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Message
Any travel Board members with vacation experience in Southern Spain and Morocco?
Posted on 7/16/25 at 10:40 am
Posted on 7/16/25 at 10:40 am
Fellow travelers, have any of you travelled to southern Spain? If so, please share your experiences, good or bad. I'm considering a trip for two to Seville and Tarifa, then an exertion to Tangier Morocco next Spring. TIA 
10
Posted on 7/16/25 at 11:08 am to haikarate
I've been to Seville and Malaga in southern Spain. What would you like to know?
One thing I will say is if you do a day trip from Seville don't do Gibralter. Do Ronda instead. It's more interesting overall.
One thing I will say is if you do a day trip from Seville don't do Gibralter. Do Ronda instead. It's more interesting overall.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 11:26 am to VABuckeye
How easy is it to travel from city to city? Also, were there any safety concerns?
Any information regarding the quality of your vacation experience is welcomed.
Any information regarding the quality of your vacation experience is welcomed.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 11:32 am to haikarate
quote:
Also, were there any safety concerns?
Lol, no.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 11:42 am to haikarate
Went to Seville, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Tarifa, Marbella, Malaga, Ronda/Setenil just last month. Rented a car and started in Seville and ended back there. Beautiful countryside of rolling hills of Olive, Orange, Sunflower, and Wheat fields.
We did a ton of walking. A ton. 25,000 steps a day.
Food was cheap everywhere, and delicious.
Some restaurants will close from 3-7 so eat late lunches and be prepared to eat late dinners.
You really need 2-3 days in Seville. Lots to see there. Make sure you get reservations for the cathedral and Alcazar. We had a tour guide but it really wasn't needed. Would rather have walked at our own pace.
View of the cathedral from our hotel rooftop. We stayed extremely close to the cathedral.
Christopher Columbus tomb is here in the cathedral
Recommend finding a Flamenco show, a small private one.
Cadiz was nice. Had a nice cathedral and was just a fun place to walk around and find places to eat. it's a small area that you can walk everywhere. Not that much to do there though other than the cathedral, the beach, and eat.
Gibraltar is a neat place to go to. The rock is a lot bigger than expected and there's monkeys all over it that you will encounter. We went there for half a day.
Gibraltar is part of the Great Britain, so you have to go through a border crossing to get in there, and you can rent an electric scooter and get around the whole town. You have to walk across an active airport runway to get into the town.
The beach at Tarifa was the best. huge beach with mountains right behind you and you can see Africa. We ate lunch at a place on the beach, Chiringuito Carbones 13, that was pretty good. the made their own fresh margaritas that were awesome.
We didn't take the ferry to Tangier, but kind of wish we did.
Not much to do in Tarifa, but it's still a nice place to stop by. We drove from to Tarifa and then did Gibraltar together in a day, and then stayed in Marbella that night.
Hard to see in the second pic, but you can see the African mountains in the hazy distance.
We stayed just past Marbella, but didn't do anythign in Marbella. Seemed like a uppity place. Looked like California to me, very pretty, but looked expensive unlike everywhere else.
Malaga was nice and had a very old ruin/palace that was expansive, and was a lot of hiking up a mountain to see it all. We didn't spend much time there as we were already starting to make our way to Ronda/Setenil, which I highly recommend.
Setenil is a town built into the gorge of a river. Very ancient town. Very small and nothing to do there other than just look at it for a short time. Won't spend more than an hour there, but it's worth it.
Ronda was so beautiful, and had more to do than expected. Thought it was just a nice bridge and that's it, but they had a nice town area to walk through and a bull ring to tour. Awesome to eat dinner and watch the sunset over the vast valley. Pictures don't do it justice.
Didn't get to go to Grenada, but I hear it's a great place to visit as well.
There are actually plenty of day trips you can take by bus from Seville to all of the locations we went to, and Granada, although we enjoyed driving through the country.
We did a ton of walking. A ton. 25,000 steps a day.
Food was cheap everywhere, and delicious.
Some restaurants will close from 3-7 so eat late lunches and be prepared to eat late dinners.
You really need 2-3 days in Seville. Lots to see there. Make sure you get reservations for the cathedral and Alcazar. We had a tour guide but it really wasn't needed. Would rather have walked at our own pace.
