The Ultimate Girls Trip to Andalusia, Spain

By admin

My good friend Lindsay was getting married in the North Fork of Long Island, New York in June 2019. A talented planner, she gave her friends and family the heads up well in advance of her wedding date – and also alerted us that she hoped to coordinate a trip to southern Spain over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate her bachelorette party, her birthday and to simply give her friends an excuse to take a trip together and experience a beautiful region of the world.

Of course I was in. With the advance notice and strategic timing over a holiday weekend, Lindsay was able to get twelve women together for the start of the trip. After the first weekend, people gradually had to peel off based on their own schedules and lives, but we still ended up with a group of five by the end of the entire nine day itinerary. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be part of a more ambitious bachelorette party!

The Itinerary

Seville (3 nights) – We would meet in Seville on Friday. People were coming from different cities all over the US, and even those of us arriving from New York opted for a few separate flights for varying reasons. However, all 12 of us would eventually get to Seville on Friday.

Córdoba (1 day) – Lindsay arranged for us to explore Córdoba for a day en route to Granada.

Granada (3 nights) – We’d have two full days to see Granada.

Ronda (1 day) – During our stay in Málaga, we’d visit Ronda and tour a winery.

Málaga (3 nights) – The trip would end with a couple days in Málaga, which we’d also use as a base for a day trip to Ronda.

Told you it was an ambitious itinerary. I wouldn’t expect anything else from Lindsay. 😉

Stop #1: Seville

I have a lot to cover on this trip, so am doing my best to keep this post text-light, photo-heavy.

No nonstop flights from NYC to Seville, so most of us stopped in Madrid. The Priority Pass Lounge was quite nice, and Lindsay of course got the party started with her favorite beverage: rosé

Touching down in Seville (the Spanish spelling is “Sevilla,” but I’ve decided to stick with the English spellings here for consistency’s sake)

Most of the girls were staying in an Airbnb, but the apartment maxed out at 10 people. I opted to stay at the historic Hotel Alfonso XIII, where Nina joined me.

Our room at Hotel Alfonso XIII (part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection). Apparently David Beckham stayed there the following week. We just missed him!!

I loved the tiles in the bathroom; the Moorish influences were all over the hotel (and Seville, and Andalusia, for that matter). You may notice a trend in upcoming pictures.

I was starving, so I ordered a cheese plate and bottle of wine while waiting for Nina (she came in on the next flight to Seville, with most of the other girls)

Then the hotel unexpectedly delivered another bottle of wine and local snacks as a welcome amenity.
We went from no food or drinks to way too much in a matter of minutes.

Nina eventually arrived to help me with the wine and snacks (we saved a lot for later). After unpacking and showering, we walked through the city to meet the rest of the group for our first activity: a tapas bar tour.

First stop on the tapas tour (our guide is the only one not cautiously digging into whatever it is that we were tasting)

Yes, one of the local delicacies that we tried was snails.

After numerous stops and copious amounts of food and drink, we decided to call it a night. We were jet-lagged, tired and had a lot of exploring ahead of us.

The following morning, our first full day in Spain, most of the girls opted to join a free walking tour of the city. While I typically enjoy walking tours in new places, I’ll admit that I was starting to experience a bit of travel fatigue. I knew I’d be taking many tours in the upcoming days, weeks and months, and I was craving some gym time (especially since we’d be staying in Airbnbs without gym access the rest of the trip).

I returned to my room post-workout to a flurry of messages on my phone. “Look out the window! Wave to us!” Apparently the Hotel Alfonso XIII was a stop on the walking tour, and I had just missed the girls. At least I was still able to experience one of the destinations on the tour. I quickly showered and got ready to meet up with everyone.

View of the city streets on the walk to meet the group

I met some of the girls at Metropol Parasol, also known as Las Setas (“Mushrooms”) de Sevilla

I forgot to mention that it was Saturday, Lindsay’s birthday, and also the day that we had designated for the bachelorette party celebration. The plan was to meet at the Airbnb for some casual games and gifts in the late afternoon, then head out on the town for dinner and drinks.

The crew, dressed up for the big night out. If it wasn’t obvious that we were a bachelorette party before, it’s impossible to mistake now, right?

Enjoying ourselves on the balcony of the Airbnb

Lindsay at Lobo Lopez with her other favorite beverage: a Negroni

Sorority squat pose after dinner at Lobo Lopez

This picture is a good summary of the post-dinner festivities

Day three started slow. It was our last day in Seville, and the only official plan was dinner at night. Optional activities included shopping, touring Real Alcázar and seeing a bull fight (I definitively opted out of that last one).

We all met for a late breakfast. Nina and I were reminded that iced coffee means something very different in most parts of the world outside of the US

Views from the top of the cathedral were impressive

The city was relatively quiet on Sunday, but fortunately a lot of stores, restaurants and sites were still open

Nina and Megan at dinner at El Pintón as we waited for the girls that had gone to the bull fight (who then decided to leave early once they realized it was in fact disturbing)

Stop #2: Córdoba

Nina and I woke up early for our last morning in Seville. We needed to get to the Airbnb, where we’d meet the rest of the group and our drivers for the day. The plan was to drive to Córdoba for a couple tours and lunch, then drive to Granada where we’d be staying for the next three nights. It was a lot to pack into one day, but Lindsay had designed an efficient itinerary to maximize our time, as long as everything went smoothly. Unfortunately, it was about to become one of those days when everything went the opposite of smoothly (roughly?)

