Andalucia Tourism

Getting to Andalucia
Main Destinations in Andalucia
Tourism Activities in Andalucia
Andalucia's Festivals
Eating & Drinking in Andalucia

Getting To Andalucia

As befits such a popular holiday destination, getting to Andalucía doesn’t involve too many problems. As well as the major international airports at Málaga and Seville, there are further airports at Jerez de la Frontera, Granada and Almería that all attract budget airline flights. There are now also more flights onto the air strip at Gibraltar for those heading for the west of Andalucía.

There are amazingly more than 15,000 miles of motorway in the region which are generally in excellent condition and connect all the major cities and link with Madrid and the rest of the Mediterranean coast. Motorists will need to be aware that some of the motorways in Spain are toll roads.

The high speed AVE train links Madrid with Córdoba, Malaga and Seville – with an extension from Seville to Cádiz under construction. Travelling on the AVE is a fabulous experience and is becoming increasingly popular with both locals and visitors. In addition, all the major towns are well connected and there are some delightful regional railway lines that can take you through some spectacular parts of the region – for example, the line from Algeciras to Bobadilla which passes through Ronda.

Main Tourist Destinations in Andalucia

One could easily write a complete book about the ‘must see’ places to visit in Andalucía – in fact, there are many such volumes for you to choose from.

The main cities all have enough historical, cultural, sporting and entertainment available in them to keep visitors happy Seville, Spain’s fourth largest city, is a fascinating hotchpotch of a place – some impressively wide boulevard-type streets with imposing palaces on either side of the road and the narrow, tangled old streets in the centre and on the banks of the Guadalquivir in Triana. The architecture in the streets around the cathedral, the Alcázar and one of the most elegant bull rings in the country is simply stunning but what cannot be described is the special atmosphere the place seems to generate. This is a city of style, life and culture that few can match.

Obviously, Granada, Córdoba, Cádiz, Jerez, Jaén and Málaga can also be sure to enchant the visitor. There can be few better experiences than wandering the streets of Granada under the shadow of the Sierras and the Alhambra; standing high above Málaga on the Castillo de Gibralfaro and surveying the city and the Mediterranean beaches below you; or strolling along the south bank of the Guadalquivir in Córdoba, admiring the impressive Mezquita opposite before crossing over the river at the Puente Romano so that you can enter that compelling, mysterious and mesmerising cathedral cum mosque.

For many, though, it is the smaller towns of Andalucía that capture its greatest glory. Not merely the obviously touristy places such as Ronda and Mijas but also the more ‘authentic’ towns that still feel relatively untouched by the developments further south. There are still lots of these ‘undiscovered’ gems in the hills of Andalucía. Try finding out places like Zahara de la Sierra, in the Sierra de Grazalema, for instance. Or perhaps visit the country’s highest village, allegedly, at Trevélez in the Sierra Nevada – making sure to try some of their incomparable Jamón Serrano. Just as much ‘off the beaten track’ is the small town of Cazorla, in Jaén province, and at the beginnings of the stunning natural park of the same name: a ruined castle, a picturesque town square and some typically Andaluz eating places – what more could you want?

The coastline of the region has much more to offer visitors than the Costa del Sol, although that has its own delights for many people – the marina at Puerto Banús and the busy little Málaga suburb of Pedregalejo are beautifully contrasting places for an evening paseo. Completely different, though, is the area around the Doñana national park, with its abundant wildlife and totally unspoilt Atlantic beaches. In the east of the region, the volcanic cliffs around Cabo de Gata offer another, totally different, experience.

Inland, Andalucía has some of the best walking and climbing areas in the whole of Spain. Particular favourites are the Alpujarra mountains, the foothills to the Sierra Nevada; the Sierra de Grazalema; the fantastic El Chorro Gorge, where you can walk, cycle or climb in fantastic surroundings; or visit the strange, distorted rock formations of El Torcal near Antequera.

Tourism Activities in Andalucia

There are so many possible tourist activities to do in Andalucía that you could not begin to list them all here. Watersports abound – from surfing and kite surfing, especially round Tarifa, to diving around Cabo de Gata, Almuñecar or other sites that provide a mix of rocky underwater scenery and interesting wrecks. Sea fishing is possible all along the coast – the World Coast Fishing Championships are held annually at Adra in Almería – and you can catch everything from snapper and bream to Moray eels, swordfish, blue fin tuna and blue shark. You can even go whale watching.

Horse riding, walking, climbing, painting, hunting, bird watching, cooking, flamenco dancing and wine tasting – all of these and many more are offered to tourists in Andalucía. And, additionally, it is a golfer’s paradise, with some of the most prestigious courses in Europe to be found in the region.

Local Festivals of Andalucia

Andalucía can ‘out party’ just about anywhere else in Spain. There is not a week goes by in which there is not a festival somewhere as there are over 3,000 each year throughout the region – and many of them are way beyond what you could call spectacular. Seville is most famous for its Semana Santa celebrations at Easter but, throughout Andalucía, just about every town and village has something special at this time of the year, including bull runs on Easter Sunday at places like Arcos de la Frontera.

The annual carnival at Cádiz is generally thought to be the most colourful of its kind in Spain but in 2012 everything in this provincial capital will be magnified as it is the 200th anniversary of the signing of the first Spanish constitution here and the preparations have already started.

Córdoba in May is home to the 'Battle of the Flowers' and their Patio Contests, in which you can roam around private courtyards normally not open to the public, as well as the highly decorative May Crosses, which can also be found in other parts of the region.
Jerez has two notable festivals – the one dedicated to sherry in September and the impressive Horse fair at the end of April, when the world famous animals can be seen in all their pomp and splendour.

In August, in Málaga, there is a glorious ten days of celebration of the re-conquest of the city by Isabella and Ferdinand – it’s just one long street party.

Food and Drink in Andalucia

Seville, of course, is known as the ‘home’ of tapas and it is possible to spend many an evening wandering from bar to bar, taking the local specialities. What might be less well known, though, is that Andalucía is the largest world producer of olive oil, so this forms the basis of most of the cooking of the region. Dishes specific to Andalucía include gazpacho soup along with the sumptuous kidneys in sherry sauce and pork in almond sauce. Near the coast, seafood and fish are plentiful but, inland, Córdoba is known for its deer and wild boar, Jaén for its partridge and Seville for its duck served with olives.

Keep an eye out to for places in the country that might look quite unprepossessing but have large car parks and are called Ventas. These country eating places began when there was a large seasonal workforce in the summer but now they tend to offer good home-cooked meals at very reasonable prices. They are very popular amongst locals for Sunday lunch – but if you behave like a typical Brit and arrive before 3.30 pm you’ll probably beat the rush!