View of the cathedral from our hotel rooftop. We stayed extremely close to the cathedral.
Christopher Columbus tomb is here in the cathedral
Recommend finding a Flamenco show, a small private one.
Cadiz was nice. Had a nice cathedral and was just a fun place to walk around and find places to eat. it's a small area that you can walk everywhere. Not that much to do there though other than the cathedral, the beach, and eat.
Gibraltar is a neat place to go to. The rock is a lot bigger than expected and there's monkeys all over it that you will encounter. We went there for half a day.
Gibraltar is part of the Great Britain, so you have to go through a border crossing to get in there, and you can rent an electric scooter and get around the whole town. You have to walk across an active airport runway to get into the town.
The beach at Tarifa was the best. huge beach with mountains right behind you and you can see Africa. We ate lunch at a place on the beach, Chiringuito Carbones 13, that was pretty good. the made their own fresh margaritas that were awesome.
We didn't take the ferry to Tangier, but kind of wish we did.
Not much to do in Tarifa, but it's still a nice place to stop by. We drove from to Tarifa and then did Gibraltar together in a day, and then stayed in Marbella that night.
Hard to see in the second pic, but you can see the African mountains in the hazy distance.
We stayed just past Marbella, but didn't do anythign in Marbella. Seemed like a uppity place. Looked like California to me, very pretty, but looked expensive unlike everywhere else.
Malaga was nice and had a very old ruin/palace that was expansive, and was a lot of hiking up a mountain to see it all. We didn't spend much time there as we were already starting to make our way to Ronda/Setenil, which I highly recommend.
Setenil is a town built into the gorge of a river. Very ancient town. Very small and nothing to do there other than just look at it for a short time. Won't spend more than an hour there, but it's worth it.
Ronda was so beautiful, and had more to do than expected. Thought it was just a nice bridge and that's it, but they had a nice town area to walk through and a bull ring to tour. Awesome to eat dinner and watch the sunset over the vast valley. Pictures don't do it justice.
Didn't get to go to Grenada, but I hear it's a great place to visit as well.
There are actually plenty of day trips you can take by bus from Seville to all of the locations we went to, and Granada, although we enjoyed driving through the country.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 11:59 am to TeddyPadillac
Teddy, THANK YOU! Great information and pictures
Posted on 7/16/25 at 12:41 pm to haikarate
As stated, Seville is fantastic.
We used a car service to get to Ronda and Malaga from Seville. The Ronda trip was a daytrip with the service and the trip to Malaga was a door to door service.
We used a car service to get to Ronda and Malaga from Seville. The Ronda trip was a daytrip with the service and the trip to Malaga was a door to door service.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 12:57 pm to VABuckeye
I think you can't just do a day trip to Ronda. You have to see the sunset, and you're not going to get that on the day trip tour from Seville.
Setenil is right by Ronda as well. Hit both in one day, see the sunset, head somewhere else the next morning.
It wasn't bad renting a car and driving everywhere. You're only driving from city to city. Once you get to the city, you park and you walk everywhere. Taking a train or bus to each city was goign to be too time consuming for us, and we wanted to see the countryside and be able to stop along the way if we wanted to.
Seville is a huge city though, with plenty to do. You can still walk most places if you're staying in the vicinity of the city center, and you can always get an uber if its too far, and there's scooters to rent via an app all over the place. All the other cities were half day trips touring the city for the most part. Malaga and Granada probably have a bit more to do than the rest, but all the others you can spend 3-4 hours at them and see most of the sites.
And yes it was extremely safe everywhere in southern Spain. No offense, but there's hardly any africans in Spain, at least everywhere we went. We also went to Lisbon on this trip and was on a train with some wannabe L.A. hoodlums that were acting up and made everyone uncomfortable, and there was another part of town that was a bit sketchy and some one armed dude told me he knew jiujitsu and i'd find out about it. Threatening me after i told him to leave us alone when he was asking us for money. I gave him one "what you fricking said" looking him in the eye after he told me he knew jiujitsu and he walked off mumbling something in portuguese or african or whatever.
oh and by the way, every beach we went to, Cadiz, Tarifa, Marbella area, all had topless women on them. And they always say its the ones you don't want to see, but i would whole heartedly disagree as there were plenty of them that i enjoyed seeing. To be honest there were actually very few that were not the ones you want to see, like less than 10% of them.
