November Getaway in Andalusia

IMPRESSIONS

I loved wandering the gardens, patios and palace homes of Andalusia which, even in November, were colorful and fragrant with flowers. I love (!) the courtyard lifestyle and got lots of ideas for my own backyard patio, which I make great use of year round.

The Mezquita in Cordoba, with its layers of religious history, was like nothing I've ever seen, Christian or Muslim. The Alhambra and the Sevilla Alcazar are exquisite in their design and decorative details. The Sevilla Cathedral is stunning in its soaring architecture and the Basilica of San Juan de Dios is astounding in its rich detail.

The foods had a flavorful "snap" that I quite enjoyed. And I could (and did) wander through ceramics shops for hours.

Within the last few years, I've visited Turkey, Portugal, and now Spain. I loved them all: the tiles in Portugal; the colorful markets and beautiful mosques in Turkey.

Andalusia was a perfect blend of the food, cultures and colors that I love about these places.

A WEEK IN SEVILLA

I love a week getting to know a city! I've enjoyed weeklong stays in Budapest, Stockholm, Istanbul and more.

I planned my perfect week in Sevilla the way I plan most of my days, with one "key thing" prebooked for each morning and clusters of options for the afternoons.

I built my easy paced day plans around:

• Royal Alcazar, including timed tour of Upper Royal Palaces
• Seville Cathedral and Rooftop Tour, Church of El Salvador
• Climb Giralda Bell Tower, 2nd visit Sevilla Cathedral
• Museo Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija (instead of Italica)
• Casa Pilatos and gardens
• Palacio de Duenas (Thanks, Sandancisco) and nearby (sort of) Basílica de la Macarena
• Flamenco Dance Museum (am) and its Flamenco Dance show (pm)

I used the Rick Steves audio app for afternoon/evening guided walks through Barrio Santa Cruz and Triana, where I spent a couple of happy hours admiring the ceramics. Thank goodness I brought my packable backpack for my haul!

In the evenings, I pre-booked Flamenco shows and a few dinners, and filled in with casual dinners and bar Flamenco. I enjoyed ending at night on the rooftop bar of my hotel admiring the view of the cathedral.

I am so glad that I gave Sevilla a week! I could have fit in a lot more, or squeezed this all in to fewer days. But I like this slower pace, now that I have the time.

And I have plenty of things on my list for a next visit!

HOTELS

This was the battle of the fabulous rooftop views, with the Balcon De Córdoba my winner with their Mezquita view. The staff in each hotel were genuinely pleasant and went out of their way to be helpful.

Cordoba, Balcon de Córdoba - the rooftop view winner with their 180 degree, unobstructed rooftop balcony view of the Mezquita and bell tower. My "Layla" room was fab, with a window out to a quiet little patio and a 17th century holy water font in the room.

Granada, Hotel Casa 1800 - this was the most charming interior, a lovely old palace house, but no view; on any other trip, this would have been my favorite hotel.

What I loved: It was like living in a wealthy home with a charming interior courtyard for breakfast and breaks. I'd like to live out my old age in a place like this!

One challenge: this hotel, which has an elevator to the rooms, has quite a few unavoidable steps in the common areas. This became a challenge after I sprained my knee - coming down from the Alhambra, in the rain, on slippery stairs. Fortunately, the kind staff gave me bags of ice. (And then I discovered Voltadol gel, which saved my trip!)

Sevilla, Hotel Amadeus - lots of tables on the upper terrace to enjoy the lit-up nighttime view of the Cathedral, have a drink, wind down from the day. When I wasn't sitting up there, or on my own breakfast patio, there were lots of music themed rooms to sit and relax between comings and goings.

Breakfast was heavy on carbs, brought to your table; I treated myself to hot chocolate for breakfast. Twice.

All of these were central, easy to go back to during the day. None are close to their train stations: I took buses and sometimes walked, testing my suitcase on kilometers of bumpy cobbles.

ACTIVITIES

Apart from the biggies - the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Cordoba and the Alcazar in Sevilla - I'll mention a few of my other favorites.

Madrid, Royal Palace Collections - I had debated going to the Prado, because one "should." I am so glad I listened to my intuition (and knew my own taste for decorative arts) and chose this gallery!!

I loved the displays, with its mix of colorful tapestries, paintings, carriages and more. I almost visited one afternoon, an hour before closing. I'm glad I waited until another day because I spent close to 3 hours!

