| We
spent about 10 days in southern Spain at the end of March, 2001. Most
people go to this area and concentrate on the Costa del Sol with side trips
to Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, and all the other delightful places to visit
in this region. We live right on the Meditteranean coast, so we are
well familiar with overbuilt crowded coastal tourist spots. Therefore, the
Costa del Sol didn't really attract us. We spent 3 nights
in Granada, 2 nights in Ronda, and 4 nights in Sevilla, with a side trip to
the Costa del Sol. |
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A few general comments on touring in southern Spain.
- The people are
very friendly and helpful. On the other hand, very few people speak
English, so bring a good dictionary.
- If you try to
use Spanish they will gladly help you with pronunciation and vocabulary,
and you'll probably get better service.
- Learn how to
pronounce the names of streets and places the way they do. Otherwise
you'll never get to where you want to! The most important is the letter J
which is pronounced as a glottal "CH".
- If a Spaniard
says "In a minute...", that means..."sometime today".
- In general,
the roads are excellent with free expressways between major cities.
- We found the
taxi drivers to be honest and reliable.
- The drivers
are patient and not nearly as crazy as the drivers in France or Italy.
- Most stores
close from 2 PM until 5 Pm, and even 5 PM isn't a sure thing. From
5 PM, most stores are open until 8.
- If you are looking
for a supermarket, don't expect the size, variety and neatness of the
modern European ones. They still have a long way to go. But you will be surprised
at the cheap price of their olive oil!
- The bull fight
season starts in the middle of April (the earliest was on the 9th, after
we left) and lasts till the end of September.
- You will notice
that the design and decoration of the buildings in this part of Spain are
strongly influenced by the Moors that ruled the area. Many entrances of private
homes and public buildings are covered by elaborate decorative tiles,
Moorish style. You will see this especially in the big cities.
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flew into Malaga after midnight and stayed at the Parador
Malaga de Golf because of its very close location to the airport.
Although we didn't want to stay in or near Malaga, we had a delightful stay
at this Parador for the few hours we were there. Breakfast was great!
The rooms are spacious and very comfortable with large balconies and wonderful
views of mountains and sea! |
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| The
following morning, we drove east along the coast road and visited Nerja, and
Lanjaron on the way to Granada. Nerja is about 45 minutes east of Malaga,
and is still not too overbuilt. We had a pleasant visit here.
To the right is one of the nicest pictures of this trip, and below is Alisa
relaxing on plaza outlook spot. Nearby are caves which are said to
be worth a visit, but we were more interested in getting to Granada. |
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Lanjaron and its neighbor Orgiva are the main towns in the
Alpujarras mountains. This area is a center for mineral water and calls itself
the ham (jamon in Spanish) capital of Spain. There are spas in this area
and many small isolated villages. We wanted to press on to Granada, so we
didn't really do more than just pass through and get a general impression.
The main part of our trip was ahead of us.
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| GRANADA |
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We spent
3 nights in granada at the Reina Cristina
hotel. This is a 3 star hotel with an exceptional location right in
the center of town. It's also very attractive, is a real bargain,
and has an excellent restaurant. If you have a car, they will park it for
you (valet style) for about $8 per day. |
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Rick Steves guides
to
Spain and Portugal
How to order tickets in
advance to the Alhambra
TUSPAIN'S guide to
the Alhambra
UNESCO'S site
about the Alhambra
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Without
any question, the main attraction in Granada is the Alhambra. On the
left are several links with information about visiting the Alhambra.
If possible, you should buy your tickets in advance because the number
of visitors to the Royal Palace is limited to 400 per half an hour.
We ordered our tickets, with specific entry time by telephone from home, and
picked them up at one of the over 2700 branches of the BBV bank in Spain.
It worked fine. All the information can be found on the left.
If all
you want to do in Granada is visit the Alhambra, then you can stay right
on the grounds at the 4 star Parador, or at the 1 star America. |
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| If
you do want to visit the city, there is plenty to see and do, and you should
find a hotel in town. The Alhambra is on a hill right next to town.
It is a long walk uphill, or a 5 minute drive by taxi or bus from the Plaza
Nueva. Here's the bus on the right. |
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place which is a must to visit is the Albaycin, the old Moorish neighborhood.
The highlight of the Albaycin is the Mirador de San Nicholas, which has the
best view of the Alhambra in the entire area. It's a great place to just
go and relax and enjoy the view. |
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| Back
to the Alhambra for a second. It's very impressive and you should
plan on spending at least three hours touring the grounds. And, as you
can see from the picture on the right, it's also a very relaxing place.
That's me relaxing in the Nazeirian Palace. The chairs are very comfortable
and can be found in most of the larger rooms. |
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The
most interesting thing we did in Granada was go to a performance of a Flamenco
troupe headed by a nationally known performer called Rafael Amargo.
This was not a night club act designed or presented for tourists. This
was a serious production in the main theater of Granada, and there were about
1000 people in attendance, and I didn't hear much English. There are
many serious dance productions, and they are far more entertaining than the
night clubs for tourists which provide one "free" drink with the price of
admission.
