Guide: Jesus. He’s a wonderful guide. He’s a kind and gentle person - so he’s not a boisterous guide, telling life stories etc. He’s just very thorough, very patient, and equally kind to all tour members. He loves his country, he loves guiding, and he shares his enthusiasm continuously, no matter the subject - flamenco, prehistoric sites, cathedrals, wine, or olive oil.
Group: We were a group of 24 - down from an original size of 28 due to 4 last minute cancellations. This group was magical. No one was late. No one was grumpy. We just clicked as a group - I’ve only had one other group that was this good. There were 4 single females on the tour.
Hotels: I made a separate post but will summarize here. Hotels were great. Each one was clearly chosen for location and that made touring each city so easy. There were no bad hotels. I would stay in any of them again. The Seville hotel - Dona Maria - is right in front of the cathedral. If you stay here - go up to the roof at night and look at the cathedral all lit up.
Tour Pacing: This is a fast-paced tour - from Cordoba>Ubeda>Granada>Ronda>Seville. The bus time is very modest - never more than 90 minutes in a travel day except the final ride to Seville came in a little longer. We could have used one more night in Ronda since it was just a single night.
Tour Cities:
Cordoba: Fantastic city. Very easy to wander. Used free time to see some of the patios, which I recommend. We were there on a Monday, when most everything is closed for your free time wanderings. Here was the one patio site open: https://www.palaciodeviana.com/ if you are also there on a Monday.
Ubeda: The sleeper surprise of the trip. Go to Ubeda! Small city, very quiet. Hotel looks out over charming square. We did an appetizer night in an old palace?? that is being remodeled, which was cool. We also toured the Synagogue of Water there - a buried temple. Fabulous. The city is brimming with amazing architecture for such a small place - they had a single architect build out a lot in the 16th century and it just makes for incredible wandering.
Granada: My least favorite stop. I’m sorry:) I don’t click with all cities - but it’s okay. Granada still had a lot of offer and the Alhambra was gorgeous. We took a really nice walk up to a viewpoint onto the Alhambra and had a spectacular dinner there.
Ronda: We got there around 3pm and just had that afternoon and part of the evening. It’s a very hilly town and most of us walked down to the old Arab Baths and took pictures. There were quite a few Palacio-type museums but not time to see them. I snuck into one for about an hour and then it was time for a guitar concert with the group.
Seville: OMG I love Seville. I got to stay for 2 extra nights after the tour ended so I really got to see a lot. We had a great guided day of the Alcazar and the Cathedral and then we had an included horse/carriage ride around the city, which was a great final group activity.
Wow moment: The prehistoric dolmen at Antequera. I knew nothing about the 6000 year old structure but I am so glad we stopped. There’s a great interpretive video there that will make the construction of that cave come to life.
Final thoughts: This was just a special time. I am a slower traveler - 4 nights at least - than the general pacing of a RS tour - so I approach these tours knowing that we can’t see it all and we’re going to be moving a lot. But the guide, the bus, the planning - well, it makes it all workable. I showed up, relaxed, and had a great time.