10-Day Andalusia Itinerary: The Sweet Spot

Fly into Seville (SVQ) or take the AVE from Madrid (2h30). Drop bags at your hotel in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood and walk straight to the Real Alcázar before the midday crowds arrive. Book tickets the evening before — the €16.50 entry covers the palace and gardens. The tile-work in the Salón de los Embajadores, commissioned by Pedro I in 1364, is more intricate than anything in Granada.

Cross to the Cathedral and La Giralda (€13, tower included). Climb the 34 ramps — they were built for horses, not steps, so it is an easy ascent. The view over the city from the top takes in the Alcázar gardens below and the Sierra Norte in the distance.

Lunch in the Triana market across the river: good counter service, no tourist trap pricing.

Cross to Triana, Seville's ceramics and flamenco quarter. Walk the covered market, then up Calle Castilla for the azulejos workshops. The Museo del Baile Flamenco (€12) explains the dance's history with more depth than you expect from a small building.

The Plaza de España in the Parque de María Luisa is genuinely impressive at close range — the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition left behind a semicircular palace with tiled alcoves for each Spanish province. Go after 4pm when tour buses thin out. The row boats on the canal are €6 for 35 minutes.

Rest during the 3–5pm heat, then cross to the south bank via the Roman Bridge for sunset. The 16-arch bridge dates to the 1st century BC, rebuilt under Abd al-Rahman I. The view back at the Mezquita from the Torre de la Calahorra turns terracotta at around 7pm from March through October.

The Alhambra requires timed entry tickets booked well in advance — ideally 6–8 weeks out for peak season (March–May, September–October). The Nasrid Palaces slot is the one that sells out first: these 14th-century rooms with carved stucco stalactite ceilings are what most people come for. General admission is €21 per person.

Plan at minimum 4 hours: the Nasrid Palaces (allow 90 minutes), the Alcazaba fortress tower, and the Generalife gardens with their water channels and cypress alleys. The gardens are quieter after 3pm and especially good in May when the roses bloom.

Book at: alhambra-patronato.es. No resellers. Expect to pay face value.

Walk up through the Albaicín, the hillside Moorish quarter with carmenes (enclosed garden houses) behind whitewashed walls. The Mirador de San Nicolás faces the Alhambra at eye level — most guidebooks call this the best view in Spain and they are not wrong about it. Go before 9am to avoid tour groups.

Granada's Cathedral (€5) was begun in 1523 on the site of the main mosque and took 180 years to finish. The Capilla Real next door holds the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella — the people who commissioned Columbus and expelled the Moors. The carved silver screen around the tombs is worth the 90 minutes.

Walk east to Sacromonte, Granada's cave quarter, where Romani families have lived for centuries and where zambra flamenco developed. Several cave houses are open to visitors as museums; the cave flamenco shows in the evening are commercial but the setting is genuine.

The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) spans the El Tajo gorge at 120 metres. Built between 1751 and 1793, it took 42 years because the first design collapsed. Walk across it, then go down the path on the west side to the gorge floor for the photograph everyone uses. The walk down takes 20 minutes; back up takes 30.

The Plaza de Toros de Ronda (€9) opened in 1785 and is Spain's oldest bullring still in use. The Museo Taurino inside documents the Romero family who developed modern bullfighting here. Whether you have any interest in bullfighting or not, the ring itself — 66 metres in diameter, surrounded by two tiers of white arches — is an extraordinary piece of 18th-century architecture.

Walk the El Tajo gorge trail from the old town side — the path runs along the edge of the cliff through gardens and ruined Arab baths. The scale of the drop becomes clear only when you are standing at the bottom looking up at the bridge. Allow 90 minutes round trip. The Jardines de Cuenca at the north end of the old town have a different angle on the gorge and are quieter.

The Alcazaba (€3.50) is an 11th-century Moorish fortress built into the hill above the port. The attached ruins of a Roman amphitheatre at the entrance are 1st-century and free to walk through. The Castillo de Gibralfaro above it (+€2.20, or combined ticket €5.50) takes another 45 minutes to climb and has the best view in the city: the port, the old town, and on clear days, the Rif mountains of Morocco.

The hike between both fortresses takes about 20 minutes along a wooded path — bring water in summer.

The Picasso Museum Málaga (€12, or free from 6–8pm on Sundays) holds 233 works from family collections, including early ceramics, drawings, and oil paintings donated by Picasso's daughter-in-law. It occupies the 16th-century Palacio de los Condes de Buenavista, two minutes' walk from his birth house on Plaza de la Merced. Allow 90 minutes.

The Soho arts district, south of the old town, has good tapas bars around Calle Nicasio Calle — cheaper and less crowded than the cathedral area.

Playa de la Malagueta is a 10-minute walk east from the cathedral, right in the city. Come between 8–11am before it fills up. The beach bars (chiringuitos) open from 9am and serve coffee, fresh orange juice, and toast with olive oil.

The Cathedral La Manquita ("the one-armed woman" — one tower was never built due to funds running out) is worth 45 minutes. Entry €6. The interior is Baroque, the proportions are odd because of the missing tower, and the organ dates to 1782. It is one of those buildings where the flaw becomes the feature.