Granada
has also great shopping districts and stores. Alisa enjoyed shopping at Il
Corte Ingles, a great chain store with branches all over Spain. It carries
clothing of many well-known European and local designers that are to Alisa's
taste and.... size (minute), as well as all the other items that you expect
to find at a respectable department store. |
Some Granada links...
Granadainfo
(lots of great info)
About Granada
TuSpain on Granada
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There
are several other interesting excursions you can make from Granada.
One is to the Sierra Nevada mountains which are very close, (and very high
and very cold), or you can visit, as we did, Jaen, about 90 KM north of Granada.
It is a charming small city with a cathedral and well preserved old part
of town. It calls itself "the olive oil capital of Spain". We wanted
to visit Ubeda and Baeza as well, but didn't have enough time. |
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We
ate at two very good restaurants in Granada, one of which I remember -
Cunini, which we enjoyed very much and is located right near the Bib Ramblas
on Pascederia street. They are experts at preparing fish and seafood!
The Bib Ramblas is where the flower market is permanently set up. |
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| THE
DRIVE FROM GRANADA TO RONDA |
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We drove
from Granada to Ronda through Antequera and Alora. Antequerra was beautiful.
I took lots of pictures and here's one to the left.
From Antequerra,
we drove to Alora to see the "Garganta del Chorro" which is a few kilometers
north of the town. This is a gigantic gorge with an incredible bridge
and (inaccessible) walking path attached to the cliff. Unfortunately,
the "garganta" was a gigantic disappointment and really not worth the ride,
which takes you about 20 KM north of Alora. The road from Antequerrra
to Alora, and beyond Alora is a very winding road, and not for the faint of
heart or those with weak stomachs. Many of the roads in this area are
like this and you should check in advance where you plan to drive. |
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| RONDA |
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We spent
2 nights in Ronda. Ronda is a beautiful town which shouldn't be missed.
It is split in two by a magnificent gorge. Check the links below to see some
beautiful pictures. We stayed at the San Gabriel Hotel, a 3 star hotel
located in the old part of town. This is a delightful place, with the
staff providing absolutely wonderful service. They also provide a valet
parking scheme, for about $6 per day. To the right is the view we had from
our room window. |
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| From
Ronda we drove through the mountains on route 369 through several white villages
(see below). We drove through or by Ajatate, Benaladid (pictured on
the right), and Gaucin, turned left on 377 and reached the coast at San Luis
de Sabinillas. Since it was Sunday, most everything was closed, but
we did find a great green grocer open on the way out of Manilva. We were able to stock up on fruit and cheese and we made our way down to the
Costa del Sol and stopped in Estepono. To our delight, we found
out that there is a street market every Sunday in Estapano, and we enjoyed
the day very much. To get back, we drove up route 376 which is
the route to take to Ronda. It is a spectacular road,
but easy to drive. It snakes its way into the mountains with a great
panorama at every turn. |
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Ronda's
bull ring is famous and has a long history. It has a museum, and there is
a restaurant right across the street dedicated to its most famous native son,
Pedro Romero , the legendary bullfighter and the father of modern bullfighting.
Its walls are literally covered with photos and memorabilia dedicated to
this man. The restaurant was very good!
Ronda has
quite a few good restaurants. The one with the reputation as the best
in Ronda is "Tragabuches", which wasn't open the night we wanted. One
that we did eat at was "Escudera" which was very good and was the most beautiful
restaurant of the trip. It's located behind the Parador and has a perfect
view over the gorge. |
About Ronda
by Andalucia.com
A
nice collection of
pics
of Ronda by some
fellow
travelers
Ronda by TravelinginSpain
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| THE
WHITE VILLAGE ROUTE |
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White village route
described by
Andalucia web
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The entire
area surrounding Ronda in all directions is a beautiful mountainous area
which is delightful for driving about and enjoying the scenery. It's
also the area containing what are known as the "white villages". These
are beautiful mountain villages, some touristy, some unspoiled and are known
for their blazing white color. One thing we noticed all over Andalucia
is that painting the outside of homes is going on all the time and the paint
always looks fresh. There are cultural reasons for this white painting,
and the explanation can be found in the link on the left. |
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In
any case, there are many, many villages but you can only visit a few.
On this day, we visited Grazelemo, El Bosque, and Arcos de la Fronterra.
If you have time to visit only one of these villages, make it Grazalema.
Grazalema is the eastern entrance to a beautiful forest reserve called "Parque
Naturel de la Sierra". The end of this route took us to Arcos de la Fronterra.
This is one of the biggest of the white villages and is hardly a village.
It's pleasant enough to visit, but driving through it is no picnic.
At the end of this day, we visited Jerez de la Fronterra, the home of sherry.