Setenil is right by Ronda as well. Hit both in one day, see the sunset, head somewhere else the next morning.
It wasn't bad renting a car and driving everywhere. You're only driving from city to city. Once you get to the city, you park and you walk everywhere. Taking a train or bus to each city was goign to be too time consuming for us, and we wanted to see the countryside and be able to stop along the way if we wanted to.
Seville is a huge city though, with plenty to do. You can still walk most places if you're staying in the vicinity of the city center, and you can always get an uber if its too far, and there's scooters to rent via an app all over the place. All the other cities were half day trips touring the city for the most part. Malaga and Granada probably have a bit more to do than the rest, but all the others you can spend 3-4 hours at them and see most of the sites.
And yes it was extremely safe everywhere in southern Spain. No offense, but there's hardly any africans in Spain, at least everywhere we went. We also went to Lisbon on this trip and was on a train with some wannabe L.A. hoodlums that were acting up and made everyone uncomfortable, and there was another part of town that was a bit sketchy and some one armed dude told me he knew jiujitsu and i'd find out about it. Threatening me after i told him to leave us alone when he was asking us for money. I gave him one "what you fricking said" looking him in the eye after he told me he knew jiujitsu and he walked off mumbling something in portuguese or african or whatever.
oh and by the way, every beach we went to, Cadiz, Tarifa, Marbella area, all had topless women on them. And they always say its the ones you don't want to see, but i would whole heartedly disagree as there were plenty of them that i enjoyed seeing. To be honest there were actually very few that were not the ones you want to see, like less than 10% of them.
This post was edited on 7/16/25 at 1:19 pm
Posted on 7/16/25 at 1:11 pm to haikarate
Went to Spain (Malaga, Cordoba, Sevilla) and Morocco (Marrakech and Essaouira) in June of this year.
Can't add much to southern Spain that Teddy didn't mention already. All those cities are great and what differentiates southern Spain from places like Madrid and Barcelona is the mix of cultures and architectures dating back to when the Moors controlled the area. Renaissance and Moorish styles used together in mosque/cathedrals and other buildings are amazing.
Morocco was more of a culture shock. We spoke some Spanish but not a word of Arabic. Thankfully we stayed with friends from the US, one of whom was from Marrakech originally. However, most folks we met did speak some English.
I'd recommend staying in the Medina, which is the old city surrounded by walls. It's just like in the movies--vendors everywhere, alleys going every which way (you CAN get lost...shirts are sold saying "Lost in the Medina"), big open squares, snake charmers, etc. At night it's even more amazing, everything is lit up in the square and buzzing. Lots of coffee shops/restaurants, many of which have terraces that allow you to see over the entire Medina.
Stay in a riad, which is a guest house with multiple bedrooms and shared courtyards. Ours was beautiful and right in the middle of things. Most of these are on AirBnB.
We also hit Essaouira, about 2 1/2 hours away on the Atlantic. Great smaller town. Old medina area, beaches, marketplaces, big fort with most walls still sound with cannons mounted, fishing village. We bought seafood right off the boat then had it cooked right off the dock and ate it there.
I have lots of pics on my phone that maybe I'll post later.
Can't add much to southern Spain that Teddy didn't mention already. All those cities are great and what differentiates southern Spain from places like Madrid and Barcelona is the mix of cultures and architectures dating back to when the Moors controlled the area. Renaissance and Moorish styles used together in mosque/cathedrals and other buildings are amazing.
Morocco was more of a culture shock. We spoke some Spanish but not a word of Arabic. Thankfully we stayed with friends from the US, one of whom was from Marrakech originally. However, most folks we met did speak some English.
I'd recommend staying in the Medina, which is the old city surrounded by walls. It's just like in the movies--vendors everywhere, alleys going every which way (you CAN get lost...shirts are sold saying "Lost in the Medina"), big open squares, snake charmers, etc. At night it's even more amazing, everything is lit up in the square and buzzing. Lots of coffee shops/restaurants, many of which have terraces that allow you to see over the entire Medina.
