Trip to Andalusia, Spain - Cleaner than even Switzerland!!

Wednesday, April 9th to Monday, April 15 2024

For Spring break we went on a 5 day trip to the southern part of Spain: Andalusia. Spain totally exceeded our expectations! It’s cleaner, safer and more beautiful than we imagined. I have to admit that the cities in Spain are even cleaner than Switzerland!! The Spaniards definitely take great pride in keeping their country spotless!

The only downside was that planning this trip was slightly more complicated: For tickets to the palaces and for accommodation a passport number is required. Renting a car with a US driver's license requires an international driver's license. (UK driver's license works fine). And most of the main sights had to be booked months in advance. The only tickets we could find for Caminito del Rey and the Alhambra were guided tours, which were a bit more expensive, but worthwhile for what we learned on the tours (plus no need to stand in line with guided tours).

First stop: Sevilla

We spent 2 nights in Sevilla but could have spent another night. Sevilla was for all three of us one of our favorite cities we have visited in Europe. It is small enough to see everything by foot and big enough to spend several days there.

The Metropol Parasol, also called the mushroom is the biggest wooden structure in the world:

Lots of cool statues in town:

Moorish wall and tower:

Hercules in front of the Parliament of Andalusia

Lots of bike lanes and easy bike rental stations everywhere:

Replica of the Nao Victoria - first circumnavigating the world in 1522

Torre del Oro:

Seville Cathedral is one of the largest cathedrals in the world - bigger than a football field!

One of the biggest altars in the world:

One of the Tombs of Christopher Columbus

(Yes, he has several!):

the beautiful Giralda:

And the Giralda at night:

Next to the Cathedral is the Real Alcazar -

a Moorish palace

Our tour guide - well worth the extra Euros!

Look at this ceiling!

Another 'must do' was a Flamenco show: It was a bit more somber than we liked, so afterwards Josh questioned the 'must do,' I on the other hand thought it worth to experience once.

Plaza de Espana - one of the most beautiful plazas we've been to!

In this Pavillion are often free Flamenco shows

Adjacent to the Plaza is the idyllic

Parque de Maria Louisa

and nearby the Plaza de America

The streets of Seville are beautiful, safe, very clean, and shaded.

We roamed around till late at night every night.

Wow - the mushroom lights up!

How about an escargot!

The next day we took a taxi back to the airport (about 20 Euro) and rented a car for the rest of our time in Spain (less than 20 Euro/day).

Driving in Spain is very easy, the roads are well maintained and marked. The scenery on the drive was spectacular:

Our first stop was Sentenil de las Bodegas (1.5 h from Sevilla). Wow, wished we had more time to enjoy that town!

Didn't expect cars driving through these streets, but they did:

Next stop: Ronda

Actually, we only had time to drive to the overlook point. The drive to it was a bit sketchy, and if we had more time I would recommend to park up high and walk down.

Next stop: Caminito del Rey for an amazing hike high up in a canyon. It was an easy 5 mile hike, and the views were spectacular.

Next stop was Granada. Granada is bigger than Sevilla, hence a bit busier. Like Sevilla, or maybe even more so, it had quite a bit of Moorish influence.

This looked like we're in Marocco.

Must do - sunset views of the Alhambra:

In the Albaicin neighborhood - Granada’s oldest section:

The following day we took a OMed olive oil production tour: Well, now we know the difference between extra virgin, virgin and just olive oil. It was very interesting and we even got to taste some of their delicious olive oils, which we ended up ordering in bulk back in the UK, it was that good!

Here is where the separation happens of the different parts of the olives:

This is where the olive oil gets stored:

Did you know, olive oil is best warmed up?

View of the Sierra Nevada:

The following day we had a few hours before our tour of the Alhambra. We went on a drive to the trail Ruta de Los Cahorros in Monachil. Again, a gorgeous drive and a beautiful place for a hike. There are several hanging bridges there, however those had quite a long line that we had to skip to make it back in time for the Alhambra tour.