Granada, Basilica of San Juan de Dios (Thanks TexasTravelMom)

This place shines, literally, even among the competition of fabulous Andalusian cathedrals. Admission includes access to the upper reaches of the cathedral, including behind the high altar. Wow and wow! I'm glad I figured out what the 4 Virtual Reality seats were because that was intensely cool! The VR display flies you right up to the top of the cupola where you can look down on the cathedral floor. Being afraid of heights, I still gasped, but peered down knowing that I couldn't fall. (I couldn't, could I?)

If you've done a million other VR things, this might just rate as another one. For this first timer, it was the coolest thing ever!

Sevilla, Museo Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija (Thanks Nick from Sevilla)

I had planned to go to nearby Italica (30 minutes by bus) but read Nick's comments that many of the artifacts have been removed to Sevilla palaces and museums. So I pivoted to visit the palace museum instead. Great decision!

The beauty of the mosaic floors is hard to believe. And the palace, like others I visited, was delightful to admire the collections and wander the gardens.

Sevilla, Cathedral Rooftops Tour

This was one of the coolest tours ever, wandering across the top of the naves, ducking under the flying buttresses, shimmying across the catwalks and learning about the architecture, done in the days of paper and pencil!

Ticket Tip: the ticket for the Rooftop Tour includes entry to the cathedral and Giralda at your choice of time on the day before, the day of or the day after your Rooftop Tour.

Ticket Tip 2: the Rooftop Tour ends inside the cathedral and they don't make you leave. So you actually get a "free" entry then and can use your ticketed entry at a different time, if you wish. After the Rooftop Tour, I didn't want to also climb the Giralda Bell Tower, so I used my ticketed entry to climb its 35 ramps and 17 stairs the following day.

FLAMENCO PERFORMANCES

I love attending live dance performances when I travel and love everything about Flamenco! The dance, the dancers, the guitar music, and even the singers, which puts some people off, but reminds me of the calls to prayer in Istanbul.

I found the Flamenco shows in the Rick Steves guides and booked the paid shows through GetYourGuide for flexibility, in case I didn't enjoy them as much as I expected.

I enjoyed every single one!

In my mind, they fell into these (made up) categories:

Theatrical performances - high end shows with skilled stage dancers, very theatrical makeup and costumes
• Cordoba - Tablao Flamenco Cardenal
• Sevilla - Teatro Flamenco Triana

Cultural performances - great individual performances, the costumes and makeup were still colorful, but less theatrical; the stages were more intimate, closer to the audience, as if you were watching a performance in a small town square
• Sevilla - Museum of Flamenco Dance - my favorite overall show, including a great guitar player
• Sevilla - Casa de la Memoria - my favorite (and most memorable) individual dancers, who I came to think of as:
○ The "high priestess" of Flamenco Allegria, she kept my mesmerized
○ The Tango Flamenco temptress had beautifully expressive dance movements

Equestrian + Flamenco in Cordoba (Thanks Christine!)

I'm not a "horse person" so this show was completely different and captivated me, wow! The Flamenco component was a little extra flair, but really the horses were the thing.

Free Flamenco shows at La Carboneria, Sevilla

Less skilled dancers than the paid venues, but still a very entertaining 30 minutes.

I had scoped pictures of the bar and knew where I wanted to sit; I went an hour early each time to get tables looking down onto the small Flamenco stage.

RECOMMENDATION
For someone with a moderate interest in a Flamenco show, I would suggest one of the cultural performances, offering a more intimate venue and less theatrical show.

You really can't go wrong, they are all entertaining!

FOOD AND RESTAURANTS

I enjoyed the tapas lifestyle mostly at table meals at fun and interesting restaurants. I booked a few of my favorite choices in advance, to make sure I got a table, which wasn't generally an issue in November.

Favorite View: Las Tomasas, Granada (source, Rick Steves)
https://www.lastomasas.com/en

I booked one of their "1st row" terrace tables (booking option "Terraza Porche, Primera Fila") with a 180 unobstructed, lit up at night view of the Alhambra across the valley. In November, the terrace was enclosed by floor to ceiling glass panels that, I assume, are open in good weather months.