Stay in a riad, which is a guest house with multiple bedrooms and shared courtyards. Ours was beautiful and right in the middle of things. Most of these are on AirBnB.
We also hit Essaouira, about 2 1/2 hours away on the Atlantic. Great smaller town. Old medina area, beaches, marketplaces, big fort with most walls still sound with cannons mounted, fishing village. We bought seafood right off the boat then had it cooked right off the dock and ate it there.
I have lots of pics on my phone that maybe I'll post later.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 1:28 pm to TeddyPadillac
We didn't stay for sunset but your point is well-taken as I am sure it's spectacular.
Walking across that little bridge the Romans built was very cool. Also, Ronda is HILLY so be prepared for a lot of up and down.
Not my image. I take it this is the sunset.
Walking across that little bridge the Romans built was very cool. Also, Ronda is HILLY so be prepared for a lot of up and down.
Not my image. I take it this is the sunset.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 1:36 pm to VABuckeye
Gentlemen, how long did ya'll stay? I'm looking at 7-10 days
Posted on 7/16/25 at 1:49 pm to haikarate
Did ya'll use travel agents to set up your trips.... also, overnights in hotels / Airbnb?
Posted on 7/16/25 at 2:14 pm to haikarate
Our trip started in Lisbon, well Porto actually but I was there for work. We spent 2 nights in Lisbon then took a train from Lisbon to Seville, 3 hrs ride and much better than getting on a plane.
I did all the travel arrangements myself. Most of the hotels we stayed at were in the city center
We got to Seville early that morning, like 9am, and were able to drop our luggage off at the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Casa 1800. It was a few steps from the cathedral and Real Alcazar. We spent two nights here, and had two full days to tour the city.
We rented the car in Seville and drove to Cadiz (short drive maybe 2 hours), and spent day and the night in Cadiz at the Soho Boutique. Really doesn't matter where you stay in Cadiz as it's a small town and everythign is walkable. You can'[t even get your car to most of the places in the town and have to park just on the outskirts of it and then walk to the hotel with your luggage.
We left Cadiz the next morning and got to Tarifa early in the morning and spent the morning on the beach and ate lunch there, walked around a little bit, and then left and headed to Gibraltar. Got to Gibraltar, went up the trolly to the top of the rock, walked around, played with the monkeys, enjoyed the views and the cool ocean breeze and then went back down and walked around the town a bit. Then we left Gibraltar and drove to Marbella to spend the night at the Hotel Benalma.
didn't do anything in Marbella and left the next morning and went to Malaga and toured the city that morning, then left around lunch time to go to Setenil, walked around there for a little while and then left for Ronda and got there around 6pm. Made a reservation at a restaraunt with a view of the sunset ,which you saw in the pictures. Stayed at the Parador de Ronda that night.
Next morning we took our time and toured around the city of Ronda, very hilly, and then we headed back to Seville and spent the night there at a Hilton using points. Took the train from Seville to Madrid and flew out of Madrid back home. Its was actually easier, and a lot cheaper to take the train to Madrid than fly to Madrid. There's lot of early morning trains to go big city to big city, and it's probably faster than all the time it takes going through an airport and what not. You can show up at the train station 10-15 minutes before it leaves and have plenty of time. Deesn't matter how much luggage you have.
all in all, minus the time we spent in Portugal, 2 nights in Seville, 1 in Cadiz, Marbella, Ronda, and then 1 last one in Seville. We saw plenty in 6 nights in Spain. Lisbon/Sintra was our favorite part of the trip, and Ronda. We actually started in Porto for 1 night and Porto is a pretty awesome city on the river, but both Porto and Lisbon felt very touristy at times. Seville was big but it still felt like just Spain and didn't have as many obvious touristy crap areas like Porto and Lisbon did. Lisbon is a very diverse city, and a true international city. Highly recommend it.
