The Ultimate South of Spain Travel Guide: A Realistic 2-Week Andalusia Itinerary

Southern Spain has a way of pulling you in. It’s not just the big-ticket sights... the Moorish palaces, the cliffside walks, the UNESCO-listed landmarks... it’s the in-between moments. Rooftop sunsets with €2 wine. Wandering historic villages with no real plan. Eating tapas while watching locals dancing in the streets. 

In this episode, I’m sharing exactly how to experience Andalusia properly... without rushing, burnout, or trying to squeeze the entire south of Spain into a week. If you want a trip that feels rich, balanced, and deeply memorable, this one’s for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why Andalusia is one of Europe’s most rewarding regions
• The best places to visit in southern Spain (and how long to stay)
• A traveller-approved 2-week Andalusia itinerary
• How to get around southern Spain (train vs car)
• The best time to visit Andalusia, and when to avoid
• Practical tips to avoid crowds, heat, and booking mistakes

Helpful Resources & Links

• Blog Post: The Ultimate South of Spain Travel Guide 
• Blog Post: Hiking Caminito del Rey: Spain’s Most Epic Cliffside Walk
• Blog Post: The Ultimate Travel Guide to Málaga, Spain

Connect & Explore

Find destination guides, travel planning resources and more at touristtotraveller.com, and follow along on Instagram @_touristtotraveller for behind-the-scenes planning and future travel inspiration. 

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Welcome to the Tourist to Traveller Podcast, the show that helps you go beyond the guidebook and turn your bucket list dreams into real adventures. I'm Tahnee, a travel blogger, podcaster, and everyday explorer who's been ticking off epic destinations for over 20 years while balancing a 9 to 5. Each week I'll bring you inspiring stories, destination deep dives, and practical tips to help you plan smarter, travel deeper, and capture those unforgettable moments along the way. So, grab your passport, hack your curiosity, and let's get started. If the south of Spain has been sitting on your bucket list, this episode is going to save you a lot of planning time. Because Andalusia isn't just one destination. It's Moorish palaces glowing at golden hour, flamenco echoing through laneways, white villages clinging to cliffs, and those quiet rooftop moments with cheap wine that somehow become your favorite memories. I traveled through this region in 2025, and today I'm sharing exactly how to experience the south of Spain properly. I'll walk you through a realistic two-week itinerary, how to get around, when to go, what to book early, and how to balance the iconic sights with the slower everyday moments that makes this part of Spain so special. So if you want a trip that feels rich, grounded, and actually enjoyable, let's get into it. I had just two weeks to spend in Spain, and it was really hard to decide where to go. And I decided on the south of Spain because this was the Spain that I had been dreaming about. A couple of things that stood out to me in the south of Spain was the food, the culture, the grand history, but also the underrated destinations that not many people talk about. And that's really what I was looking for in my trip. I was looking for a combination of big bucket list moments with very quiet, real, authentic moments woven in between. The region of Andalusia in the south of Spain is made up of some really popular destinations, including Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Ronda, and Malaga. Today I'm going to be sharing a little bit of information on each of these destinations, as well as a recommended two-week itinerary. Now, this itinerary can absolutely be done in less time, but I honestly think that the beauty of Spain is being able to take it slow and enjoy all of those quiet moments in between. Now, while you might be looking for slow, authentic travel, it's important to note that Spain in recent years has had a really big problem with overtourism. So much so that in 2025, in the months after my trip, there were a lot of protests around Spain, and Spanish locals were actually uh wandering the streets with water pistols squirting tourists, telling them to go home. And honestly, from my time in Spain, I get it. There were some destinations I went to where there was not another tourist around, but there were others where it was insane. The amount of tourism was really overwhelming. And for me, being there just for a short period of time, I was stressed and overwhelmed. And I can only imagine how the locals were feeling. So it's something really important to keep in mind when traveling to these destinations, as well as choosing which part of the country to go. The most popular time to travel to Spain is in their summer months, which is the middle months of the year. But I think the best times to go are actually around shoulder season. Traveling in their spring or in their autumn means that you still get good weather. It's not too hot and it's not too cold, but the amount of crowds that you'll be experiencing is significantly reduced. I went to Spain in shoulder season in late April and early May. It was a little bit cooler than I had expected across those months, and