Favorite Meal: Tradevo Centro, Sevilla (Source, Rick Steves and Michelin)
https://www.tradevo.es/

This is why I research restaurants, to find places like this! I call it Michelin tapas, Rick says "The small but inviting menu includes beautifully presented dishes that give classics a little snap." I went twice to try more of their snappy tapas!

Don't let the Michelin recommendation put you off. It's a little place on a small, lively square, seeming on the surface like the other restaurants on the square, with pricing similar to what I was seeing on at nearby restaurants - except it's Michelin quality tapas and service. They also made my favorite Sangria (with Cointreau) of the trip!

Favorite Find: La Boca, Cordoba
https://www.facebook.com/restaurante.laboca

I passed this little place on the way back from Palacio de Viana and circled back to it when a nearby museum was unexpectedly closed. I sat at a table on the street, but on a 2nd visit, would get a table on one of their lovely inner courtyards. The waiter told me this place is popular for locals to hold family events and celebrations.

Favorite little hole in the wall find: Bar Kiko de Chari, Sevilla.

This spot for delicious home style cooking filled up its few lunch tables with locals by 130pm.

Some details for forum travelers who I know are headed to Andalusia!

ADVANCE BOOKING

I booked a LOT in advance, far more than I needed, but in line with my travel style of having 1 key sight to anchor each day, and ramble from there.

If it weren't November, more of my optional bookings might have been required.

Madrid - with limited time, I booked the Royal Palace in advance, avoiding that long line. I walked right in to the Royal Collections in the afternoon.

Even in November, I could see from the booking engines that I did need to book the Alhambra (Granada) and the Mezquita Bell Tower (Cordoba) in advance.

Sevilla Cathedral

It was critical to book the Cathedral Rooftops Tour, which has about 20 spaces for the English tours, held only once each morning in November.

That Rooftops tour ticket gave me skip the seriously long line entrance for my Cathedral and Giralda entrance. An additional benefit of the Rooftop ticket shows you to visit the cathedral and Giralda the day before / day of / day after your rooftop tour, at any time you choose.

TIMED TOURS vs TIMED ENTRIES
At several sights, including some of the biggies, I bought a timed tour along with my entry ticket:

Alhambra - timed tour, Nazrid Palaces
Alcazar - timed tour, Upper Royal Palace Rooms
Sevilla Cathedral - timed Rooftops Tour

I especially liked these admission+tour tickets because it gave me flexibility to enter the grounds at any time, so long as I showed up in time for my tour.

The Alhambra was the one booking that mattered most for the weather, and it was the 1 rainy day of my trip. (I had a "premonition" about this while I was buying my ticket. )

Oh well, it was still lovely in the rain! And as I had read, you're inside quite a bit anyway. Thanks to my good rain boots and a huge umbrella borrower from the hotel, I still enjoyed the November gardens.

Passport requirement - lots of places asked for an identity document, only one asked to see it. I think that was the Alhambra, which wanted my passport, not my ticket.

LONG DISTANCE TRAINS

I booked my trains 2 months ahead, missing out on some of the best fares while I was on a prior trip, catching others as they were released.

I used IRYO's site for my first train, then Trainline for the rest. I liked the simplicity of using one app to buy and show my tickets... though I was able to put all of them in Google Wallet.

Train tip: Allow 10 minutes for baggage screening before going down to your train platform

CITY TRANSFERS
Madrid Airport to/from hotel - I took the metro from the airport in the middle of the day. For my 6am flight home, I took a taxi, fixed price, €33, tap to pay.

Madrid train station to/from hotel - The long distance train tickets included free Cercanias local trains. You use the QR code on your ticket at the specific, signed entry and exit turnstiles. These worked 2 out of 4 times for me, with attendants available when they didn't.

City buses: I used tap to pay for most of my bus transfers, either on the bus or at machines at the bus stop. On one bus I used coins; the driver made change.

PRACTICALITIES

Packing - this was my best packing job ever, with 3 long sleeve layering tops, 2 long sleeve nicer tops (only wore 1) and 1 long sleeve sweater-like top that I wore more than expected; plus my usual cardigan and a light jacket, and my new North Face rain jacket that I absolutely needed one day and wore twice.

I put my packable backpack to great use bringing home colorful ceramics, checking my roller bag on the way home.

Laundry - clothes dry slowly in November in Andalusia! It took 3 days for items that normally dry overnight.

