White villages, red earth and blue sky. The Andalusia, under the sun, is a melting pot of cultures (Moors, Jews, Catholics, gypsies), located in the extreme south of Europe, one eye on the Mediterranean, the other on Atlantic.

Its three main cities, Seville, Granada and Cordoba, are among the most beautiful in Spain. Superb open-air history books, but also festive cities with the hottest ambiance, which vibrate to the sound of flamenco and the rhythm of ferias.

As for its rugged and intense landscapes, mountainous or maritime, they display a superb palette of colors that enchant the eye. And to recover from your emotions, nothing beats the tapas to accompany a glass of wine, the manzanilla, the sublime local olive oil.

Andalusia: city side

Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Discover all the cultural, artistic and human wealth of the cities of Andalusia.

Seville

Fourth city in Spain and capital of the autonomous community, Seville is one of the flagship cities of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Andalusian metropolis, located on the banks of the Guadalquivir, has many architectural gems. Its cathedral impresses with its beauty, its vaults, its grandiose organs and its Giralda, an old minaret that has become a bell tower and symbol of the city.

Another wonder, the magical Alcázar, listed as World Heritage by Unesco, is a set of palaces and patios, built by different Spanish monarchs, with majestic gardens. Many other monuments are worth visiting medieval churches, monasteries, museums, colossal residences (such as the Casa de Pilatos) or the famous arenas.

The nightlife here is flamboyant all year round. In the evening, you will never tire of strolling through the Santa Cruz district with its cobbled streets, from tapas bars to wine bars.

To be at the heart of the action, head to the Triana district, where flamenco was born. Over here, wild shows. Over there, typical bars and bodegas, where you can enjoy tapas or a glass of wine.

Grenade

In a grandiose site, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Granada captivates with its treasures of Mudejar art, but also the baroque splendor of its churches.

The ocher silhouette of the Alhambra, against the backdrop of Sierra Nevada, dominates the city. Each year, 2 to 3 million visitors come to admire this majestic medieval fortress which overlooks the city.

The Alhambra, “the red” in Arabic, owes its name to the color that takes its stone when the setting sun sets on fire. More than a palace, the Alhambra is a real city, surrounded by high walls (2,200 m of ramparts). Linger in the Generalife, the summer palace of the sovereigns, and enjoy the panorama from the Alcazaba (11th-13th centuries), which overlooks the city.

To breathe the unique atmosphere of Granada, you have to walk through the maze of the Albaicin, which rises on the hill facing the Alhambra. Sort of Andalusian Montmartre, this district with the aspect of medina (a real labyrinth) Abounds in charm with the carmenes (villas with patios) and its flowered patios.

Catholic kings have left their mark on Granada, with the formidable cathedral started in the 16C. and completed in the 18C. A stone’s throw away, the Capilla Real was built to house the royal remains. A masterpiece of Gothic architecture.

Cordoba

There was a time when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived in harmony. True crossroads of civilizations, Cordoba keeps the memory of this golden age, in the 10th century. It was then one of the largest cities in Europe and a major intellectual center.

The most spectacular example of the success of this melting pot: the Mezquita-catedral (cathedral mosque). Begun in 784, it was to become the largest religious building in the Islamic world at the time.

After the reconquest of Cordoba, Charles V agreed to destroy the central part of the mosque in order to build a cathedral in the pure Renaissance style. It is a monument unique in the world: at the heart of the cathedral is the forest of columns of the mosque (la Mezquita), it has over 900.

In the evening, explore the alleys of the Juderia that surrounds the Mezquita. In the heart of the city, you will feel like you are in a small village with white and flowered houses, with superb patios.

Malaga

With its 320 days of sunshine a year, Malaga is a popular destination for tourists. Central point of the Costa del Sol, this dynamic city produces a famous wine that bears his name. In fact, the beverage, whose reputation goes beyond Spanish borders, is produced about twenty kilometers from the city. Either way, it’s a divine nectar.

Malaga is also famous for its Picasso museum. This major cultural institution has the particularity of bringing together the private collection of Pablo Picasso, who was born in Malaga.

With more than 200 works by the world-famous artist, the collection is housed in the Buenavista Palace, a splendid residence from the beginning of the 16th century. We enter the intimacy of the child of the country through the portraits of his companions and his children.

Also, not to be missed is the Carmen Thyssen museum, which presents some 200 jewels from this private collection (Zurbaran, Sorolla, etc.).

Malaga is also an excellent base from which to venture a little into Andalusian territory. Not far away are the beaches of the coast and, only around fifty kilometers away, Antequera, a Renaissance town with 27 churches.

Andalusia: land side and villages

How not to appreciate the majestic landscapes offered by the interior of Andalusia? With the Sierra Nevada, this region of mountains a few km from the sea, or even with Baeza and Úbeda, these two villages classified by UNESCO.

