Are you staying in Southern Spain and in search of some new locations to discover round Seville? In that case, you’re in the appropriate place!

I’ve been dwelling in Southern Spain, for over 3 years now and visited a number of stunning locations and locations which can be inside straightforward attain from Seville. On this article, I’ve chosen seven straightforward day journeys from Seville that tick all of your journey packing containers – stunning areas, straightforward attain from Seville, and loads of time and issues to discover in simply someday.

Earlier than we get to them, I’ve shared some ideas for choosing the appropriate vacation spot for you under, and on the finish of the article, you will see some bonus ideas that can make your journey far more handy and hassle-free. Take pleasure in! 

Planning Your Day Journey from Seville

Planning your day journeys from Seville is fairly straightforward – the town is properly linked to a number of different locations in Southern Spain via high-quality highways, prolonged rail connections, and even frequent bus companies. 

So even in case you’re not eager on driving a automotive, there are many locations you’ll be able to discover very simply with only a prepare or a bus experience.

On this article, I’ve compiled a few of the finest choices for cities and locations to go to inside a brief attain from Seville. I attempted to maintain the journey time beneath two hours, so there may be sufficient time to discover the town with out feeling such as you spent more often than not within the automotive or commuting someplace.

There’s a vast combine of various dimension locations so everybody can discover one thing they are going to like – greater and extra recognized locations and a few smaller native gems thrown in between.

For ease of reference, I’ve additionally added notes on every choice whether or not it’s straightforward to do this particular vacation spot with a prepare or bus, must you not need to hire a automotive when you’re staying in Seville. 

For those who’re undecided the way to resolve on a spot the place you wish to go, there are a number of questions you’ll be able to ask your self:

• Do you favor hassle-free journey and need to use a prepare or a bus? In that case, the larger cities that are higher linked by rail community are a greater choice for you (Granada, Cadiz, Cordoba)
• Would you like a quick journey time and extra time exploring the vacation spot? In that case have a look at the cities closest to you by automotive or prepare, like Cadiz (sufficiently small that you simply see the whole lot in someday) or Jezer de la Frontera
• If you wish to spend a while on a seashore when you’re staying in Seville, I might advocate heading to Cadiz or Tarifa (in Tarifa you get to expertise the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea on the identical time)
• Are you a historical past fanatic and need to see all of the gems of Southern Spain? In that case head in direction of Granda, or Cordoba!
• If you wish to see a bit extra genuine facet of Southern Spain, locations like Jerez de la Frontera or Tarifa shall be an excellent match for you
• If you want to tick off a few of the ‘bucket checklist’ locations for Southern Spain, a good selection is both Ronda or Gibraltar (technically not Spain, however properly definitely worth the journey)
• For wine lovers, you’ll love the Sherry triangle city of Jerez, and those that like good meals will love the free tapas custom in Granada (free small tapas served with each drink almost wherever within the metropolis)

So right here they’re, my high picks for Seville day journeys!

High Day Journeys from Seville

1. Cadiz

Cadiz is a coastal city on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and it’s stated to be one of many oldest cities not simply in Spain, but additionally in Europe.

Cadiz is kind of a singular place – to start with, it’s positioned by itself island, linked to the mainland with two bridges and a stretch of lengthy seashore. Cadiz is generally favored by native Spanish vacationers who love the town’s white sandy seashores and conventional southern hospitality. Cadiz certainly seems like a small village, though it’s a fairly well-known metropolis.

Whereas in Cadiz, you’ll have loads of time to see the outdated city, the market, the Cadiz Cathedral and a few of the different monuments across the shoreline, just like the Fortress of San Sebastian with its stunning promenade stretching into the ocean, and Castillo de Santa Catalina, ruins of an outdated fortress with beautiful views throughout.

You’ll be able to drive to Cadiz fairly simply from Seville (about 1.5 hrs), or take a neighborhood prepare which is able to get you there in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

2. Jerez de la Frontera

Jerez de la Frontera is an attractive conventional Andalusian village, about midway between Seville and Cadiz. For those who want a brief and fast journey out of the town, to see one of many prettiest white villages, Jerez is a good choice for a day journey.

Identified primarily for its sherry manufacturing custom (a part of the Sherry Triangle), Jerez could also be a small place, however there’s a lot to be found, and the whole lot could be seen in simply someday. 

One of many highlights of the journey could be visiting the native Alcazar, a Moorish fortress from the eleventh century, adopted by a go to a neighborhood taverna to see a Flamenco efficiency. There may be additionally a devoted museum for sherry manufacturing referred to as Bodega Custom, and Jerez Cathedral can also be price a go to.

To get to Jerez, you’ll be able to simply drive there from Seville, or take the prepare in route of Cadiz, which ought to take round 1 hour. 

3. Tarifa

Tarifa is the southern scorching spot for water sports activities and exquisite seashores. In distinction to many of the coastal locations in Southern Spain, in Tarifa, you will see extra pure, pristine seashores that provide a way more enjoyable strategy to take pleasure in some sunbathing and swimming within the sea.

Tarifa is a well-liked resort for windsurfers and kitesurfers, and likewise for individuals who love to look at stunning sunsets. In Tarifa, there are additionally quite a lot of corporations providing whale-watching and dolphin-watching boat journeys on high of ferry crossings to Morocco, a rustic with a number of issues to do you might additionally add to your itinerary.