still, being shoulder season, being the Quieter months, there were plenty of people. Spain is a really easy country to get around. They have a really great network of high-speed trains, and we use those quite a few times to get around the country. But my favorite way to travel the south of Spain is with a rental car on a road trip. Here you will be driving on the left side of the car and on the right side of the road. So that's something really important to note. And I honestly found the hardest thing about driving around the south of Spain was reading the road signs that were not in English. So something to keep in mind. Regardless of how you're traveling around, once you're in each of these cities, I find that they all incredibly walkable, which means that you don't often need to catch a bus or a taxi or a train to get to the major sites around the city. Quite often you can do this by foot. The biggest highlights for me in Spain were the history, the culture, and of course the food. And we're gonna talk through how you can experience all of those. So let's jump into my recommended two-week itinerary in the south of Spain. Starting off with days one to three in Seville, which really is the soul of Andalusia. Seville is such a vibrant city, and honestly, on our journey, we did not spend enough time there, and that's why I'm recommending that you spend a full three days in Seville. For us, the weather was great, there was so much to see, it's such a beautiful city, and the food and the service was fantastic. Now I'm going to recommend that you start day one by heading towards your accommodation, and I would recommend staying in the historic Jewish quarter. And that is going to be a common theme throughout this itinerary. I almost always recommend staying in the historic area of any city. And in Seville, that is Santa Cruz. If you can't check into your accommodation yet, that's okay. Drop off your bags and take a gentle walk around the city. Take it slow, take in the sights, stop in at anything that's really drawing your attention, and just appreciate the fact that you're in Seville. Something that I noticed in Seville was this very unique yellowy, mustardy colour, and you'll see it everywhere. It's on buildings, it's on signs. It's a color that just now reminds me of Seville. While you're wandering around on your first day, I highly recommend popping in for a drink at El Rinconcillo. Now, I want to tell you straight up, I'm really bad at pronouncing things, so I'm so sorry if I got these really wrong. I'm going to do my absolute best. So let me try that again. El Rinconcillo, which is Seville's oldest bar. We popped in here at around lunchtime on our first day, and there was this there was a little bit of a lineup to get into the building. And for me, as a general rule of thumb, I don't line up to get into any bar or any restaurant unless it is really, really worth it. But knowing that this was Seville's oldest bar, it felt like something that we needed to do. We wandered a little bit further, we came back, the line was shorter, and we thought, why not? Let's line up and go experience this bar. And we're really glad that we did. The wait actually wasn't that long. And then when we came in, there was standing room only at the bar. But for us, we honestly didn't mind. It was kind of perfect. All we wanted was one drink so that we could experience this bar. We asked the barman what he would recommend and what is popular here. And without a doubt, he said the sherry. Everyone comes there for the sherry, they known for their sherry. So we said, okay, okay, let's go with the sherry. What would you recommend? Uh he picked one for us, he told us the price, and then our sherry was on its way. Now I love that they use such an old school system here of keeping tab of what you've actually had to drink. They write it on the bar directly with chalk. That's right. They literally will write in chalk how much you have essentially racked up on your tab, and then they'll tally it all up at the end, which was really cool. The sherry was really, really good. Uh, and then we tried a uh we tried a dessert. I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called, but it was basically like a tiramisu kind of coffee cake, and we had a really hard time trying to pronounce what it was, and we were looking at Google Translate, and the barman couldn't understand us, and we couldn't understand him. We were trying really hard to explain what we wanted, uh, and it just wasn't really translating. So, anyways, eventually we worked it out and he served us our cake, and it was incredible. But even if you're just popping in for one drink, I highly recommend it. While we're standing there sipping our sherry, we're just looking around, taking in the atmosphere of this old bar, and also just looking at all the locals that were there, looking at what they were eating, what they were ordering, what they were drinking, and just really appreciating this moment. So that one is highly recommended. Now, because this is your first day, you definitely want to ease in and take it slow and just spend your time wandering around the city. But as the day is getting on, as you come to the end of the day, I definitely recommend popping into a couple