Seville 3-day Itinerary

Bigger than a football pitch, this Gothic cathedral was built on the site of Seville’s great mosque, and dazzles with its elaborate portals, forests of pinnacles and flying buttresses.

Elements of the mosque, however, were preserved: the Patio de los Naranjos, with its fountain and orange trees, and the spectacular 105m minaret, La Giralda, symbol of Seville.

Inside, marvel at the world’s largest altarpiece that took 82 years to sculpt, Columbus’s tomb supported by statues of pallbearers, and a masterpiece by Murillo, The Vision of St Anthony.

Tickets include the nearby over-the-top Baroque church of San Salvador.

Built in the 10th century for Seville’s Moorish governor, the Alcazar was converted into a palace by Pedro I, Christian King of Castile in the 1360s, making it the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.

Pedro brought in Moorish craftsmen from Granada and Toledo to create his dream home, and today their patios, tile work, tracery and arabesques are the most delightful features, culminating in the stunning Salon de Embajadores, where Charles V was married in 1526.

Charles later added his own palace to the Alcazar, decorated with priceless Flemish tapestries. And the gardens are simply enchanting.

Andalusia expresses its passionate soul in the guitars, singing and twirling, stamping steps of its native flamenco – declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

Most scholars believed the seeds of flamenco arrived in the 15th century with the Roma from India. Over the centuries they slowly migrated west with their castanets and tambourines, absorbing songs and dances in the Middle East and North Africa along the way. The Spanish at first considered it a foreign art, or ‘Flemish’ – hence flamenco.

By the 19th century flamenco as we know it emerged – popularized by Bizet’s Carmen – with shows performed in cafés cantantes (singers’ cafés), the forerunners to the modern tablaos. These are intimate venues with small wooden stages, perfect for the exhilarating machine gun-like zapateado (dancing).

You can hear flamenco’s eastern origins in the singer’s cante jondo (‘deep song’), evoking pain, sorrow and joy, while dancers express each emotion with their bodies, driven by the pulsing percussive strumming of the guitars.

A good show, and there are many here, can send chills down your spine with their duende, the ecstatic ‘demon’ spirit that brings listeners out of themselves.

Set in a 500-year-old Mudejar palace, offering a vast range of experiences and rituals, including a wine bath. Afterward, relax in the rooftop pool. The night visits are especially magical, and a great antidote to jetlag.

Seville boasts the world´s largest wooden structure, a spectacular swirl nicknamed ‘Las Setas’ (mushrooms) designed by Jurgen Mayer in 2011. There’s a mirador walkway and steps winding over the roof, offering fabulous views, and Roman ruins in the museum underneath.

Once impregnable Ronda is the only city in the wildly beautiful Serrania de Ronda between Malaga and Seville, and makes for a fine day trip.

Teetering on sheer cliffs, Ronda’s extraordinary Puente Nuevo straddles the 150m deep Tajo gorge, linking the old Moorish town to the new. The views alone make it Andalusia’s third most visited city, but there is much more, including the Palacio de Mondragon Museum and gardens, the city walls and gates.

Ronda is also a gateway to a series of so-called White Villages (Pueblos Blancos) – 20 hill towns in the Sierra de Grazalema named after their glowing white-washed walls, immersed in lovely landscapes. There are several circular White Village routes out of Ronda, or en route to Cadiz or Jerez de la Frontera. Ideal for leisurely touring by car or bike.