39 Best things to see & do in Andalusia

The pinnacle of the exquisite refinement and sophistication of Moorish Spain, the Alhambra is where the Arabian Nights come to life.

Dominating Granada from its spectacular hilltop location, with the Sierra Nevada looming in the background, it was the base of the Nasrid kings, the Alhambra ruled from the 13th century until 1492.

Visits include the main palace with the famous lion fountain patio, the Generalife summer palace and its fountain-filled courtyard, the enchanting gardens, the Alcazaba fortress and the Renaissance Palace of Charles V with its circular courtyard: so allow at least three hours to see everything while drinking in the unforgettable views.

Andalusia expresses its passionate soul in the guitars, singing and twirling, stamping steps of its native flamenco – declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

Most scholars believed the seeds of flamenco arrived in the 15th century with the Roma from India. Over the centuries they slowly migrated west with their castanets and tambourines, absorbing songs and dances in the Middle East and North Africa along the way. The Spanish at first considered it a foreign art, or ‘Flemish’ – hence flamenco.

By the 19th century flamenco as we know it emerged – popularized by Bizet’s Carmen – with shows performed in cafés cantantes (singers’ cafés), the forerunners to the modern tablaos. These are intimate venues with small wooden stages, perfect for the exhilarating machine gun-like zapateado (dancing).

You can hear flamenco’s eastern origins in the singer’s cante jondo (‘deep song’), evoking pain, sorrow and joy, while dancers express each emotion with their bodies, driven by the pulsing percussive strumming of the guitars.

A good show, and there are many here, can send chills down your spine with their duende, the ecstatic ‘demon’ spirit that brings listeners out of themselves.

Begun in the year 785, when Abd ar Rahman I made Cordoba the capital of al-Andalus, the Mezquita (Mosque-Cathedral). is a breathtaking tour de force designed to show that this western outpost of Islam was equal to anything in the east.

Its seemingly endless columns, horseshoe arches and beautiful double arches melt into distant shadows. Originally open on the sides, with light pouring in, it was walled-in when the Christians built a cathedral in the centre, itself a treasure-filled masterpiece although it seems intrusive in this magical forest of 580 columns, this pure meditation in stone.

Built in the 10th century for Seville’s Moorish governor, the Alcazar was converted into a palace by Pedro I, Christian King of Castile in the 1360s, making it the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.

Pedro brought in Moorish craftsmen from Granada and Toledo to create his dream home, and today their patios, tile work, tracery and arabesques are the most delightful features, culminating in the stunning Salon de Embajadores, where Charles V was married in 1526.

Charles later added his own palace to the Alcazar, decorated with priceless Flemish tapestries. And the gardens are simply enchanting.

Bigger than a football pitch, this Gothic cathedral was built on the site of Seville’s great mosque, and dazzles with its elaborate portals, forests of pinnacles and flying buttresses.

Elements of the mosque, however, were preserved: the Patio de los Naranjos, with its fountain and orange trees, and the spectacular 105m minaret, La Giralda, symbol of Seville.

Inside, marvel at the world’s largest altarpiece that took 82 years to sculpt, Columbus’s tomb supported by statues of pallbearers, and a masterpiece by Murillo, The Vision of St Anthony.

Tickets include the nearby over-the-top Baroque church of San Salvador.

For thrills, chills and hopefully no spills, this vertiginous walkway, pinned 100m above ground to the walls of the narrow gorge, has become one of Andalusia’s top bucket list attractions.

Originally built in concrete in 1905 for hydroelectric plant workers, it earned its name, the ‘King’s Little Path’ in 1921 when Alfonso XIII walked it to open the Conde del Guadalhorce dam.

As it crumbled and devil-may-care walkers began plummeting to their deaths, it was closed in 2000. Fifteen years later, it reopened with a spectacular new and safe 1.5 km-long boardwalk.

Cadiz is famous for Spain’s most rollicking carnival, where the object is to make everyone laugh.

This massive party, with food stalls, rides, free street performances, music and fireworks, culminates in two parades: the fabulous four-hour Gran Cabalgata and the Cabalgata del Humor in the old town, with the craziest costumes and spectator participation.