of different tappas bars to experience tappas and find your favorite. The sun sets a little bit later in Spain, so if you would like, you can head to Metropol Parasol, which is a futuristic structure that you can walk across the top of at sunset. Before we move on to day two, I want to tell you a funny story about Seville. We had really great weather while we were there. However, we arrived and left Seville in the middle of rainstorms. Something you should know about Seville is it is well known for its snails. And in the middle of a rainstorm, there are snails all over the ground. And when we arrived by train on our first day, we were trying to navigate all of the snails that were all over the footpath with our wheelie bags, um, trying not to step on them, trying not to roll over them to try and get to our accommodation. Uh, and then on the last day when we were leaving, also in the middle of a rainstorm, the snails weren't too bad, but the wind picked up out of nowhere, and this storm picked up out of nowhere. And because it was meant to be reasonably good weather, and it had been that morning, we really weren't dressed appropriately to be wheeling our bags in high winds, uh, in heavy rain, trying to get back to the train station. So the weather is unpredictable, and also watch out for the snails. Okay, moving into day two. This is a big one. You're going to start your day off at the real Alcazar of Seville. This is an old royal palace. It's huge and it's jaw-dropping. So give yourself plenty of time to explore. This is something that you also need to book well in advance. And a really important lesson to note about Spain in general is that some of their attractions book out months in advance. I heard this before going to Spain and I thought, yeah, but you know, surely you can get tickets a few weeks out. And for some things, you genuinely cannot, because they book out so far in advance. So make sure you secure the tickets to major items that you really want to see. Leave yourself room for spontaneity. However, those big ticket items, those really popular destinations, book your tickets in advance. And this is one of those destinations. The real Alcazar of Seville. Leave your entire morning free to explore this destination. Then in the afternoon, you're going to head to the Seville Cathedral, which is apparently the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It was big and it was beautiful. And you'll also have the opportunity to climb La Girlada Tower. Let me try that again. La Girlada Tower, which will give you beautiful views across the city. As you move into the evening, this is an opportunity to experience something else that Seville is known for, and that is its flamenco. It is a fantastic destination to go to a flamenco performance. Moving into day three, take the time to get lost in Barrio Santa Cruz, which is one of the let's call them suburbs of Seville. In the afternoon, head down towards the river as the day starts to cool off, where you can capture some really great photos of Torre del Oro as well as the canal and go across the canal to explore Triana on the other side as well, because it's also a beautiful area. As you get even later in the day, I recommend going to Plaza de Espana, which is one of the most famous destinations in Seville. And I guarantee if you I guarantee if you Google it, you will know the exact place that I'm talking about. I wasn't prepared for how lively this spot would be towards sunset. There were so many people here. The mistake we made was that we tacked this on the end of such a big day that our feet were so fried by the end of it that we struggled to wander around and stand because I think we had walked the day that we went for about 20 kilometers by the time we got to this point. So that is why the itinerary that I'm recommending for you on day three is a cruising morning wandering around the streets of Seville before heading to Plaza de Espana for sunset and early evening. After Seville, we're now going to head over to Cordoba. Cordoba is really well known for its courtyards and culture, and we didn't know it at the time, but we'd actually arrived just days before their patio festival. It's a little bit hard to describe Cordoba, but it was one of my favorite places in the south of Spain, and it just had a different vibe from everywhere else that we'd been. The laneways were incredibly narrow and they were so busy, probably because of the festival. But this city just had such a vibe about it. So what should you do day one in Cordoba? You're gonna start off by heading to the Mosquita, which is a mosque or cathedral. It's very unique compared to the others that you'll see across Spain, and this one is really well known for its red and white arches. I recommend going first thing in the morning to beat the crowds, and this is another one of those destinations that you need to book tickets in advance because they will sell out. So you'll probably need around one to two hours in the Mesquita, and then you'll have the opportunity to climb the Bell Tower, which is also located at the Mesquita, but it does require a separate ticket. The great thing about the Bell Tower is it gives you sweeping views over the top of Cordoba. In the afternoon, wander