A week in Andalucia: what to do in 7 days?
You have chosen to visit Andalucia in 7 days? Great idea!
Climate, cultural and historical wealth, proximity to France… there are plenty of good reasons to go on a one-week Andalucia itinerary.
Only 2 hours away by flight and with round trips at very attractive prices, it is the ideal destination for a short trip or road trip of a few days.
To help you discover Andalucia, we have concocted a very pleasant 6, 7 or 8-day itinerary for you, to make the most of the charms of this region. Tested and approved by BonAdvisor at the beginning of June in overwhelming heat. And yes we suffer for you!
So, what to do and see in Andalucia in 1 week?
We’ll take you straight away for a week to discover Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, Arcos and Cadiz! Not bad for a week-long Andalucia itinerary, right?
Day 1-2: Seville
Impossible for us not to start this one-week itinerary in Andalucia with Seville, the capital.
Be aware that when booking your ticket, you can also choose to land in Malaga, another city in Andalucia also well served by low-cost airlines. It will depend on your itinerary, but if like us, it ‘s the first time in Andalucia, we advise you to start with Seville.
For the first part of this recommended itinerary, there is no need to rent a car, you will absolutely not need one in Seville. Save yourself unnecessary costs and parking hassles. To reach the city center (as in all major cities), take the bus in front of the airport : one every ½ hour, 40 minutes journey for 4€.
Depending on your arrival time, usually early afternoon, the time to take the bus and settle in your accommodation, you will not have much time left to discover the city so you can take the opportunity to a walk in the neighborhoods around your accommodation or simply cool off by the pool (if you are lucky enough to have one and we highly recommend it).
After a good night’s sleep, start your first full day of exploring the city.
And of course, we recommend that you first go to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Siege of Seville, well not quite, because there are some tricks to avoid the queue.
We already told you about it in our article on the essentials to see in Seville, but hey if you haven’t read it yet (I forgive you for this time!), we’ll tell you again here.
On leaving the cathedral, take a look at the archives of the indies, located just next door. The interior of the building is worth the detour, the entrance is free and it will only take you 1/4 hour.
Then take the time to discover the district of Santa Cruz around the cathedral, which is the historic district of Seville. You can stroll through the charming pedestrian streets and admire a nice view of the cathedral from the plaza del patio de banderas.
It is also in Santa Cruz that you will find a wide choice of bars and restaurants, since after these visits, it will finally be time (Spanish) to eat.
After the lunch break, go to the very famous Plaza de España, which you must have seen many times in the cover photo of all your Facebook friends who have been to Seville.
Despite this, you are sure to be impressed by its beauty and grandeur. I’ll say it again here but it’s the most beautiful place I’ve seen in my life, without a doubt a must to visit in Andalucia in 7 days.
You can walk around it, admire the benches in azulejos representing the Spanish provinces and climb on a terrace to enjoy a view encompassing the entire square.
After this discovery in full sun, we advise you to stroll in the Maria Luisa park, located just opposite the square. With its fountains, ponds and shady alleys, you can refresh yourself and enjoy a bit of calm.
Do not hesitate to push to the end of the park, to the plaza america and if you wish you can also take the opportunity to visit the archaeological museum or the museum of popular arts and customs which are around.
It will then be time to give in to an aperitif and tapas tasting accompanied by a good glass of sangria.
For this second day in Seville, we suggest you visit the 2nd must-see monument, the Alcazar. You must have noticed it the previous day, it is located next to the cathedral.
The best thing is to get there at opening time, buy the Seville City Pass, or take a skip-the-line ticket on the internet, if you want to avoid the wait which can sometimes be long and quite unbearable. in broad daylight.
You can then discover this magnificent Arab and Moorish style palace, residence of the King of Spain during his stays in Seville.
Also includes a visit to the Alcazar Gardens. The place with the gardens is very extensive and the visit will easily take you all morning.
Then enjoy a welcome lunch break.
For the afternoon, you can plan a visit to the casa de Pilatos, also located in the Santa Cruz district. This aristocratic palace will impress you with its huge patio and its very pretty, well-kept gardens.
Continuation of the program a little calmer with the choice of a stroll through Seville to discover its charming streets or a refreshing break by the swimming pool of your accommodation.
At the end of the afternoon, be sure to go to the Metropol Parasol. This atypical architectural construction has been the subject of numerous criticisms, but it is undoubtedly at the top of the building that you will find the best panoramic view of the whole city of Seville.