Groups of Carnival performers (the Chirigotas, Comparsas, Cuartetos and Choirs) practice their new songs all year and compete three weeks in advance at the historic Gran Teatro Falla, to see who evokes the biggest laughs. Bring fancy dress and join in the fun.

Once impregnable Ronda is the only city in the wildly beautiful Serrania de Ronda between Malaga and Seville, and makes for a fine day trip.

Teetering on sheer cliffs, Ronda’s extraordinary Puente Nuevo straddles the 150m deep Tajo gorge, linking the old Moorish town to the new. The views alone make it Andalusia’s third most visited city, but there is much more, including the Palacio de Mondragon Museum and gardens, the city walls and gates.

Ronda is also a gateway to a series of so-called White Villages (Pueblos Blancos) – 20 hill towns in the Sierra de Grazalema named after their glowing white-washed walls, immersed in lovely landscapes. There are several circular White Village routes out of Ronda, or en route to Cadiz or Jerez de la Frontera. Ideal for leisurely touring by car or bike.

Jerez de la Frontera is synonymous with sherry (the very word is an Anglicization of Xeres or Jerez), and according to DOP regulations it can only be made in the ‘Sherry triangle’ – Jerez, Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria.

Made with white Palomino grapes, the wine is then fortified to various degrees, from pale dry Fino and Manzanilla to Oloroso and the very sweet, very alcoholic (up to 22%) Pedro Ximenez.

Many of the bodegas (wine cellars) have a British connection, a love affair that began in 1587 when Sir Francis Drake brought back 2,900 barrels of sherry after destroying the Spanish navy in Cadiz. The tours, some including serious tastings, food and even art, are fascinating; the grandest bodegas are breath-taking wine cathedrals.

Andalusian cooking is renowned for fresh seafood, olives and olive oil, sun-ripened vegetables, garlic and paprika.

Cooking is simple, letting fresh, delicious ingredients speak for themselves. Much of the preparation in the kitchen is minimal – fish is usually lightly dredged in flour and golden fried in olive oil.

Cold soups star in summer, hearty stews in the winter and melt-in-your-mouth cured ham (jamon serrano) year-round. Many of the desserts, many involving almonds, go back to Arab times.

Sangria, as elsewhere in Spain, is a popular drink, as is sherry. Andalusia is home to Jerez de la Frontera, the world’s sherry capital – go for tours and tastings.

Of all the Moorish memories in Andalusia, the baths are one thing you can truly experience as the locals did centuries ago. 

The Arabs learned about baths from the Romans, and built them throughout Andalusia, but the Christians of the Reconquista thought cleanliness was sinful and closed them down. In 1998, they began to reopen, first in Granada; others have been newly built in historic buildings, and recreate them in spirit.

Each offers the ancient Arabic bath ritual in alternating cold, warm and hot pools, as well as extra massage options, including classic Moroccan exfoliating kessa essential oil massage and black soap scrub on a hot stone.  

Holy Week (Semana Santa) celebrations take place throughout Andalusia.

Every afternoon, over the course of a week, pasos (floats), with life-sized tableaux from Christ’s Passion, are borne through the streets accompanied by the nazarenos, members of the religious brotherhoods, anonymous in robes and wizard-like hat masks.

In between march solemn bands, whose music is sometimes punctuated by spine-tingling saetas (solos) sung by the faithful. Many women dress in black, with beautiful lace mantillas.

But the unique atmosphere also includes secular carousing in the bars; special meals feature cod, and Semana Santa pastries are sold for the occasion.

After all the solemnity of Holy Week (Semana Santa), Seville lets its hair down for a week-long party – Feria de Abril, or April Fair.

It starts on a Monday, with a fish feast and the midnight illumination of the thousands of lights of the gate to the Real de la Feria fairgrounds on the far bank of the Guadalquivir. Here over a thousand striped tents, (the casetas), are set up, for socializing, tapas, rebujito (sherry with lemon soda) and dancing sevillanas, the local flamenco.

The streets are decorated with thousands of lanterns; nearly everyone is dressed in traditional costume, the women in long, ruffle-fringed traje de gitana (flamenco dresses) with flowers or lace mantillas in their hair; and the nearby funfair in Calle del Infierno reverberates with screams of laughter.