around the Jewish quarter with its narrow lanes, uh, and also, if it's the right time of year, wander around and check out its famous patios. The patio festival is in May and it draws some really big crowds, but essentially the homes and the alleyways are just lined with flowers, and it's a really stunning time of year to visit. Then in the evening, find an incredible restaurant in the old town for a quiet evening. One thing about Quarterbar is that the restaurants there were busier than anywhere else that we went in Spain, especially at lunchtime while there were tourist buses there. There were very big queues at the front of many restaurants to get in, which is for us really challenging. I traveled here with my sister who is a type 1 diabetic, and the day that we arrived, her blood sugar levels dropped, and we needed to get her sugar fast. And it was so hard to find a restaurant or anywhere that we could get into reasonably quickly to get her food. So just wanted to give you a heads up that you might be waiting a little while. Book in advance if you can, but just take your time and be patient. On day five, you're gonna start off with the Alcazar de los Reis Christianos. Once again, I apologize if I'm absolute j if I'm absolutely butchering that pronunciation. This is another place to buy tickets well in advance and give yourself plenty of time to explore. In the afternoon, especially as the the especially as you're moving into golden hour, walk across their famous Roman Bridge and explore along the riverside. Find a beautiful place to watch the sunset. I would recommend doing that somewhere near the river or the Roman Bridge. When we were in Cordoba, we really locked out with our accommodation. It was right in the heart of everything. And it was big, it was beautiful, and we had all of these private outdoor spaces, including multiple private rooftop areas. So what we actually did on one of our evenings in Quarterbar is we stopped at a supermarket and we bought a bottle of Spanish red wine for two euro. We stopped and just grabbed some empanadas from a store that was basically across the road from us. We headed up to our rooftop and we watched the sunset from the rooftop with our cheap wine and our cheap food, and you know, we we got to see Cordova from a different perspective. We also had views of the bell tower at the Mosquita as well from our rooftop. So it was a very cheap but very special and memorable evening. Alright, day six to eight, you're gonna head to Granada, another one of my favorite places in the south of Spain, and some way that we did not spend enough time when we visited. Granada is very historic and it is most famous for the Alumbra, which is known as Spain's most famous monument. The Alumbra is the place that will book out way further in advance than anywhere else in Spain, and you do need to bore, you do need to get your tickets well in advance. Now, if you miss out on the tickets that you're looking for, there are alternative options there. They will also sell out, but just bear with me as I explain this. So there are top areas to see within the Alumbra, and those are I don't know if they're technically castles or palaces, but the Tickets that include entrance into those are the ones that are the most popular and will book out first. From there, you've got other levels of tickets. So, for example, some of them will just give you access to most of the outdoor areas, such as the General Life Gardens. And those areas, even though you might think that you're not getting the full Alumbra experience, those tickets will give you access to so much. There are multiple different ways that you can get tickets. Of course, always try and go through the official tourism website first to get the official tickets. But if that doesn't work for you, if those tickets are sold out, you can look at going on a tour. Tickets through the tours I found to be up to 10 times more expensive than the official tickets. And we were warned by so many different sites that a lot of the time they don't actually have tickets, and your tour will be cancelled at short notice. So it's something to be mindful of. So we booked the Alumbra, I think it was about a month and a half in advance, and found out that all of the tickets had been sold. And we were absolutely devastated. There is another website there that has a ticket called the Granada Pass. And we tried the Granada Pass or the Granada Card website, and we still couldn't get tickets through there either. They also have nighttime time slots that you can go. Every single one of them was sold out. So we had one little hack that I don't know how, but it worked. So I'm going to tell you what happened. So when I was looking on the website, obviously the English version, because it is the only language that I speak, there were no tickets on anything. No matter what time slot it looked at, no matter what ticket combination, no matter if it was just for General Life Gardens or if it was for the palaces, like nothing was available at all. Then I went to the Granada Card website, also nothing available. However, then I also opened it. And whilst the website was in Spanish, before I changed it to English, it showed me that there were two tickets and I could get