Ronda and the white villages

The small town of Ronda stands in the Andalusian mountains, 740 m above a cliff falling into the Rio Guadalevin, cut in half by a vertiginous ravine.

Among the oldest cities in Spain, this beautiful Andalusian has capsized the hearts of several generations of travelers, including Hemingway and Orson Welles.

Ronda has superb historic monuments, such as El puente Nuevo, an 18th century three-arch bridge. It was also at this time, in 1785, that the arenas, the oldest in the country, were built. The September Feria is one of the most popular in Spain.

Coming from Cadiz, the white villages route leads to Ronda: the opportunity to discover places typical of Andalusia, such as Arcos de la Frontera, Grazalema, Casares or Olvera.

Baeza and Úbeda

Baeza and Úbeda: two gems from the center of Andalusia, classified by UNESCO, where you can explore the wonders of Andalusian Renaissance architecture.

Located 48 km northwest of Jaén, in the heart of the country of olive trees, Baeza owes its reputation to its olive oil. But it is above all a small-town rich in monuments, with paved and narrow streets. Its Renaissance buildings, from its golden age in the 16C, are listed as World Heritage by Unesco.

Built at an altitude of 757 m, Úbeda overlooks for centuries a vast landscape of hills covered with olive groves. Like Baeza, it retains a significant medieval and Renaissance heritage. Do not leave the city without having taken a walk on the ramparts. A city of character listed since 2003 as a World Heritage Site.

Alpujarras (Sierra Nevada)

A majestic region, located on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, about 50 km south of Granada.

The Alpujarras, shared between the provinces of Granada and Almeria, are worth seeing for their landscapes and their villages. Located between 1,000 and 1,500 m above sea level, they are connected by mountain roads and hiking trails. An authentic and remote country, living away from the hustle and bustle.

The region is a little paradise for hikers. We discover it on foot, on horseback and by mountain bike. From mid-June to mid-July, you can observe mountain flowers at an altitude of 2,500 m.

As for the villages (Pampaneira – Bubion – Capileira), their alleys and their white houses are full of charm. A particularly inspiring haven of tranquillity, 1 hour from the Alhambra and the Mediterranean.

Andalusia: coastline

Turquoise water, white sand beaches and glowing reliefs, the coast of Andalusia also offers superb landscapes. Discover our selection of sites not to be missed.

Cabo de Gata and Tabernas Natural Park.

To the east of Almeria, on the coast, the Cabo de Gata embodies a preserved Andalusia, with whitewashed earth houses and pristine beaches.

The Cabo de Gata is perfect for beautiful nature walks by the sea and for swimming in crystal clear and calm waters. The coast is wild and jagged, with sandy beaches that nestle between the steep cliffs.

The volcanic depressions, the table-shaped mountains where the red of the sandstone rubs against the volcanic rock, form a particularly aesthetic setting, which makes one forget the agricultural greenhouses at the gates of the park.

Cabo de Gata remains a wilderness, relatively isolated and protected. A real movie set that inspired Sergio Leone in particular for his spaghetti westerns.

Since we are talking about westerns, not far from there, the Tabernas desert has also been able to exploit its striking resemblance to the dry plains of the American West. We talked about Sergio Leone, but Steven Spielberg, Orson Welles or Georges Lucas have also chosen to use this superb natural setting for their films.

Cadiz and the Costa de la Luz

Cadiz is made up of two parts: the big modern city is on the mainland, at the end of a road which borrows a narrow isthmus between the ocean and an interior bay.

The intramural city, which juts out into the Atlantic, is a city built on the rock, surrounded by thick walls and facing the sea. It is here that Christopher Columbus set off for the New World.

Cadiz is full of charm, with its weathered houses and the sea spray, its alleys overlooking the sea, its palm trees. A pure invitation to the call of the sea.

The Costa de la Luz (coast of Light) stretches from the Gulf of Cadiz to the Strait of Gibraltar. The sea is less gentle there than on the Mediterranean side. It is the wild Atlantic coast, with winds that delight windsurfers.

Along the way, we cross the superb white village of Vejer de la Frontera and Tarifa, the capital of windsurfers, whose old town is reminiscent of the Maghreb.

See photos of Cadiz and the Costa de la Luz

Doñana National Park

A great place for bird watching. Located 50 km from Huelva on the way to Cadiz, the Doñana National Park is made up of several natural spaces nested within one another. They are classified as a “Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site” by Unesco for their ornithological richness: waders, storks, mallards, swan necks.

Pine forests, marshy plains, white sand dunes, cork oaks make up a still preserved landscape. The heart of the protected area includes a beautiful coastal area. To enter the national park, know that you must be accompanied by a guide. On both sides, there are parts easier to access for pleasant walks.

Apart from around the seaside resort of Matalascañas, the park’s beaches are still little visited. It is enough to move away from this tourist center to have the impression of being alone in the world with the birds.

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