You are viewing the 2018 itinerary
Itineraries and pricing may vary by departure year
Explore the best of beautiful Andalucía on this spectacular holiday. Visit sun-soaked Seville, journey to historic Cordoba and explore the Alhambra in Granada, all from your base in charming Antequera.
You begin your Andalucían adventure on a flight to Malaga. From here, you transfer to your hotel in Antequera, your home for the next seven nights. Tonight, enjoy dinner in the hotel. Antequera is a lovely sun-swept city displaying its history in no uncertain terms. You can see plenty of Spanish Baroque architecture, which has been restored and conserved diligently in previous years to give the city its traditional façade. Moorish and Roman influences can be seen throughout the city and the wider region.
Antequera is also home to an abundance of churches, and many have beautifully ornate interiors, so be sure to take a look. Because of the abundance of churches here Antequera is sometimes referred to as the 'Florence of Andalucía'. Day 2 is spent at leisure, Antequera offers plenty for the discerning tourist, the range and variety of tapas bars here is something to get excited about, and an excellent choice if you fancy a traditional Spanish lunch.
After breakfast you enjoy a guided tour of Seville's beautiful centre. Your first stop is the Plaza España, where you have time to admire the beautiful buildings, fountains and tiled alcoves, created for the 1929 'Fair of the Americas'. You finish your tour in front of the amazing cathedral, the largest Gothic building in Europe. The cathedral, built on the site of a mosque, is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus, and is lavishly decorated in gold. Its bell tower, La Giralda, was the minaret of the original mosque and dominates the city skyline. The afternoon is free to explore - Seville is reputedly the city with the largest number of tapas bars in the world, so why not take a well-earned rest in a pavement café with a few plates of local specialities?
Alternatively, those feeling more energetic can climb the
incredible Giralda for amazing views over the buildings below.
Seville really does have a history to be proud of, it's fabled that
it was founded 3000 years ago by the Greek god Hercules. Though
with roots more firmly in the more 'recent' past with Roman ruins
and plenty of Moorish influence. Whichever part of Seville you
choose to enjoy there certainly is no shortage of sights and
flavour to taste throughout your time here, as one of Spain's most
popular cities.
Enjoy an excursion to Cordoba, a famous ancient city that was once the largest metropolis in Western Europe. On arrival, take a guided tour of the city's main attractions, including the famous 8th century Mezquita or mosque of Cordoba, considered to be one of the greatest remaining works of Islamic architecture in the world. You also see the sprawling Juderia, Cordoba's historic Jewish Quarter.
Today is spent at leisure in Antequera. Perhaps soak up the city's incredible architecture on a gentle stroll, or climb to the top of the Alcazaba for panoramic views of the town. You could visit the nearby El Torcal Natural Park, with its unusual limestone rock formations, the park spans 17 square kilometres and was entirely underwater until one hundred million years ago. Another option would be to visit Lobo Park, a nature reserve which is home to two different species of wolves, here you can take a guided tour of the landscape with a guide who explains the importance of these animals.
Today is at leisure for you to explore the surrounding area. Perhaps you could visit nearby Malaga, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, and home to a wonderful collection of his work. Malaga is one of the oldest cities in the world and boasts a wealth of ancient architecture, including the remains of a Phoenician fort and a Roman theatre dating back to 1BC.
Your excursion by coach to Granada begins with a visit to the stunning Alhambra palace. Boasting UNESCO World Heritage status, the Alhambra was once described by Moorish poets as 'a pearl set in emeralds', referencing its whitewashed walls, set amidst dense green Andalucían forest. While here you see the beautiful Generalife Gardens, begun in 1931 and finished in 1951 by Francisco Prieto Moreno. The garden's walkways are tiled in the typical Granadian style with pebble mosaics. The garden features pools framed by flowerbeds, fountains, colonnades and pavilions.
Today you bid a fond farewell to Spain. You transfer to Malaga Airport, to take your scheduled return flight back to the UK, where your holiday concludes
For departures 18ANF11, 18ANF13, 18ANF16 and 18ANF18 the tour now runs for 7-days.
Your itinerary will look like:
Days 1-2 - To Antequera
Day 3 - Seville
Day 4 - Cordoba and at leisure
Day 5 - At leisure in Antequera
Day 6 - Granada
Day 7 - Return Home
Provisional departure and return times, where available, can be found together with dates and prices by clicking on the 'Prices & Availability' button. We will write to you around 10 weeks before your departure date with the precise meeting times for your tour group.
Not Included
of travellers would recommend this tour
Tour Rating
based on 37 verified reviews
We have travelled with your company before, and, as before, we could not fault this holiday to Andalucia. Your guide was very helpful and knew all the excursions. we shall certainly consider another holiday with you in the future.
A brilliant way to explore the treasures of Andalusia. Very well organised holiday with an excellent tour manager.
We really enjoyed the holiday. There was plenty of leisure time if wanted (we didn't as we wanted to visit Ronda etc). The only thing we felt was rushed was on the Friday when we visited Granada and Alhambra. There was not enough time to see much of Granada and we would have much more appreciated 2 extra hours in Alhambra to see the gardens etc properly. We thought that the hotel was rather a long way out of the centre of Antequerra considering that the brochure said that it is "Central".
Excellent tour, excellent tour manager
Comprehensive tour of main sites of Andalucia. All transport arrangements worked well, especially rebooked Monarch flights.
Well organised and interesting trip.
The organisation - brilliant. Exceeded expectations. The excursions - wonderful, well organised and saw all the 'must see' sights, but some were very rushed. The Mesquite in Cordoba should NOT have been booked on a Sunday - a religious day- and tourists understandably take second place! It was one of the three highlights of the tour. The hotel - adequate. Our room should have had a safe. It did, eventually, after three requests for one! The food in the hotel - mass catering and not exactly inspiring. The wine list - inadequate. Had they a really decent wine list, I would have bought some, rather than the free wine that was available.
A very pleasant holiday with a good tour guide and good company.
Wonderful experience visited places we would not have done on our own
Our flight was brought forward to 0710 necessitating a 0245 departure from home really bad news : the plane was full we were told: we were initially not seated together: we were asked to pay extra for an upgrade to sit together: in fact there were four empty seats together on our row: the last trip to Granada was brought forward to the first day: white wine was promised for dinner and it was a battle to obtain it. I had to purchase it the second evening. TV coverage was intermittent! The other trips out were good fun!
Explore the rich culture and lively cities of southern Spain
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