The best thing is to be there for the sunset. And what’s more, it’s a real good plan because the entrance costs barely 3€ and for this price, you will be offered a glass of wine or soda in the café located at the very top of these giant mushrooms.
Accommodation in Seville
- Black Swan Hostel : Youth hostel located 10 minutes walk from the Cathedral and the Alcazar. Bed in a very designer and contemporary dormitory from € 17 per night, breakfast included! Most: calm, very friendly staff, free dinners cooked by volunteers. We highly recommend this establishment if you are looking for a hostel.
- Hotel Don Paco : Located in the center of Seville, 10 minutes walk from the Cathedral. Spacious room and comfortable bedding from €60 per night, breakfast at €10. Most: excellent breakfast, calm and the swimming pool on the roof. Our favorite for its price/performance ratio.
- Hotel Fernando III : Located in the historic district of Santa Cruz and therefore close to the Cathedral and the Alcazar. Modern and spacious room from €106 per night, breakfast included. Most: the excellent geographical location, the swimming pool on the roof, the very helpful staff. You are only going to Andalucia for 1 week, so you might as well enjoy the best hotel!
- EME Catedral Hotel: Located right next to Seville Cathedral and the Giralda. Very modern and designer double room from €180 per night, breakfast at €20. Most: the fabulous location, the design of the hotel, the swimming pool with a view of the cathedral, the varied and quality breakfast. Do not hesitate any longer, it is our recommendation for a luxury stay in Seville!
Day 3: Cordoba
For this third full day of your one-week Andalucia itinerary, you can choose to stay in Seville if you want to discover a little more or go to Cordoba, option we have chosen because Cordoba is very easily accessible from Seville. and that we did not want to miss this city during our itinerary.
To get there, still no need to rent a car, just take the train that connects Seville to Cordoba several times a day in just 40 minutes. We advise you to take your tickets in advance on this website to be able to choose your times.
In Cordoba you will arrive at the train station, located about fifteen minutes on foot from the historic center. Inside is an information center where you can get a map of the city to make your visit easier.
Small anecdote: when leaving the station, we took the wrong direction and walked for more than half an hour before noticing it so don’t rush and check well before starting.
To reach the city center you will cross a park which will lead you directly to the Almodovar gate, the entrance to the Juderia, the historic Jewish quarter of Cordoba.
Take the time to stroll through the alleys and then go to the Mezquita or Mosque-Cathedral, the emblematic monument of Cordoba.
The visit will impress you with its multiple two-tone arcades and the grandeur of the place. The monument is very beautiful.
For your lunch, go to one of the two largest squares in the city where restaurants, cafés and ice cream parlors are concentrated: the plaza de tendillas or the plaza de la corredera. Do not hesitate to go see them both anyway, they are totally different.
In the afternoon program, we advise you to follow the banks of the Guadalquivir until you reach the bridge gate and the Roman bridge that crosses it.
On the other side of the bridge, you will enjoy a nice panorama of the mosque and the Alcazar. This is also where the Calahorra tower is located . If it is open, you can visit the Al-Andalus Museum inside and climb to its top to enjoy the view of the bridge.
Then cross the bridge again to discover the second famous monument of Cordoba, the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. Big crush for its magnificent gardens and much more beautiful (in my opinion) than those of the Alcazar of Seville . With its shady alleys, its beautiful fountains and flowerbeds, the place really invites you to relax and take a break in the shade.
Besides, we took the opportunity to quietly wait for the time of our return train in its gardens.
Depending on your return time, you can then visit one of the other places to see in Cordoba. You will find the list of things to do on our article dedicated to Cordoba.
But for us it was already time to get back on the train and go back for our last night in Seville.
Day 4-5: Ronda / Arcos de la Frontera
For the fourth day of this week-long itinerary in Andalucia, it becomes necessary to rent a car to visit other parts of the region. We chose to rent our car at Seville airport so that we could then return it to the same location on the day of our departure and thus avoid additional rental costs.
Rental agencies are also present at the station or in the city center but it is less practical for the return before your flight.
Once recovered our car, in this case a brand new fiat 500, we hit the road for our first stop of the day: Ronda.
1h45 later we arrived in Ronda, one of the most visited villages in Andalucia and for good reason, it is clinging to a rocky promontory dug by the Guadalevin river over the years.