access to the General Life Gardens with the Granada card. As soon as I went to English, those tickets were gone. When I went back to Spanish, the tickets were available. So I used Google Translate to navigate around the site in Spanish, booked two tickets, rocked up on the day thinking maybe this hasn't worked. I don't know. Maybe there was a glitch in the system and we don't actually have tickets. But you know what? It worked. We got two tickets, they were legit, and we were finally able to access the alumbra. Now, knowing that we only had access to the General Life Gardens and the out mostly mostly outdoor areas, we didn't realize how much time we would need here. I think from memory, we spent about five hours at the Alumbra and still didn't see it all with the tickets that we had available. It's insane. So honestly, you need a lot of time here. Your feet will definitely be sore. Just keep this in mind and come prepared. I would allow three to four hours at least, but honestly, allow more if you can. It is big, it is beautiful, and it is stunning, especially if you get it in good weather. And not only are the grounds stunny, but the views from the grounds are also incredible. Honestly, there were so many jaw-dropping moments at the Alumbra. After you are exhausted from exploring, make sure in the afternoon you give yourself enough time to wander around the general life gardens. There are some cooler areas, fountains, shady areas that you can explore there as well. On your first evening, you're gonna do a little bit of a tapas crawl around the city, or just pick one really good restaurant if you are too exhausted to move anywhere else. On your next day in Granada, get lost in Alabasin. Once again, I'm probably pronouncing this wrong, but it's Granada's Moorish Old Quarter. We actually stayed in this area, which I highly recommend, and it's old and it's beautiful. One thing that I will let you know though is it's very hilly. We love walking, we're relatively fit, we don't mind a hike or stairs or hills. But after spending many hours exploring Granada, we ended up getting the bus to and from our accommodation because of how steep the hills were. But it is a really beautiful area to explore. You've got narrow laneways, you've got whitewashed houses, and of course, some incredible views of the Alumbra. In the afternoon, you can walk up to Sacramente, which is known for its cave houses, and of course, its flamenco heritage. And if you didn't get to a flamenco performance in Seville, you'll have another opportunity to do that here in Granada. Around sunset, I highly recommend heading up to Mirador de San Nicolas, where you get incredible views over Granada and the Alumbra, especially at sunset. You'll see a lot of people, tourists as well as locals, that will hang out there. Um, often they'll bring snacks, wine, guitars, and just chill and hang and watch the sunset. Now I have to tell you about our evening in Granada during our trip. We arrived on, we arrived by car on our road trip, and we had picked a beautiful Airbnb purely for this huge balcony with incredible views that it had. It was in the Alabasin area and it had great views over Granada and of the Alumbra with snow-capped mountains in the background. Um, we were so excited about our Airbnb. And we happened to be in Granada in 2025 when Spain and Portugal went into the biggest power outage in modern European history. The whole two countries completely blacked out. No power, no internet, no mobile reception, absolutely nothing. And we didn't realize there was a power outage for a really long time during the day because we were so busy exploring. We realized when we stopped to grab some supplies before we headed back to check into our accommodation, and everything was closed, and we found out that there was a power outage. Sorry, we managed to get a bottle of wine from the only place that was still open. And the owner was trying to tell us what was going on and give us an update on the power outage. So we got the bus and we went back up to our accommodation and then realized that this being an Airbnb, we need to access the code to get our key through the Airbnb app, which we can't do because we're in a blackout and we have no reception and no way of accessing anything. So we didn't know what we were going to do. Uh we we were there, we could access the um, we we the gate was open, so we could kind of get into the accommodation. We saw a big, beautiful balcony that we thought was shared, but turns out it was just ours for our room, which is incredible. Um, and we just chilled and took in the views while we waited. And we waited and we waited and we waited. And other tourists came who were also staying in this Airbnb, and together none of us could access our rooms because we couldn't get our codes because there was no reception. So um it actually turned into a really cool experience, you know, meeting other travelers and in this Airbnb, um, we had uh our own fully contained room. However, some of the other rooms was were were just a bedroom. So there was a communal kitchen, a communal um toilet and shower. So we had a backup plan. Our backup plan was our car was parked basically at the lookout that was just above us, and we could sleep in the