We didn't see anything interesting, and we don't care for sherry so we continued
on to Sevilla. |
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| SEVILLA |
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Like many
fellow travelers I have spoken to, we fell in love with Sevilla. It's
a city full of life, lots of great attractions to see, great restaurants,
beautiful parks....... We enjoyed walking all over the city, shopping,
visiting the Alcazar, the Cathedral, Santa Cruz , and most of all,
Plaza Espana and the Maria Louisa park. This whole area, (the park
and the plaza) is really impressive. We took the horse and buggy ride
(4000 pts - about $22), and then walked back and spent a couple of hours
there. To the right is a picture of the Plaza Espana and below to the right
are a couple of good links. |
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| We
stayed at an interesting hotel - the San Gil. This is
a hotel listed in some places as 3 stars, and in others as 4 stars. It's
been recently completely renovated, it is completely covered with marble
on the inside, and is quite attractive. The best thing about it is
the size of the rooms (large, and many are suites), and the worst is that
it is located at the farthest end of the city center which is about a 35
minute walk to the cathedral. Also, try not to come with a car.
It has a parking problem and if the nearby garage is closed, you have
to walk 15 minutes to the far garage and contend with the city streets.
On the other hand, it's 2 minutes from one of the major attractions in the
city - the Basillica de la Macarena. |
Sevilla
on Line
Off the beaten path in Sevilla
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"Macarena" is one of the many Virgin Marys found in many of the churches in
Sevilla which takes part in the processions during the holy week preceding
Easter, the "Semana Santa". Here are a few links to learn all about the Easter
week in Sevilla. The Macarena is one of the most important and significant
of the floats which take part in the Easter procession. She is also
the patron saint of bullfighters. |
The Semana Santa
in Sevilla
Holy week in Sevilla
Another site on
the Semana Santa
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Being so close to the Macarena, we witnessed what was apparently
a "practice run" with the Macarena float. This was Thursday night,
one full week before Good Friday, and we found hundreds of people milling about
waiting outside the church. At about 11 PM, the doors burst open
and a float with
figures on it (not the Macarena) came out one door, circled around the church
and went in the front door. It was carried on the backs of about 20 men. We enquired, and apparently, this was a trial
run to break in the "penitents" chosen to transport the real Macarena to the cathedral.
That procession takes 12 hours!! After you've checked out the links
above, take a close look at the enlarged version of the picture on the left,
and things will be a lot clearer.
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| Back
to the hotel for a moment - it has another advantage. It's located in
the least touristy part of the old town - the Macarena section, which means
that when you step out of the door, you are with real Sevillians, not
tourists. The stores, bars, and restaurants are not for the tourists
here. If you like that sort of thing, this is the place for you. And,
when you want to get to the "real shopping", it's only a 15 minute walk to
the main pedestrian shopping area. |
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if it's not Easter week, try to visit the Basillica de la Macarena.
It's one of the more interesting and beautiful churches in Sevilla, and right
across the street is one of the best Tapas bars we ate at. I believe
the name on the front is "Bar Plata", but I'm not 100% sure. It is
located directly across the street (Resolana Andueza Munoz Leon is the name
of the street) from the Macarena, and it serves very tasty "refined" tapas.
On the right is a picture of one of the less refined tapas bars we usually
ate at. If you don't know what tapas is, click here to find out. |
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| In
Sevilla, we ate at 2 very good restaurants, one of which was the best restaurant
we ate at during our entire visit. These were the "Casa Robles",
near the cathedral, and the Egana-Oriza", a wonderful restaurant near the
Murillo gardens and considered the best restaurant in Sevilla.. |
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CORDOBA |
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Cordoba by
TravelinginSpain
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We drove
from Sevilla to Cordoba for a day visit. It's about 130 KM, although you
can take the train which is supposed to take less than an hour. In Cordoba,
the main attraction is the Mezquita, a mosque turned into a cathedral.
This is really a place not to miss. It is really beautiful. |
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The
other main attraction in Cordoba is the Juderia, otherwise known as the Jewish
quarter, or what's left of it. Except for the statue of Maimonides
( a famous Jewish scholar and doctor who lived in the tenth century), and
a few Jewish place names, it's just a collection of souvenir shops and has
very little atmosphere. We were very disappointed by it. |
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Fortunately,
it does have some good restaurants, and we ate at the "El Churrasco" restaurant,
the most interesting restaurant of our trip. Here's a pic of Alisa during
lunch. As you can see, the inside of the restaurant is a garden. |
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Below
are lots more links which might help you plan your own trip to Andalucia.
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| HOTEL LINKS |
COSTA del SOL |
GENERAL LINKS |
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The official site of the
Spanish parador chain
Hotelstravel's hotel
listing for Spain
Hotelspain - hotel
reservation service
An original and novel
list of hotels
"Travel in Spain", a free
hotel reservation service
"Typically Spanish" -
a long list of hotels and
other information
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"Costa Holidays"
general
travel information
A
different Spain
"The Travelzine"
Adelaide's
travel notes
on
Spain
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Maribel's guide to
Spain and southern France
The Best Travel Guide on the Web
Spainview - a very
interesting and informative
magazine about Andalucia
All About Spain
(an excellent site)
Travelmad
(general information)
A travel journal of
a trip to Andalucia
Andalucia.com
all about Andalucia
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Above is a link
to the great banner site where I made the banner for this page.
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