Tourists come here for the many viewpoints it offers over the valley and especially for its spectacular bridge spanning the river. I recognize that it is quite impressive and the opportunity for me to take some pictures.
Also to see in Ronda:
- The arenas
- The Mondragon Palace
- The Puerta de Almocabar
- Plaza del Socorro
Find all the information on places to visit in Ronda in our article: What to do in Ronda?
We then take the car back to Arcos de la Frontera where our accommodation is for the night. From Ronda to Arcos de la Frontera, you will take the road of the white villages, so named because it crosses several small villages with whitewashed houses and clinging to the sides of hills or mountains.
The opportunity for us and for you, if you take the same route, to take several short breaks to admire them.
Personally we stopped at Zahara de la Sierra, one of the best known white villages. At the foot of the village, don’t miss a stop at the edge of its lake with its pretty bluish color and why not take a walk around it.
Then drive up to the top of the village to take a walk through its cobbled streets and admire the typical houses.
We get back to the car for about 1 hour drive to Arcos and our place of stay for the next 2 nights. We had booked on Booking at “el fogon del duende”, a bed and breakfast located just at the foot of Arcos de la Frontera, another typical white village of Andalucia.
I can only recommend it to you: it is located in the countryside, the rooms are large, clean, air-conditioned and well decorated, each with a private terrace. The owners are adorable and serve a super good homemade breakfast!
On the other hand, to find it I advise you to follow the owner’s instructions to the letter because it is not easy and your gps will probably not find it on its own. Another positive point that should make you decide to go there: 5 minutes by car is the best restaurant where we ate during our 1-week stay, “la posada del duende”.
Go there with your eyes closed and treat yourself for a more than fair price. We went there 2 nights in a row.
On this 5th day, enjoy a bit of nature and do like us, opt for a mini hike. It would be a shame not to take advantage of it because Arcos de la Frontera is only 30 minutes from the Sierra de Grazalema natural park, the entry point for several hikes of varying levels.
At the beginning of June, many trails were closed and prohibited due to the very high fire possibilities in this region.
We chose the “el rio majaceite” hike, which starts from the village “El bosque”. You will have no difficulty finding the information center and the start is at the first roundabout, on the right as you arrive.
It’s a beautiful 4-hour round trip, easy since it’s almost flat all the time, along the Majaceite river. The walk is in the shade and you can swim or at least soak your feet (the water being cold) all along the walk. We went there on a Sunday, and from what we saw it is a very popular place for locals for family picnics.
Plan a lot of water and food because there is nothing between the start and the finish and even in the shade and refreshing ourselves regularly, we were very very hot.
In the middle of the afternoon, resumption of the car, direction Arcos for a visit of the village.
Of course not much open on this Sunday, but still a few cafes and restaurants at the top of the village. To visit the village on foot, follow the “ruta del monument” which will take you past the churches and the castle of Arcos.
Then good luck getting out of the village and back down by car. It is indeed a little complicated to circulate with the many forbidden directions and one-way streets which are also a little narrow for some. I admit that we struggled a bit (even with a GPS) and that we had to do it several times.
Accommodation in Arcos de la Frontera
- Bed and Breakfast El fogon del Duende : An excellent choice of accommodation in Arcos, from 45€ per night.
- Hotel Los Olivos: Located at the entrance to the old town of Arcos, in an old typical Andalucian house. Comfortable and pleasant double room from €90 per night, breakfast included. Most: the view from the roof terrace, the breakfast on the patio, the excellent welcome.
- Parador de Arcos de la Frontera: Located in the historic center of Arcos. Quiet and spacious double room from €120 per night, breakfast at €17. Most: the incredible view of the Andalucian countryside, the traditional style of the hotel, the exceptional location.
Day 6: Cadiz
For this 6th day in Andalucia, we leave Arcos, direction Cadiz, the last stage of this itinerary, located about 1 hour away. If you have chosen to visit Andalucia in 6 days, it’s time for you to return to Seville airport!
For the lucky ones who have 7 or 8 days, we continue!
The arrival in Cadiz is done by taking the impressive bridge of the Constitution which is one of the highest sea bridges in the world.
You can then park in one of the city’s underground car parks, the most convenient being the one near the port. You can’t miss it, it’s the first one you’ll see when you arrive near the old town.