car. It was gonna be a cold night, but we could sleep in the car. So that was our plan B. We had access to the kitchen, which meant we could access wine glasses and a bottle opener. We also had access to a toilet and a shower that at this stage had cold but running water, and we were gonna be set. So we stuck to our plan of drinking our bottle of Spanish wine on our big beautiful balcony, looking over Granada at sunset. So we did this while the whole of Spain was blacked out. Uh for food, we ate cereal with warm almond milk because that is all that we had, and everything was closed: bars, restaurants, pubs, supermarkets, everything was closed down. Um, and that's all we had, and that was okay. But it was really cool because you could see people just hanging out and enjoying each other's company because you know, everyone was in a blackout. Uh, it's definitely one of our most memorable moments of the trip. But don't worry, eventually the Airbnb host arrived to let everyone into their accommodation. Right, let's move on to the next day, which is your third day in Granada, day eight of your trip. I recommend starting off with the Granada Cathedral. It's a little bit smaller than some of the other cathedrals around Spain, but still definitely worth exploring. This is the day to take your time just exploring the city to explore the markets, shop for souvenirs. Uh, there are also some Hamam-style Arab bars in the area, so you can just have a really relaxing afternoon, and then as you move into the evening, a slow evening with a beautiful restaurant. Alright, the next day you're going to head to Ronda. I honestly think Ronda was the prettiest town that we visited in the south of Spain. And part of that was due to our perfect accommodation. So, what are you going to do in Ronda? Rhonda is known for its famous bridge. There are actually more than one bridge. There is a couple of bridges there, but there is one in particular called the Puente Nuevo. I hope I'm getting at least close to this pronunciation. Puente Nuevo bridge. And it goes across this gorge and it's right in the middle of town. Everyone goes to Rhonda just for a photo of this bridge, and all of the tourist buses come throughout the day, and the bridge is absolutely packed. But I definitely recommend staying at least one night in Ronda because once the tourist buses have gone, this little town is stunning, especially along the gorge. So you're gonna start by heading directly to the bridge, get a couple of photos, and then take your time to wander along the gorge, both directions because it's really stunning. Walk the clifftop paths, but also go down closer towards the water and explore the other bridges as well. As it gets a little bit cooler in the afternoon, head towards the historic bull ring. I'm not into animal tourism at all. Um, however, I am into history, and that is why I still wanted to go and see the historic bull ring. And they also have a bull ring museum there. So it was fascinating to learn about the history of bullfighting in Spain, to see the bull ring, to see all of the things that go on behind the scenes, but then also to feel all the feelings about how incredibly sad it is for the animals that were involved in what they had deemed to be a sport. And then when it comes to the evening, if you can stay somewhere with views of the bridge, which we did, our view was almost on top of the bridge. It was so stunning, and we couldn't believe that that was our room. One thing to note across Spain, it is really common to eat dinner at 8 pm, 9 p.m., 10 pm. In Rhonda, the restaurants all open around the tourism buses, and they close really early because most of the tourists have gone home. So we headed out in our first night to eat dinner at around 8 pm. And by 8, most restaurants were already closed, and we really didn't enjoy the food scene in Rhonda. So at nighttime, eat early, but also pick your destination in advance because uh it was really hard to find good food, and the food in Ronda in those restaurants was so expensive. All right, day 10. You're actually gonna do a little road trip from Rhonda and return back to Rhonda for the evening. So you're gonna start by driving to Olvera, which is a gorgeous historic town with a hilltop castle that's just got sweeping views across the region. Uh, unfortunately for us, we drove into the stunning views of the castle. And by the time we got up to the castle, this storm had rolled in and the whole thing was covered in clouds. So we didn't quite get the Alvera experience that we were looking for, but this town is really stunning. Then in the afternoon, head to Setinil de las Bodegas, which is where you've got these houses that are these houses and businesses that are built into the rock face. The way that it's all built in was just so fascinating, and it really was the reason why we went to this town was to see how everything was built into the rocks. We also found it quite challenging to get good food here as well, uh, especially for me because I don't eat meat. Uh, it was really hard to find good coffee here as well, but the views were definitely worth it. In the evening, head back to Rhonda for another night with beautiful views. Now, if you are staying near the bridge with views of