12 Days in Andalucia - Itinerary Feedback

Since Cadiz is only about 90 minutes from Sevilla, I would head to Cadiz immediately and save your nights in Sevilla until the end. That would give you an extra day for one of your 1-night locations or stay an extra night in Granada.

Seems workable. From Cádiz to Arcos will take about an hour and Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra will take up most of the rest of that day. During the full day in Ronda you can drive to Olvera, just under an hour from Ronda. You don’t need another night for Ronda.

Similarly, upon arrival, spend one night in Sevilla to get over jet lag and spend three nights at the end.

I'd rather have all the Seville nights in one block, if possible. It takes time getting from train stations to hotels, checking in, etc.

I wouldn't transfer any nights to a different city. I think Seville needs a minimum of 4 nights. I'd rather see Cadiz affected by jetlag, given that you have allocated two nights there, than Seville.

Ronda's interesting and the white villages are attractive, but really, they are nowhere near as interesting as Seville. No way would I add more time in Ronda unless you really dislike cities the size of Seville. Arcos seemed to have more to it than Grazalema; I haven't been to Zahara or Olvera.

I thought Arcos might take the whole day? Thanks very much - is good to know that seeing more in the day is doable. We'll be sure to get an early start. Also, am going to drive straight from Ronda to Granada and drop car there. Now debating about staying overnight in Cordoba or just doing a day trip and going straight back to Seville.

Thanks @acraven. After a long flight from Dulles, am not sure we'd have the energy to take the train to Cadiz upon our arrival to Seville. But will think about it as I see how that would work out well to save Seville until the end (perhaps best for last). I take it you like Seville a lot more than Cadiz or that there's just more to see in Seville? We've never been to either.

There's just a lot more to see in Seville, and it's somewhat scattered. Cadiz is very worthwhile and should have a lot fewer tourists (always a plus), but it doesn't have as many sights you'd likely seek out. What follows is a rather comprehensive list of Cadiz sights I pulled together from a bunch of different sources. I didn't go to all of them. A lot of things on the list are walk-bys; if you go to Google Maps and check historical Cadiz (the long, skinny island) against the map scale, you'll see there's not a huge amount of ground to cover there. It's not that you couldn't spend an extra night or two in Cadiz and enjoy it; it's that I think you'll find you need the time a lot more in Seville.

Medieval wall
Mirador de Santa Barbara
Waterfront promenades
Plaza del Tio de la Tiza
Plaza San Juan de Dios
Calle Sacramento (shopping street)
Campo del Sur
Cathedral
Oratorio de San Felipe Neri
Oratorio de la Santa Cueva
Iglesia de Santa Cruz – Catedral Vieja
Iglesia de Santo Domingo
Hospital de Mujeres – Capilla Nuestra Senora del Carmen
Iglesia de San Francisco
Castillo San Sebastian
Castillo Santa Catalina (has some exhibitions)
Gran Teatro Falla
Museo de Cadiz (one of Andalucia’s largest art galleries)
Baluarte de Candelaria (contemporary art center).Parque Genoves (botanical garden)
Centro Cultural Reina Sofia (art museum)
Centro Cultura Contemporanea (ECCO--art), Paseo Carlos III

If you're the sort of traveler who likes to relax and see a place at leisure and really doesn't like crowded sidewalks and big-city bustle, you may want to tilt toward Cadiz. All of your destinations would benefit from an extra day or two, for a leisurely visit. But who among us ever has time for a series of leisurely visits?

To me, the main site in Arcos is the overlook Mirador Plaza del Cabildo. There are a few shops and restaurants nearby. The road up to the overlook is very narrow. In January you should have no problem getting a parking spot by small car park by the church and overlook. The road down from there is narrow and has a couple 90 degree turns. If your rental is too large you might scrape the sides. There is a large lot at the bottom of the hill. An hour or so in Arcos should be sufficient. The same for the other white towns. Driving on those rural roads will be at about 70kph/42mph.

