The first part of our late-March sun break in Andalusia, built around southern Spain’s excellent public transit: a Córdoba stopover between trains, two days in Granada split between a Sierra Nevada foothill hike and the Alhambra, and a pivot to Ronda when Caminito del Rey was closed due to weather.
Note: When possible, we use affiliate links, which means we earn a commission when you book through them. If this information is useful, we appreciate you using them!
This is part of our March 2022 trip to Andalusia:
- Andalusia in March: Planning a Spring Break
- Andalusia in March: Part 1 – Málaga, Córdoba, Granada, and Ronda
- Andalusia in March: Part 2 – Sierra de Grazalema
Arrival in Málaga | Trip Day 0
We arrived at Málaga airport on a late evening flight from London. Transit from the airport to our hotel was quick and easy via the C1 line. Our hotel, the Soho Boutique Colón (Booking.com | Hotels.com) was a very short walk from the C1 terminus station. We opted to stay at the same hotel upon our return from Granada, so that we could leave some of our luggage.
Córdoba and Transit to Granada | Trip Day 1
Our itinerary for this first full day included traveling by train, with a stopover in Córdoba for sightseeing, before arriving in Granada. We booked a 9am Avant train to Córdoba (Estación de Córdoba – Julio Anguita). Upon arriving in Córdoba, we stored our luggage in lockers at the bus station (directly across from the train station). Several lockers were available, in various sizes, and the attendant provided us change (some in coins) for a large bill.
Unburdened of our bags, we stopped to buy some pastries not far from the station. At Plaza de Las Tendillas, we paused to eat some and enjoy the morning sun.
We continued on foot along the Járdines de la Victoria to explore the UNESCO sights of the old city. We walked as far as the picturesque Roman bridge and Calahorra Tower. The bridge dates from the 1st century, but most of the structure is an 8th century reconstruction. The Tower was first built in 1333, by Abu’l-Hasan the Almohad Caliphate.
From there, we continued to the Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs. After walking around the exterior, we focused our visit on the Gardens of the Alcázar, enjoying the fountains, flowers, and trees.
We purchased afternoon tickets to visit the Mezquita-Catedral (this was an annoying bit of logistics due to pandemic restrictions and limited time-slots). While awaiting our visit time, we ate gelato and walked around the exterior.
There’s some debate over whether the Mezquita-Catedral is on the site of an earlier Visigothic church, but the site goes back to at least 785, when the Great Mosque was constructed. There were many additions over the years, including a minaret completed in 958. When Córdoba was captured by Christian forces during the Reconquista, the mosque was converted to a cathedral in 1236. A new Renaissance cathedral nave and transept were added to the center of the building in the 16th century. The former minaret was converted to a bell tower and remodeled. The resulting building is a combination of Moorish, Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque styles. I enjoyed it more than I expected, despite the cost and popularity. Sean spent a lot of time trying to photograph the different layers of arches and light.
After our visit, we ate an early dinner of padrón peppers, jamón, patatas bravas, and bread, with some nice vermouth to drink. We then collected our bags from the bus station and returned to the train station. Our Avant train ride to Granada was uneventful. The train station in Granada is a bit outside of the city center, though we opted to walk the 1.7km to our hotel, Room Mate Leo (Booking.com | Hotels.com).
Granada (2 days)
Granada Hiking | Trip Day 2
For our first day in Granada, we awoke to sunny skies, but it soon clouded in. We dropped by Pasteleria Roldan for pastries, and, as we got ready to leave, it began to drizzle.
We stuck to our plan of hiking Beas de Granada and returning back to Granada. This is an approximately 16 km walk with 385m of elevation gain over 4-5 hours of hiking from the bus stop. This required taking the #300 bus to Beas de Granada, and returning to our hotel on foot.
Transit tip: Bus service 300 from Granada to Beas de Granada (~33min), or use a taxi. There was no Sunday bus service as of 2022.
We planned this on advice that this route features “some of the best views of the full length of the Sierra Nevada mountains to be had anywhere.” Unfortunately, the day featured low clouds so our views of the surrounding mountain peaks were very limited. Closer at hand, we saw a group of ibex, some birds of prey, and various ruins, including what appeared to be an old aqueduct route. We also enjoyed walking among the olive trees. I did not, however, enjoy my innocently foolish decision to sample one of the fresh olives (yuck)!
The final stretch into Granada passes through the Llano de la Perdiz park area, before descending into town by the Alhambra. Once back in Granada, we got gelato (including one filled with a chocolate syrup) and ate it in the park, before wandering.
Dinner this night was at Fogón de Galicia, featuring traditional fare: homemade croquettes (croquetas caseras), grilled prawns (gambón plancha), grilled scallops (zamburiñas plancha), bone-in rib steak (chuletón al peso), and a layered house dessert (copa Holgazán). After dinner, we stopped by Heladería Los Italianos for gelato, but ended up getting the intriguing thing that others ahead of us were ordering: ice cream cake slices in a waffle cone!
Granada Attractions | Trip Day 3
Our itinerary included a tour of the famous Alhambra, experiencing Granada’s famous tapas, and an evening transit back to Malaga (via bus).
After a respectable breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and they held our bags for the day. We then set out on foot toward the Puerta de la Justicia entrance to the Alhambra (20min, 1.2km). We purchased our tickets in advance, noting that we could tour each section only once. To try to stay ahead of crowds, we purchased the earliest entry time we could–but we stopped so much to look that the crowds soon caught up with us.
The Alhambra is well-documented, so I will let our photos speak for themselves. We concluded our tour in the Generalife Palace section and then took a leisurely, meandering walking route back into Granada.
Along the way back to our hotel, we stopped for vermouth and tapas at Casa Julio. The housemade vermouths and tapas were all tasty. We also made a point of trying piononos, a bite-sized syrup-soaked sponge cake rolled around a creamy cinnamon custard and topped with caramelized, toasted cream, from Pastelería Isla.
After, we visited the Granada Cathedral. Since we enjoyed our previous night’s visit to Heladería Los Italianos so much, we popped in again for another round of ice cream cake slices in waffle cones. This time we also tried another of their creations: a slice of ice cream cake with gelato on top.
We then retrieved our bags from the hotel and made our way to the bus station for the 6:00pm-7:45pm ride to Málaga. For transit convenience and familiarity, we again stayed at the Soho Boutique Colón.
Replacing Caminito del Rey with a visit to Ronda | Trip Day 4
For this day, we had planned to walk the famous Caminito del Rey, with its narrow walkways bolted to the walls of a dramatic gorge near El Chorro. Alas, the weather had other plans, resulting in the cancellation of our tickets (we thankfully were notified of the cancellation via email the day before). This was frustrating to miss–it is famous for good reason, and I stressed about the reservations while planning the trip–but I was also aware that wind and weather frequently result in cancellations.
Instead, we switched to a backup plan that included a leisurely stopover in Ronda on our way to our next town, Zahara de la Sierra. We began our drive toward Ronda after a slow morning. We parked on a side street a few blocks away from the Plaza de la Merced. From there, we walked a route including Alameda del Tajo park, El Tajo de Ronda, and viewpoints of the famous Puente Viejo and Puente Nuevo de Ronda (the older and newer bridges connecting the two sides of Ronda across the El Tajo gorge).
Before looping back toward the car, we stopped at Casa Don Curro (near the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería) for a late lunch of delicious pastries: lengua de gato (cat’s tongue).
Read on to Part 2 – Sierra de Grazalema…