the bridge and the gorge, sunrises and sunsets are stunning. So try really hard to be around the gorge for those moments. Okay, the next day we're heading to Malaga, which is which is south and also on the water. Malaga is one of those places that blends history and city life with beach life as well. And I know this is gonna be a pretty big call, but the best food that we ate the entire time that we were in Spain was in Malaga. And both my sister and I believe this. Every meal that we had in Malaga was fantastic. Okay, day one in Malaga. The first thing I would recommend doing is heading to the Alcazaba, which is a large moorish fortress with amazing sea views. You'll need a couple of hours here, and one mistake that we made on our way in was not grabbing a map because we thought that we could work it out, and we got so lost here. There were certain things that we were trying to find within the Alcazaba that we couldn't find, and we were kind of just going around in circles. So, on your way in, absolutely grab a map and don't rely on the free Wi-Fi spots because the Wi-Fi never worked, and we were just incredibly lost. But you will need a few hours here because it is larger than you think. Then in the afternoon, you can head across to the Picasso Museum where you'll see a lot around the history uh and the life of Picasso. Now you remember I said the food was really good here, right? So if you have the time, have a long tapas lunch. Honestly, anywhere that we went, the food was great. So you're going to you're going to be spoiled for choice. For sunset, you've got two great choices here. The first is you can head to Playa de la Malagueta, which essentially is the beach where you can get really beautiful views around sunset. Or alternatively, you can do sunset at Castillo de Gibraltar. Let me try that again. Castillo de Gibraltar, which is a little bit above the Alcazaba. Now, if you've had a really big walking day, you're gonna want to get a lift up to this point because um it is a bit of a hike up there. Something to keep in mind. For dinner, if you haven't had paella or paella, I can never pronounce it right. If you haven't had that yet, here is a really great place uh to try it, and that is where we had our best paella or paella in Spain. The next day, which is your second day in Malaga, your 12th day of the trip, I recommend heading to hike the Caminito del Rey. This is one of my favorite days in Spain. Now, before you think hike, I'm not up for a hike. I'm not fit enough for a hike, don't worry, it's a short one. And when I say short from memory, it's about six kilometers one way. But it's mostly flat, it's relatively safe, and the views are definitely worth it. So there are a few different ways that you can do this. If you still have your high car, you can drive there yourself. And if you're driving there yourself, you'll have the opportunity to stop at all these beautiful little villages along the way. For us, we did not have our high car at this point of our trip. So we so we joined a group tour, which was a much simpler way of experiencing the Caminito Del Rey. However, I really don't like the big tour, big bus fives. So, for that reason, if we did it again, we would absolutely keep the hire car and do it ourselves. The Caminito Del Rey was once known as the world's most dangerous walk. And I just want to really emphasize here was once known because it isn't anymore. There is a new pathway that has been built directly over the old pathway. The new pathway is much safer and has safety rails most of the way along. It is a one-way journey. So, you from where you park your car or you get off the bus, you'll go through a tunnel to get to the entrance where you'll receive a hard hat and you'll go through a safety briefing. From there, you'll start your journey. And this is the most breathtaking hike that I have ever done in my life. You're essentially walking along a cliff with really dramatic views over the gorge below. And towards the end of the hike, there is a famous bridge that crosses from one side to the other side of the gorge, which you'll walk across. If you're not good with heights, um, this this one might be a little challenging for you, but it felt really safe. It it once upon a time was not. But in this day and age, it felt very secure, very safe. You're wearing your hard hat. They only let one person cross at a time. Um, and honestly, it's it's not that far to get from one side to the other. I'm totally fine with heights, it was great. I wish I could have stopped and just taken it all in, but they shuffle you across that bridge pretty quickly because there's usually a fair queue of people waiting behind you. Now, once you get to the other side, as I said, this is a one-way walk for good reason. When you get to the other side, before you get to the area that you can jump on a shuttle that takes you back to where your car is parked. Um, at the other side, there are um, I guess you kind of call them food trucks, so you can get food, drink, things like that. I can't remember what we ate there, but there was this little place that was serving um I don't even know what it was, whether it was Spanish food or Mexican food. But at the other end, we we stopped and we we got we got food