I prefer Sevilla to Cádiz. It does have more to see. Personally, I’m not a huge Cádiz fan and feel it can be adequately seen in an afternoon.

As I recall, Rick has a write-up about Arcos that goes beyond "cute white village". It could help you identify some specific things to look for. This is all I have on my sightseeing list from my 2019 trip (almost 5 years ago at this point):

Ayuntamiento (Town Hall): Supposedly has a beautiful Mudejar ceiling, but I don't know when it's open. Probably weekdays only, but who knows about the afternoon closure?

Mirador, Plaza del Cabildo: The aforementioned beautiful viewpoint. The square itself has some Impressive buildings.

Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Asuncion: Both exterior and interior are worth seeing.

Parroquia de San Pedro

Palacio del Mayorazgo: Ornate Renaissance facade. May be open Mon-Fri for limited hours.

Based on our trip September, 2023, would recommend: Omit Ronda, Arcos and, maybe, Cadiz. Ronda was extremely crowded, touristy and lacking interest (though the small, nearby town of Arriate is lovely and a great place for good food). Our favorite white village was Olvera. Arcos is less interesting, less welcoming and, surprisingly, quite touristy. While we liked Cadiz and food was good there, we enjoyed Cordoba and Malaga much more….and, of course, Seville.

Wanted to thank everyone for the great insight. I've adjusted our itinerary, although it's still a work in progress. Luckily it's not high season, so we don't need to rush to book our accommocations.
Seville 4 nights (include day trip to Cordoba)
Granada 2 nights
Ronda 3 nights - there are so many hikes we wish to get in and this seems the best base for that
Cadiz 1 night
Seville 1 night

We're so excited to see Seville - we didn't want to leave it to the end. It's so true that there's never enough time.

There are plenty of hiking areas in the Grazalema area. The problem will be narrowing the trails down to ones you have time for.

@mml, Thanks for your feedback. Am hoping that since we're going end of January that it won't be so crowded. We're really keen on doing some great hiking in and around that area. Am hoping to have a good mix of city, history, culture and nature.

Need to add: The highlight of our Andalucia trip was walking the El Caminito del Rey which is nearby Ronda. Highly recommend. Also, at Taberna Malacaña, a small, local place in Arriate, we had some of the best food in all of Andalucia.

I was just in Arcos and they're doing a bunch of construction on Plaza del Cabildo. Orange construction mesh everywhere and you can't look at the view or really get a good photo of the cathedral or castle. I wish we had skipped it. They were also doing restorations to the walks under the bridge in Ronda so we couldn't walk down and get that view. I guess that's the downside to off-season travel.

@Ecraven you didn't even list Italica, the Roman City where Game of Thrones filmed the dragon pit scenes!!!! One of the coolest things in Seville! Take a taxi and spend the 1.50 entry, you'll likely have the place largely to yourself.

We're so excited to see Seville - we didn't want to leave it to the end.

We loved Seville! Definitely our favorite city in Spain so far.

@mml - thanks! Will definitely check that out! Def. hiking Caminito del rey - can't wait.

@Jenn - thanks for the heads up about the construction. Now I'm wondering if we should stay elsewhere...

@acraven - I saw an older post of yours regarding Casa Rubio in Cordoba. We'll have to check that out. I looked at the menu and it looks great.

We spent 4 nights in Seville, 3 in Granada, one in Cordoba, one in Madrid (before flight home). We did a day trip to Ronda, Grazalema and Zahara.

Overall: More time in Seville. More time in Cordoba. Either more time in the white villages or skip (not worth day trip). We loved Sevilla. And barely got to experience Cordoba, but which we could have stayed longer. Granada — we would not have wanted to miss Alhambra and the relaxing afternoon in the Hammam was lovely, but it wasn’t our favorite city.

Thanks again everyone for the feedback. Will report back after our trip!