First, we got to the Airbnb early, where we waited… and waited… and waited. One of our two drivers was stuck in traffic (he assured us this was a rarity on a Monday morning, as if we cared). He finally turned up about 40 minutes late and we were on the road. It wouldn’t have been too big of a deal, but we had arranged a group tour with other travelers. Fortunately, we were able to find the group near the beginning of the tour, and we didn’t miss much. Crisis averted.

We had timed our trip perfectly to view the colorful flower-filled patios in Córdoba. Over hundreds of years, the tradition was for homes in the region to be built with an inner courtyard to provide refreshing shade and plants in the town’s relentlessly hot climate (fun fact: Córdoba is the hottest city in Europe, with summer temperatures often reaching well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit). Over time, the locals began to open the patios for outsiders to view, and in 1918, the annual Patio Festival began. Fortunately for us, the festival occurs every month in May, coinciding with our visit, and before the temperatures were too scalding.

We had lost three people, but were still a sizable group!

Fifteen minutes after the patio tour ended, we had booked another tour to see La Mezquita, a mosque-cathedral dating back to the 7th or 8th century (I told you our itinerary was efficient).

Moorish columns in the grand La Mezquita

After our back-to-back tours, we had lunch at the delicious Bodegas Mezquita, and then it was time to get back in the cars to head to Granada.

We thought we had made a successful recovery after the morning’s slow start, but then things started to go off the rails again. Once on the freeway, we encountered a massive traffic jam – and not the bumper-to-bumper, slow-moving kind, but the standstill, people getting out of their cars to investigate, kind of traffic. Our driver was starting to get anxious because Granada’s old town would close to outside traffic at 8pm. We were getting anxious because some of us desperately needed to pee. It was not a happy situation.

Eventually, our driver heroically pulled off the freeway and tried his luck on an adjacent side road. We breathed a collective sigh of relief as we passed the major accident causing the backup, found a market with a public restroom and merged back into free-flowing traffic. We might possibly make it to Granada by 8pm and we were moving again. Just one more issue to address: the chef coming to our apartment at 7pm to cook us dinner.

“Hola, Chef Roman? It’s Lindsay,” we laughed at Lindsay’s partial attempt at Spanish as she explained our predicament on the phone. “Okay, great. Thank you for understanding. We’ll see you at ocho!” LOL.

The day wasn’t finished screwing with our plans, however. We arrived at the steep, cobblestoned street leading up to our apartment to find police cars blocking the way. After arguing with the police for a bit, our driver informed us we’d have to walk to the apartment – with all our bags. It was a 10-15 minute walk, but all uphill, on cobblestones, and I had massively over-packed for my 32 days of travel. Looked like I’d be getting a workout in after all. I almost started crying when I felt like my friends had abandoned me as I frustratedly inched my bags up the hill.

Partially up the hill, we discovered the source of the commotion. A bus driver was stuck at a tight intersection. Most of the girls made it past this point earlier and were well on their way to the apartment, but I had the most luggage and was the slowest (big thanks to Megan for staying with me). The police stopped us again, and we spent ~30 minutes waiting for the car blocking the bus to be towed, so the bus could finally make its way down the narrow hill.

We continued the trek and the driver spontaneously arrived to help me with some of my bags. Where had he been all this time?! Megan hung out with me and we eventually made it to the apartment (after about an hour, not 10-15 minutes like previously quoted). Then we realized that Lindsay’s mom was missing. OMG. Thankfully, an English-speaking girl found her wandering the streets and we were all ultimately reunited. I hoped we had just hit the bottom of the trip, and that it would all be up from here… pun not intended.

Our Airbnb was spacious and airy, with a rooftop pool and view of the Alhambra. Lindsay had let Chef Roman in, apologizing profusely (in English, I’m assuming). Wine was open, food was cooking, and we could finally relax.

This queso and jamon spread was a welcome sight (although no jamon for me, please)

I was exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally. After a couple courses at dinner, I excused myself to get some much-needed sleep so I’d be ready for our next big day.

Stop #3, Day One: Granada, Alhambra

The #1 must-do activity in Granada is undoubtedly touring the Alhambra, a soaring palace-fortress complex dating back to the 9th century AD. The grounds feature numerous structures with detailed Moorish design, as well as lush, colorful gardens. We planned to arrive early in the morning so we could tour the site for a few hours before our 11am tickets to enter the Nasrid palaces (which we booked months in advance). Upon arrival, we started with a self-guided tour, but quickly realized that the audio tour was a good idea in such a massive place.