In any case, and going again to Tarifa, whereas the city itself nonetheless very a lot seems like an outdated village that hasn’t been too touched by mass tourism, it’s a breath of recent air to have the ability to nonetheless discover a little bit of genuine Spain even on the shoreline.

4. Gibraltar

Whilst you’re staying in Seville, it might be a disgrace to overlook out on the expertise of visiting Gibraltar, the British sovereign territory south of Seville. Listed below are some very fascinating Gibraltar details to know earlier than you go.

From Seville, your finest guess is to drive there by automotive as there are not any native connections that can get you on to Gibraltar. Give your self loads of time because the crossing of the border and the safety checks can take fairly a very long time – alternatively, you’ll be able to park the automotive on the Spanish facet on the city of La Linea, and use the a lot quicker pedestrian crossing (I might advocate this feature).

Whereas in Gibraltar, e book a tour of the character reserve to take pleasure in some fairly spectacular views of the Mediterranean Sea, and on a transparent day you’ll be able to see the African continent – Morocco – within the distance. You too can stroll to the outdated city and the excessive road to take pleasure in some duty-free procuring.

5. Granada

One might positively get used to waking as much as this view, the one we acquired from our Alhambra Palace Resort’s room in Granada.

Granada is without doubt one of the three cities that kind the Andalusian golden triangle (along with Seville and Cordoba), and it’s one to not be missed.

The crowning glory of Granada is the traditional Moorish palace complicated referred to as Alhambra, with the Palace of Charles V, ruins of the outdated Alcazaba, and beautiful properly preserved Generalife Gardens as a part of it.

Whereas Granada’s Alhambra is a fairly spectacular place to go to, the sights don’t finish there. The outdated a part of the city referred to as Albaicin is an attractive genuine place to find, and you can too stroll to the district of Sacromonte, recognized for its cave homes and Flamenco performances. Proper up within the hill above Sacromonte, you will see Sacromonte abbey with stunning views, and the one underground cave church I’ve ever seen.

Granada needs to be certainly one of my favourite Andalusian cities to go to and also you gained’t remorse including it to your day journey locations wishlist. There’s a common prepare service from Seville to Granada (2 hours 20 minutes), however you can too drive there in all probability quicker with a automotive.

6. Ronda

Ronda is a kind of locations you can’t cease speaking about. An historical metropolis divided in half by the El Tajo gorge, with the historic Puente Nuevo bridge towering over it, Ronda is a real magnificence that also feels very genuine Spanish.

Ronda has one of many oldest bullrings in Spain, and the historical past of bullfighting is seen in almost each restaurant you go to, with bull heads hanging over you when you take pleasure in your tapas. 

Ernest Hemingway was an enormous fan of Ronda and spent quite a lot of time right here, amongst many different authors. 

Ronda is the proper one-day journey vacation spot as you’ll be able to squeeze all of its highlights right into a single journey – visiting Puente Nuevo bridge, the gardens that stretch proper behind it resulting in the outdated Roman Baths, the Bullring, and if in case you have time, I extremely advocate a go to of an outdated villa referred to as Casa don Bosco, from the place you get a few of the finest views of Puente Nuevo.

Due to its location, Ronda is finest reached by automotive. 

7. Cordoba

Cordoba is house to one of the vital spectacular cathedrals in Southern Spain – the Mezquita Cathedral. What was once an Islamic mosque was later transformed right into a catholic Cathedral, which resulted within the distinctive architectural piece of labor it’s immediately.

The doorway to the cathedral is thru an attractive courtyard coated by orange timber, and similar to with different historic monuments, the tickets might not be obtainable on the day, so get them early earlier than your journey. Whereas in Cordoba, you can too squeeze in a go to to the Alcazar (full title Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos), with beautiful gardens and exquisite water options.

To get to Cordoba, you’ll be able to simply drive there from Seville, however there may be additionally a quick prepare connection obtainable with low cost prepare tickets. 

A Few Additional Ideas

Earlier than I allow you to off planning your journey, listed here are a number of ideas that can make your journey far more fulfilling:

• For those who’re planning to go to a few of the standard historic websites like Alhambra in Granada, it’s properly price reserving your tickets on-line prematurely. Particularly, Alhambra tickets are inclined to promote out weeks prematurely, so that you is likely to be disillusioned in case you arrive considering you may get them on the gates
• For those who’re touring in the summertime, it will get tremendous scorching in Andalusia. Plan your journey accordingly and attempt to spend the most popular time of the day commuting to your vacation spot as an alternative of climbing steep stairs on some historic monument.
• For those who’re planning to make use of the prepare in your day journey, the identical as above applies – prepare ticket costs differ relying on the day and season, so you’ll avoid wasting cash in case you e book them prematurely. And also you’re additionally eliminating the possibility that the prepare you needed to take shall be totally booked. 
• Driving in Southern Spain is fairly straightforward, however there are some highway tolls you’ll have to pay, they’re at all times marked. You should utilize a Spanish highway toll calculator corresponding to By way of Michelin the place you enter your journey and it’ll inform you the price of the tolls (often only a few euros). 

I hope you loved a collection of stunning locations inside straightforward attain from Seville. Tell us within the feedback which of them are your favourite and which of them are you probably including to your journey itinerary.

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Lucia is a Slovak expat dwelling in Southern Spain. On her weblog Viva la Vita, she shares her insights about stunning areas, hidden gems, and genuine experiences from Costa del Sol and past.