Acequia, a long pool ringed by water jets. Cool and fragrant, it's the green counterpoint to the palaces. Included in the Alhambra ticket. In the evening you go up to the Sacromonte for flamenco.
- 🎯 Sacromonte, Granada — The gypsy quarter on the hillside, with cave-houses dug into the rock where the zambra was born, Granada's version of flamenco. In the evening you watch an intense, close-up live show: it's best to book a tablao. You head back to sleep in Granada: tomorrow you drop down towards Ronda.
Day 6 — From Granada to Ronda
You head west, leaving the mountains for the olive-grove countryside. Ronda is perched on the two edges of a deep gorge, joined by the spectacular Puente Nuevo: one of the most photographed views in Spain. You sleep here, enjoying the town once the coaches leave.
- 📍 Puente Nuevo, Ronda — The 18th-century stone bridge that spans the hundred-metre-deep Tajo gorge, joining the old and new towns. From the path down to the bottom or from the viewpoints you get the view that made Ronda famous worldwide. A few steps away, on the other side of the bridge, stands the historic bullring.
- 📍 Ronda Bullring — One of the oldest and finest bullrings in Spain, cradle of modern bullfighting on foot. Today it's a museum: you step into the sandy ring beneath the stone arcades. Nearby, the gardens overlooking the gorge with views over the countryside. You sleep in Ronda: tomorrow, before the sea, a trip to the white villages.
- 🏨 Hotel Acinipo — Centro, 29400 Ronda
Day 7 — Setenil and arrival in Málaga
In the morning a trip to Setenil de las Bodegas, the white village with houses set beneath a huge rock overhang. Then you drop down to the Costa del Sol and reach Málaga, a city of sea and of Picasso, where the journey ends. You sleep in Málaga.
- 📍 Setenil de las Bodegas — One of Andalusia's most astonishing white villages: the houses tuck literally under the rock that roofs the streets and bars. You stroll the 'Sol' and 'Sombra' lanes tasting the local cured meats. Half an hour from Ronda. Then you get back in the car and head for the coast: an hour and three quarters to Málaga.
- 📍 Alcazaba of Málaga — The terraced Moorish fortress above Málaga, with gardens, fountains and arches looking over the port and the sea. Beside it, the Roman theatre. A fine evening climb before heading down to dinner along the seafront, among the fried-fish terraces. You sleep in the city: tomorrow, a last day of sea and Picasso.
- 🏨 Hotel Ibis Malaga Centro Ciudad — Centro Histórico, 29015 Málaga
Day 8 — Málaga, sea and Picasso
A relaxed day in Picasso's home city: the museum dedicated to him, the cathedral nicknamed 'la Manquita', and the afternoon on the beach or along the renovated port. A gentle finale, with your feet in the water, before tomorrow's flight.
- 📍 Picasso Museum Málaga — In the Renaissance Buenavista palace, the collection dedicated to Málaga's most famous son: over two hundred works spanning Picasso's whole career. A few steps away, the artist's birthplace in Plaza de la Merced. From the centre, a ten-minute walk takes you down to the beach.
- 📍 La Malagueta Beach, Málaga — Málaga's city beach, a short walk from the centre, with the chiringuitos where they roast sardines on skewers (espeto). An afternoon of sun and sea to close the trip, perhaps with a walk out to the port lighthouse. You head back to sleep in the city: tomorrow only the journey home.
Day 9 — Departure from Málaga
Last hours in the city, between the Atarazanas market and a coffee with churros, then you return the car and take the flight home. The Andalusian loop closes with the taste of the south still in your mouth.
- 🍽️ Atarazanas Market, Málaga — Málaga's covered market, behind a Moorish-style gate and beneath a big stained-glass window: stalls of fish, fruit and cured meats and the little bars where you grab a standing seafood snack. A last taste before getting back in the car, returning it and heading to the airport.
- ✈️ Málaga — Aeroporto di Málaga-Costa del Sol