and we got sangria uh because why not? We're in Spain. I know it's cliche, but we just felt Like we had to do it, and it was the best sangria of our entire trip. Yes, you've heard me right. From a food truck at the end of the Camerito del Rey hike, the best sangria of our entire trip. So if you do this hike, don't miss it. Now heading back to Malaga, you can actually do this if if you're leaving around 9 or 10am, you can actually get back in Malaga by around 2 p.m. So yes, it's a day trip, but it's not an entire day. So you can still fit more activities into the afternoon if that's something that you wanted to do. When you come back, I'd recommend exploring the city a little bit more, especially the historic center. There are some beautiful uh cathedrals there, plazas there to explore, and of course, more spots for great food. Something else that we had in Malaga that was better than anywhere else in Spain was the Patatas Bravis. I don't know why. We tried it everywhere, but the one that we had in Malaga was by far superior. Okay, we've now reached day 13 and 14 of the trip, our final two days. Now, these days are a little bit more flexible, and it's very much choose your own adventure. You can spend more time in Malaga if you would like, or you can do some more day trips from there. And I just wanted to give you a couple of options or recommendations. So this includes heading to the Nurja Caves, um, and you can pair this with some beach time. You could head to Frigiliana, you could do wine tasting near Rhonda. Uh, we actually tried to do this and realized that you needed to make appointments in advance, which we had not done. So if you want to go wine tasting near Rhonda, make sure you plan ahead. Or you can just have a couple of days of pure beach relaxation on the Costa del Sol. Either way, it'll be a lovely, relaxing end to your trip through southern Spain. So that is my recommended two-week itinerary. There are a couple of important points that I wanted to emphasize here to keep in mind before you head to Spain. The first one, I just want to emphasize again: book your tickets early, especially for the Alumbra, the Mosquita, and the Alcazar. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. Go early where you can to beat the crowds, especially if you're going to some of these really big destinations. If you can uh get the earliest or the latest tickets of the day, but I would recommend the earliest if you are a morning person. Avoid some of these areas in summer because, and I'll just use this as an example. Seville in summer gets extremely hot. Go in the shoulder seasons if you can. Stay connected if you're heading on a road trip, if you're hiring a car, get an e-sim or a local SIM so that you can stay connected. It's something that we didn't do and wish we did because on our road trip, we almost ran out of fuel because of the blackout. Uh, and we without a phone, without a sim, didn't know what we were going to do. Luckily, we made it. Um, carry cash. Uh, it's very easy to use your card across the south of Spain. But for those smaller towns, cash is just really handy to have on you. Pack layers if you're traveling in shoulder season. Days, especially evenings, can still get quite cool. And bring comfortable shoes. Trust me, these cities are very walkable. Um, but because of that, you're going to be walking a lot, and cobblestones are not friendly on anyone's feet. So pack accordingly. And my final big recommendation is to buy your tickets through the official tourism website in Spain, which is www.spain.info. We found that there are a lot of websites that were posing as the official sites for a lot of these destinations, and they weren't. So to make sure that we went through the right site to get the official tickets, we went through the tourism website, which then connected you with the official websites for all of the key destinations. That way you knew that you were paying the correct price, you knew that your ticket was legitimate and you weren't being scammed. Because you would hate to travel all the way there and miss out on one of your bucket list items because your tickets were not legit. The south of Spain is one of those places that gives you both the big breathtaking moments and the quiet ordinary ones that somehow stay with you longer. This itinerary is here to give you a solid framework. It's not a rule book. Use it to travel deeper, slower, and with intention. And then let the rest unfold. And if you want to dive deeper, head over to the blog at touristtotraveler.com to review my other guides on the south of Spain. I've linked it in the show notes. Alright, that is a wrap from me. Thank you for joining me on this adventure, and I'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in to the Tourist to Traveller podcast. I hope today's episode has inspired you to travel more authentically and plan your next adventure with confidence. Don't forget to head to touristtotraveller.com for today's show notes, resources, and free guides to help you plan like a pro. And if you love this episode, please hit subscribe and leave a review. It helps more travelers like you discover the show. Until our next adventure. Go beyond the tourist track and level up your travel experiences.