In the afternoon watch the paseo de caballos, the spectacular parade of Seville high society in traditional traje corto (riding dress) – wide-brimmed hats, short jackets, tight trousers, boots and hats. The horses are just as exquisitely-groomed horses with ornate, often flower-covered bridles.

It all ends on Sunday at midnight with an explosion of fireworks over the Guadalquivir.

Beautiful horses and sherry come together for this fair (feria), when all of Jerez puts on the dog.

Every year features a different equine theme; parades, events and carriage processions take place in the afternoons, and then over a million lights illuminate nearly 200 casetas –the temporary venues set up for eating, drinking, music and dancing the night away.

Unlike Seville’s more famous Feria de Abril, the casetas are open to all. The main tipple is the local fino, served with lemon soda as a rebujito cocktail. There’s also an enormous fun fair for all ages.

You don’t have to be a horsey person to marvel at the extraordinary technical skill of the Andalusian horses and their riders, at this famous and unique riding school.

The area first fell in love with horses in the 8th century, when the Berbers from North Africa brought their proud Arab steeds to Andalusia. Afterwards they were bred by Carthusian monks in Jerez, creating the strong, slender pale grey Andalusian Pura Raza Espanola breed, with their elegantly arched necks. The dressage school was founded in 1973, and has become a must-see in Jerez ever since.

A full tour takes in a film on the school’s history, its botanical gardens, the palace built by Charles (‘Paris Opera’) Garnier, the Museum of Equestrian Art, the Carriage museum with historic costumes, the stables, the saddlery, and the Picadero arena, where you can watch the training sessions for the horse ballets.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga. The city’s Picasso Museum, set in a restored 16th-century Andalusian townhouse in Malaga’s historic centre, displays over 250 of his paintings, sculptures and ceramics spanning his entire career. Book an entrance ticket here and a private guided tour here.

Here Carmen Cervera, the Malaga-born wife of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, displays her prize collection of mainly Andalusian art, ranging from the mainly religious works of old masters to the colourful, luminous landscapes, portraits and street scenes from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Seville boasts the world´s largest wooden structure, a spectacular swirl nicknamed ‘Las Setas’ (mushrooms) designed by Jurgen Mayer in 2011. There’s a mirador walkway and steps winding over the roof, offering fabulous views, and Roman ruins in the museum underneath.

Malaga’s Arab shipyards were adapted in the 19th century to create this wonderland of fresh fruit and veg, meat and seafood. In fact, the entire neighbourhood is devoted to food – it’s a great place for a tapas crawl.

Next to La Mezquita, a small hammam in a traditional Andalusian brick, tiles and garden setting. The massages are excellent including the hot stone bed option; it’s so relaxing your two-hour slot will seem to fly by. Book online here.

Very professional Flamenco club founded back in the 1990s near La Mezquita with only 50 seats, but plenty of passion; several of its seven talented artists have won national prizes for their guitar-playing and dancing.

The right bank of the Guadalquivir estuary is a paradise for bird-watchers (half a million waterfowl winter here every year), amid dunes, beaches, pine forests and wet lands; you may even spot a rare Iberian lynx.

This gigantic, breath-taking stalactite show cave is open all year round, with possible night visits. Buy the ticket that includes the museum, with photos of the cave’s inaccessible art –possibly the oldest paintings in Europe, dating back to 42,000 BC. 

Andalusia’s first food court occupies a 19th-century forged iron building, where 20 stalls sell delicacies from around the world, along with local goodies (the seafood is exceptional); tables in the gardens wait for tasting them in-situ.

The ‘Roof of the Iberian Peninsula’, the 3,479m high Mulhacen mountain is the highest peak in Western Europe outside of the Alps, and the centrepiece of Spain’s biggest national park (and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve).

With over 15 mountains over 3000m, the park has several distinct ecosystems – verdant meadows and streams at the lower altitudes, forests of pines and holm oaks further up, and at the highest altitudes, rock and scrubland. The park’s fauna includes boars, mountain goats, badgers, civets, golden eagles, skylarks and rare insects.

The Park offers world-class outdoor pursuits, notably mountain biking, canyoning and especially trekking – including the not difficult day ascent of Mulhacen, for views as far as Africa. For a bigger challenge, follow the spectacular 10-hour Hoya de la Mora-Veleta-Mulhacen trail over the highest peaks.