Weather in November

Andalusia was a great choice for November. Although the weather is similar to mine at home, it was a great escape from the snow I traveled to in Denver.

Days were sunny or partly cloudy, with temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s - perfect for my long sleeve layers.

Several days of forecast showers did not materialize, but the 1 day of pouring rain did! My new North Face rain jacket (bought on sale in Istanbul) was fabulous. The large umbrella that I borrowed from the hotel kept my feet and day bag dry.

Crowds in November were lively, but not crushing. There were long morning lines at the Alcazar in Sevilla, none in the afternoon. The Mezquita in Cordoba was busier during my timed visit than during its free morning hour.

Safety - I felt perfectly safe wandering around each town solo, although a bit uneasy coming down from the Albayzin after dark after 6pm sunset.

Heeding warnings about pickpockets, I had everything secured in my moneybelt, except my passport which I only needed once for entry to sights. Was one guy in a busy Sevilla square eyeing me as a pickpocket target, or rolling his eyes because I looked like a tourist with my multi zippered Baggalini and phone wrist tether?

Wifi and Data: I found very little wifi, except at hotels; not at train stations, rarely at restaurants or cafes; I used about 3x my normal data for a trip; with Google Fi, this was still cheaper than buying a local SIM.

Audio Guides at Sights: many of the sights had downloadable audio, but no wifi, so data was required, contributing to my additional data usage. Be sure to have plenty of data and plenty of battery for the audio guides. By lunch time at the Alhambra, I had recharged my phone once and was still only halfway through my day.

GUIDEBOOKS
I bought the 2024 Rick Steves Spain guidebook, Kindle edition. I brought the smaller "Snapshot: Sevilla, Granada & Andalucía" with me, managing to check it out from my library for the duration of my trip.

RS Audio City Walks:
During dog walks before my trip, I listened to lots of the Rick Steves Spain tracks. While she stopped and sniffed every blade of grass, I listened. I even listened to the city walks in advance, to have an idea if I wanted to use them.

I was very glad that I used the Sevilla City Walk. Even after having been in town for a week, it took me into some lovely back areas of the Barrio Santa Cruz that I probably wouldn't have stumbled in to.

The Madrid City Walk was the perfect way to wander from my hotel to the Cathedral/Royal Palace area.

In case I forgot something

THANK YOU

I got great ideas for my trip from so many trip reports, forum comments, and suggestions from fellow travelers, especially including early help in figuring out how to allocate my nights.

I know we have forum travelers heading to Andalusia early next year, so I've included some off-season practicalities.

Thanks to all who took the time. I hope this helps someone in return!

What a fun report! Sorry to be missing the live update at the Dec. online travel meeting. And bummer about your knee sprain, but hoorah for ice and new OTC treatments :)

Another great trip! I am especially happy to have the tip about the tap to pay on city busses. And I now have the Royal Collections Gallery, Museo Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija, and Palacio de Duenas on my list for next June! Thank you!

Yeah, I’m so glad you decided to do a TR!

Great trip report! I can’t wait to hear from you and Christine about your trips. I think I need to plan for Andalusia in 2026.

Thanks for this report! Brings back some happy memories. So glad you had a great time!

CL, we will miss you! I want a European style pharmacy near my house.

TexasTravelMom, glad I could return the favor of all the ideas you gave me for this trip! And the encouragement along the way :-)

Tammy, it hardly seemed right to make you sort through all my train of thought messages that I kept sending you...much better to collect and post them in a single place.

Barbara N, I think I need to plan my next trip to Andalusia as well ;-) I hope you do!

Carol, it's funny about memories. I had very few from my earlier trip, and those were from photos. One in particular that I kept trying to find the place it was taken at the Alhambra. And then suddenly in a courtyard in the Alcazar, I realized it had been taken there! Funny how memories can be. I'm so glad I got to go back and visit "my way."

As usual, great trip report. We were in Andalusia at this time of year, as well. We thought it was a great time to be there, and the weather was very pleasant.

Thanks for another great trip report!! I am planning on Spain for March 2026. I have added your helpful notes into my Spain research document.

I’m glad to hear that starting and ending in Madrid worked well for you as I am planning on doing that as well. I have learned that I am not a fan of a long train ride after arriving in a country I am unfamiliar with.

Great report. I was in Spain in November three years ago and thought the weather was perfect. Beautiful and interesting country and lovely people.