Andalusia: Seville, Córdoba, Ronda and Granada

Arrive in Seville

Seville Airport to your hotel in the old town, then Plaza de España and Triana

• Welcome tapas dinner
• Nuit : Seville
• Environ 15 min de route

Après-midi

The afternoon is yours to settle in or wander the lanes around the hotel.

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week, then leads a first walk through the Parque de María Luisa to the Plaza de España, the curved brick and tile square built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, which glows in the low evening light. From there we stroll along the Guadalquivir and cross the Isabel II bridge into Triana, the old district of potters, sailors and flamenco singers on the west bank. Dinner tonight is a welcome round of tapas at a local bar in Triana, ordered for the table so you can taste a little of everything, from salmorejo to fried fish.

Compris

• Private transfer from Seville Airport (SVQ)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk: the Parque de María Luisa, the Plaza de España and the river to Triana
• Welcome tapas dinner in Triana

The Alcázar, the Cathedral and a flamenco night

Seville on foot: the Real Alcázar, the Cathedral and the Giralda, Santa Cruz

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Seville

Après-midi

We finish with a walk through the narrow lanes of the Santa Cruz quarter, then the afternoon is free.

Soir

In the evening we go together to a flamenco show at a dedicated venue in the old town.

Compris

• The Real Alcázar at its first entry of the day, with an accredited local guide
• Seville Cathedral, the tomb of Columbus and the Giralda
• Walk through the Santa Cruz quarter
• Flamenco show in the old town

Córdoba by high-speed train

Seville to Córdoba by high-speed train, then back to Seville

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Seville
• En train

Matin

We walk into the old town for the first group slot of the morning at the Mezquita. Begun in 785 as the great mosque of the Umayyad emirs and enlarged over two centuries, it is a forest of columns under red and white striped arches, with a 10th-century mihrab of gold mosaic; a cathedral was built into its centre in the 16th century. An accredited local guide leads the visit. Then we wander the Judería, the old Jewish quarter, past the medieval synagogue to the Calleja de las Flores, with its pots of geraniums framing the bell tower.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal of Córdoba dishes such as salmorejo and flamenquín.

Soir

In the afternoon, cross the Roman bridge for the view back to the Mezquita, then take the train back to Seville for a free evening.

Compris

• Return high-speed train from Seville to Córdoba
• The Mezquita (Mosque-Cathedral) at the first group slot, with an accredited local guide
• Walk through the Judería and the Calleja de las Flores
• Sit-down lunch in Córdoba
• The Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir

Activités en option

• The Palacio de Viana and its twelve patios (extra, price shown at booking)

The white villages to Ronda

Seville to Zahara de la Sierra, over the Puerto de las Palomas to Grazalema, then Ronda

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ronda
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

In Grazalema we walk the whitewashed lanes and sit down to a long mountain lunch, with the local payoyo goat cheese if you want it. Half an hour later we reach Ronda, built on both sides of El Tajo, a gorge more than 100 m deep. Your guide walks you across the Puente Nuevo, completed in 1793, into the old town and to the bullring of the Real Maestranza, opened in 1785.

Soir

The evening is free; the bridge is at its best at dusk.

Compris

• Stop in Zahara de la Sierra
• The Puerto de las Palomas pass and Grazalema, with a sit-down lunch
• Guided walk in Ronda: the Puente Nuevo, the old town and the gardens on the gorge edge
• The Ronda bullring of the Real Maestranza and its museum

Antequera, then sunset over the Alhambra

Ronda to Antequera, then Granada and the Albaicín

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Granada
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

Ronda is quiet in the early morning before the day visitors arrive, so there is time for a walk on the gorge edge or down the path to the viewpoint below the Puente Nuevo. At about 10 am we drive an hour and a quarter to Antequera to see the Dolmens of Menga and Viera, burial chambers built of huge stone slabs more than 5,000 years ago and listed by UNESCO in 2016.

Après-midi

Lunch is free in Antequera's old town, then it is about an hour to Granada, arriving early in the afternoon to rest.

Soir

In the early evening, timed for sunset, your guide leads the climb through the lanes of the Albaicín, the old Moorish quarter, to the Mirador de San Nicolás, where the Alhambra turns red across the valley with the Sierra Nevada behind. Then we walk down for a guided tapas evening: in Granada many bars still serve a free tapa with each drink, and we add plates for the table so it makes a full dinner.

Compris

• The Dolmens of Menga and Viera in Antequera
• Sunset walk through the Albaicín to the Mirador de San Nicolás
• Guided tapas evening in Granada

The Alhambra at opening

Granada: the Alhambra, the Nasrid Palaces and the Generalife

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Granada

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal near the Alhambra, and the afternoon is free.

Compris

• The Alhambra at opening with an accredited guide: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba and the Torre de la Vela, the Palace of Charles V and the Generalife
• Sit-down lunch near the Alhambra

Activités en option

• A zambra flamenco show in a Sacromonte cave (extra, price shown at booking)
• The Nasrid Palaces night visit, on the evenings it runs (extra, price shown at booking)
• A session at a Moorish-style bathhouse in the old town (extra, price shown at booking)

The Royal Chapel, the Darro and Sacromonte

Granada on foot: the Royal Chapel and Cathedral, the Alcaicería, the Carrera del Darro and Sacromonte

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Granada

Matin

Mid-morning we visit the Royal Chapel, where Isabella and Ferdinand, the monarchs who took Granada in 1492, are buried, and the Cathedral beside it. Then we walk through the Alcaicería, the narrow lanes of the old silk market, now full of lamps, ceramics and spices, and cross Plaza Nueva to the Carrera del Darro, the riverside street below the Alhambra walls. We stop at El Bañuelo, an 11th-century Arab bathhouse with star-shaped skylights, and walk on along the Paseo de los Tristes to Sacromonte, the hillside where families have lived in caves for centuries and where Granada's own flamenco grew. At the Sacromonte cave museum you see how the cave homes were built and lived in.

Soir

Lunch and the afternoon are free: a last look at the Albaicín, a tea house, or a rest before the evening. We meet again for a farewell dinner at a restaurant in the centre.

Compris

• The Royal Chapel and Granada Cathedral
• Walk through the Alcaicería and along the Carrera del Darro
• El Bañuelo, the 11th-century Arab baths
• The Sacromonte cave museum
• Farewell dinner in Granada

Granada to Málaga

Granada to Málaga Airport or the city centre

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

A last breakfast in Granada, then we load the van at about 9:30 am and drive about an hour and a half west and down to the coast at Málaga. The road leaves the Granada plain through olive country and drops through the hills towards the Mediterranean, so you see the land change from high plain to coast in a single morning. We drop you at Málaga Airport (AGP) by about 11:30 am, or in Málaga's city centre if you are staying on to see the Alcazaba, the Roman Theatre or the Picasso Museum. Your guide checks your onward plans before saying goodbye. If you want more time in Andalusia, we can book extra nights in Málaga or arrange a transfer to the train station for onward travel to Madrid.

Compris

• Private transfer from Granada to Málaga Airport (AGP) or the city centre