In winter, the region transforms into Europe’s southernmost ski resort, with every snow sport catered for.

Empty, semi-arid bad lands where since the 1950s directors have filmed spaghetti Westerns, Lawrence of Arabia, and most recently, the sixth season of the Game of Thrones. Cheesy film sets/entertainment parks like Fort Bravo and Oasys offer ‘Wild West’ tours and shows.

An 18th-century mansion where can visit the half-French, half-Moorish garden and the extraordinary ‘water mine’ that supplied Ronda, 231 steps below the gardens to the Tajo river.

Not many people know Europe’s oldest and largest sturgeon farm is at Riofrio in the province of Granada. Tours and tastings are offered, accompanied by a glass of cava or vodka.

The partially excavated and reconstructed halls, mosque, gate, porticoes and gardens of a 112-hectare mysterious palace city. It was built in the 10th century by Abd-ar-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Cordoba; now a World Heritage Site.

This jewel of intricate, lace-like Isabelline Gothic architecture, built just after the end of the Reconquista between 1505-17, holds the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, their daughter Joanna ‘the Mad’ and her husband Philip – parents of emperor Charles V.

Also known as the Mercado de la Artesania, this patio house in Calle Judio hosted the first handicraft shops in Spain. Come here to peruse the city’s traditional arts – leather, ceramics and silver – and watch silversmiths make delicate filigree.

The biggest citadel ever built by the Arabs in Spain, begun in 955, was remodelled by Ferdinand and Isabella; its impressive walls, gardens and views featured in Game of Thrones, Indiana Jones, and Wonder Woman 1984.

Every 3rd week in August, Malagans (and their millions of guests) take to the streets for an exuberant week-long street party. It’s the largest part in the Costa del Sol, and one of the largest fiestas in Spain.

Expect sevillanas street dancing, colourful flamenco-style dresses, castanet-clicking, an opening firework display, concerts and plenty of sherry.

The fair commemorates the re-conquest of the city by Isabella and Ferdinand in 1487.

For two weeks in May, home-owners in Cordoba’s old neighbourhoods show off their gorgeous white-washed courtyards to the public, filled with flowers in a mind-bobbling explosion of colour and fragrance.

This well-preserved Moorish city fortress, built 11th century on a hill in the city centre, was used as a military installation right up until the 18th century. The complex includes an outer enclosure, and an inner enclosure that housed the palaces.

It’s connected by a walled corridor to the higher Castle of Gibralfaro, and adjacent to the entrance are the remains of a Roman theatre, dating back to the 1st century AD.

Ronda’s town museum is housed in the 14th-century royal palace of Moorish king Abomelic I, with its gardens, Moorish courtyards and views out over the Sierra de Grazalema. Exhibits cover the town’s history, and the nearby Pileta Cave.

Paris’s famous Pompidou centre is home to Europe’s largest collection of modern and contemporary art – anything from Picasso to Pop Art. Malaga’s striking museum outpost – housed beneath the colourful Cubo, was initially established in 2013 for 5 years – and was subsequently extended to 2025. It houses a permanent exhibition of several dozens of works of the impressionist collection of the XX and XXI centuries. It also hosts 2 or 3 temporary exhibitions each year, sourced from the parent collection and designed by its curators.

Valderrama is everything a world-class parkland should be: immaculately maintained, beautifully designed and devilishly tricky without being overlong.

It’s not enough to hit the fairways here – you have to hit the correct side of the fairway, otherwise you’ll meet the implacable cork trees that offer a most beautiful defense against an easy score.

Its signature hole is the marvellous 17th, a par five with a green protected by water, tempting you to go for it when a layup is probably the smarter play.

It hosted the memorable matches of the 1997 Ryder Cup, and is one of only two courses in Europe to be granted Audobon status for its preservation of its natural ecosystems.

Opened in 2010, this quirkily-named museum houses the private collection of Portuguese car fanatic Joao Magalhaes.

There are more than 80 vintage and modern cars here, arranged in 10 themed areas such as Belle Epoque, Art Deco 30s and English Tradition.

Alongside the cars, presumably to interest the wives of petrol heads, are beguiling displays of fashionable travel memorabilia from the 20s, 30s 40s and 50s, including a collection of 300 vintage hats.