Upon entering the Alhambra, we were treated to a view of the sprawling complex, the gardens, the city of Grenada and the Sierra Nevada mountains

Some wear and tear here, but you can still see the incredible attention to detail

Intricate carvings. You can also see the light streaming in through the stained glass window on the right wall, creating a colorful light effect

Overlooking the city from one of the fortress towers

If you couldn’t tell, that’s Nina and Gina

The schedule for the rest of the day was surprisingly open. We had lunch, walked around the city, shopped, rested, ate a late dinner. It was great, and I’ll leave it at that.

Stop #3, Day Two: Granada, Flamenco

Our second full day in Granada started similarly to how the previous day had ended. We walked around town, saw some sights, ate, drank, relaxed. For the evening, we had booked a private flamenco Airbnb experience.

The experience started in the home of our guide, Cristo. He shared the house with some unbelievable number of roommates (like, more than ten). I was amazed that his roommates didn’t mind him regularly bringing large groups of strangers in for a flamenco demonstration.

Cristo served us tapas in his courtyard. We brought our own wine.

Cristo started with a lesson on flamenco: its history, its characteristics, the passion that the performers imbue to their music, song and dance. He was intense, to say the least: confident presence, wild hair, piercing eye contact.

Cristo dancing for us, alongside his friends singing and playing the guitar

Cristo in action – just look at that hair

Next, we walked through the Albaicín district to a restaurant, where we enjoyed some more tapas and drinks, finally ending at a traditional flamenco show.

One of the things that we learned: while you may have a stereotype in your mind of a flamenco dancer as young and thin, that is not always the case! Some of the most famous flamenco dancers are older and more voluptuous

It was a fun evening getting to chat with a local and learn more about traditional Andalusian culture. At the end of the night, a few people in the group had booked appointments at a hammam. The rest of us headed back to the apartment to drink wine and relax.

Stop #4: Ronda

I’m taking a short break from chronological order now, as we spent a night in Málaga before our day trip to Ronda, but I want to cover Málaga in one complete final section since we ended our trip there. Bear with me.

We took the bus from Málaga to Ronda, and returned the same day. It took about 1.5 hours each way if I remember correctly, and was much more comfortable than I expected. This was no Greyhound bus. Upon arrival in Ronda, we had pre-booked a taxi to take us to our first destination: Bodega Cortijo Las Aguilares. Any guesses as to what that is?

A winery! It wouldn’t be a proper girls trip without a wine tasting. Note the beautiful Moorish-inspired arches in the otherwise modern tasting room.

We started with a private tour of the grounds

We finished with a private tasting led by our lovely and highly capable French guide. The wines were great, and we selected a few bottles to take with us. My friend Lauren even convinced them to give us all branded cloth bags despite the winery’s strong initial resistance to parting with so much free merchandise. Beware Lauren on a mission!

Next up, lunch in town. The restaurant was beautifully designed, and clearly targeted to visitors looking for a modern, high-end experience vs. a local, traditional one. I didn’t catch the name because it quickly became clear that the specialty was meat. Vegetarian options were few and far between.

I’m sure it was delicious, but no thank you

The padron peppers and rosé were quite nice

Final plan for Ronda: simply walking around town. The charming village was perched above dramatic cliffs that afforded magnificent views.

Then it was back on the bus for our last two nights in Málaga.

Stop #5: Málaga

We took a bus from Granada to Málaga (see above comments on buses in Spain – unlike the US, not a bad option to get from city to city) and checked into our final Airbnb. Aside from the day trip to Ronda, our plans were to explore the city, hit the beach, eat and drink more and cap the trip off with a sunset hike on our last night.

For our first lunch we went to a tapas bar that offered us complimentary neon flamingo pink cocktails

Many of my friends do not like gin, so they donated their free cocktails to me. No thank you.
BTW, is it just me or does my face resemble the mask from the movie “Scream?” Or the famous Munch painting “The Scream” if you’re more inclined to art than horror films from the 90s.
WTF. Not my most flattering moment, but I’m sharing it here because it was (is?) funny.

We then took a free walking tour. This is our guide in front of the Málaga Cathedral

I apologize if this place has major historical significance, because after all those ridiculous gin cocktails I don’t remember.
I thought it was pretty.

Flowering blooms in the Plaza de la Merced

We realized that Málaga is a big destination for stag parties. We could only speculate on what was happening in this scene.

Last Day in Málaga and Andalusia 🙁

I loved Málaga. After a week in hot, sunny, cloud-free weather inland, we were on the coast. The temperatures were milder (think 80s vs 90s), yet the skies were still pure and blue, with nary a cloud in sight. We had a beach and a city to explore, and almost all of the sights were accessible by foot.

I started our last day with a run along the coast. It was my first time running outside since who knows when, and I savored every beautiful moment. We were down to just five girls for our last day (Lindsay, Erica, Lauren, Gina and me), and our plans were relaxed: lie on the beach, drink rosé… and, um, that’s about it.

Until our sunset hike in the evening, that is. Erica and Gina had found a guided hike through Airbnb Experiences – it would be the perfect mix of physical activity, panoramic sunset views over the port, and more wine, of course.