Start your visit by passing through Plaza San Juan de Dios to then reach the Roman Theater. You can enter, the visit is free and will not take you long.
Then join the most famous monument of the city: its cathedral with its golden dome. You can even climb to the top of one of its bell towers.
Then head to the Cadiz market, if you are a little hungry this is the ideal place to find something to treat you.
To digest, take the Campo del Sur which will lead you straight to the Castle of San Sebastian. The opportunity for a beautiful walk by the sea.
If you wish, you can also swim on the Caleta beach located just next door. Also make a passage by the other fort of Cadiz, the castle of San Catalina to walk on the ramparts.
Then head for greenery, shade and calm at Genoves Park and Alameda Apocada Park. Both are located by the sea, one after the other. You can sit on the many benches and enjoy the fountains.
Finally, end this day with the Spanish Steps in Cadiz and its famous constitution monument.
Accommodation in Cadiz
- Cadiz Inn Backpackers : Youth hostel located 10 minutes walk from the Cathedral. Bed in dormitory from 14€ per night. The pluses: its furnished roof terrace and the welcome of the staff.
- Hotel La Catedral : As its name suggests, it is located right next to the Cathedral. Modern and elegant room from €60 per night, breakfast included. The pluses: we really fell in love with the roof terrace with outdoor swimming pool and breathtaking view of the cathedral! It is our favorite for its price/performance ratio.
- Parador de Cadiz : Located in front of the ocean and 5 minutes walk from the beach of La Caleta. Very nice, modern and bright room from €138 per night, breakfast included. The pluses: outdoor swimming pool with a lovely view, quality of service, well-equipped rooms, original and modern architecture. To have a little fun or if you have a substantial travel budget.
For this last evening, you can choose to sleep in Cadiz, see accommodation list above, or choose to spend the night in one of the surrounding villages to get closer to Seville. We chose to sleep in El puerto de Santa Maria, in the “Los Jandalos” apartments and we were not disappointed.
For 80€ per night, we had a very large apartment for 4 people with, it is important to specify, 2 toilets . And not insignificant fact we were finally able to enjoy a swimming pool!
After this last night, it will be time for you to return to Seville airport to catch your return flight!
Tips for your Andalucia itinerary:
If you have another day, you can add an extra day to the Seville stage and:
1) The most motivated among you can take a day trip to Granada. It’s about 3 hours by road (3h15 by bus) between the 2 cities, but it’s doable! Just leave early (I recommend around 6-6:30 am, to enjoy it!). You will have time to visit the Alhambra and the historic center for example.
There are also organized tours that travel to Granada from Seville (by bus).
2) Take a day trip to Doñana National Park with a guided tour. It is the largest natural park in Spain! It’s quite a hassle to get there by your own means and you won’t be able to visit everything, so it’s really better to opt for an organized 4×4 tour.
3) If you are more of a city dweller or are traveling with children, you may also enjoy enjoying a longer day in the city of Seville.
Budget for a week in Andalucia
Now that you know what to do and see in 7 days in Andalucia, let’s talk about budget:
To give you an idea of the cost of a one-week stay in Andalucia, here is what ours cost us:
- Accommodation for 2 for one week : 350€
- Transport for 2 (flight + train Seville – Cordoba + car rental) : €385
- Visits for 2 : 85€
- Food for 2 : 240€
Total for a week for 2 : 1060€
I hope this gives you an idea for your 6, 7 or 8 day tour.
A week in Andalucia: our impressions
From this week in Andalucia, we will particularly remember the richness of the historical monuments and the beauty of the landscapes covered.
In one week we had plenty of time to explore Seville, Cordoba, a few white villages and Cadiz. For us, Cordoba, Cadiz and Zahara de la Sierra were the 3 nice surprises of this stay.
In any case, what is certain is that we will return there to visit Granada and the Andalucian coast!
Are you going to Spain? Read also
Discover all our articles on Spain : all articles on Spain are listed here.
- Itinerary: 4-5 days in Andalucia : Itinerary to prepare a short stay in Andalucia
- Itinerary: 2 weeks in Andalucia: Guide to visit Andalusia in 15 days
- What to do in Spain? Our TOP 30 places to visit in Spain!
- Cadiz: Top 12 places to visit
- Cordoba: 2 Day Itinerary
- Ronda: Top 10 things to do and see
- Seville: Top 15 must-do things
- Málaga: The 15 must-see places