Word of advice, find places to eat that are away from the common areas. If you are on a road that looks like a main travel (walk) way, go 2 streets off of it and find a whole in the wall place to eat at. Look at the menus before you sit down, and try new things. Best thing I ate over there was pork cheeks. So tender and flavorful. You can eat dinner for two with a bottle of wine for under 60 euros easily, and it be delicious and you'll be full. Lunch was 20-30 euros and i'd have 2 beers, wife would have a glass of wine and we'd order 4 or 5 tapas items. AND THERE"S NO TIPPING. it was glorious.
I did all the travel arrangements myself. Most of the hotels we stayed at were in the city center
We got to Seville early that morning, like 9am, and were able to drop our luggage off at the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Casa 1800. It was a few steps from the cathedral and Real Alcazar. We spent two nights here, and had two full days to tour the city.
We rented the car in Seville and drove to Cadiz (short drive maybe 2 hours), and spent day and the night in Cadiz at the Soho Boutique. Really doesn't matter where you stay in Cadiz as it's a small town and everythign is walkable. You can'[t even get your car to most of the places in the town and have to park just on the outskirts of it and then walk to the hotel with your luggage.
We left Cadiz the next morning and got to Tarifa early in the morning and spent the morning on the beach and ate lunch there, walked around a little bit, and then left and headed to Gibraltar. Got to Gibraltar, went up the trolly to the top of the rock, walked around, played with the monkeys, enjoyed the views and the cool ocean breeze and then went back down and walked around the town a bit. Then we left Gibraltar and drove to Marbella to spend the night at the Hotel Benalma.
didn't do anything in Marbella and left the next morning and went to Malaga and toured the city that morning, then left around lunch time to go to Setenil, walked around there for a little while and then left for Ronda and got there around 6pm. Made a reservation at a restaraunt with a view of the sunset ,which you saw in the pictures. Stayed at the Parador de Ronda that night.
Next morning we took our time and toured around the city of Ronda, very hilly, and then we headed back to Seville and spent the night there at a Hilton using points. Took the train from Seville to Madrid and flew out of Madrid back home. Its was actually easier, and a lot cheaper to take the train to Madrid than fly to Madrid. There's lot of early morning trains to go big city to big city, and it's probably faster than all the time it takes going through an airport and what not. You can show up at the train station 10-15 minutes before it leaves and have plenty of time. Deesn't matter how much luggage you have.
all in all, minus the time we spent in Portugal, 2 nights in Seville, 1 in Cadiz, Marbella, Ronda, and then 1 last one in Seville. We saw plenty in 6 nights in Spain. Lisbon/Sintra was our favorite part of the trip, and Ronda. We actually started in Porto for 1 night and Porto is a pretty awesome city on the river, but both Porto and Lisbon felt very touristy at times. Seville was big but it still felt like just Spain and didn't have as many obvious touristy crap areas like Porto and Lisbon did. Lisbon is a very diverse city, and a true international city. Highly recommend it.
Word of advice, find places to eat that are away from the common areas. If you are on a road that looks like a main travel (walk) way, go 2 streets off of it and find a whole in the wall place to eat at. Look at the menus before you sit down, and try new things. Best thing I ate over there was pork cheeks. So tender and flavorful. You can eat dinner for two with a bottle of wine for under 60 euros easily, and it be delicious and you'll be full. Lunch was 20-30 euros and i'd have 2 beers, wife would have a glass of wine and we'd order 4 or 5 tapas items. AND THERE"S NO TIPPING. it was glorious.
This post was edited on 7/16/25 at 2:17 pm
Posted on 7/16/25 at 2:20 pm to haikarate
We did 22 days in Spain.
Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, both sides of Mallorca, Barcelona and Toledo.
I do all the planning for our trips. I prefer to do my own research and bookings.
All hotels and one AirBnB. I'm done with AirBnB. Had a very bad experience when Covid hit and the owners in a few properties refused to issue refunds and credits. Now we stay at hotels exclusively. We like to be pampered when we travel.
Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, both sides of Mallorca, Barcelona and Toledo.
I do all the planning for our trips. I prefer to do my own research and bookings.
All hotels and one AirBnB. I'm done with AirBnB. Had a very bad experience when Covid hit and the owners in a few properties refused to issue refunds and credits. Now we stay at hotels exclusively. We like to be pampered when we travel.
This post was edited on 7/16/25 at 2:22 pm
Posted on 7/16/25 at 3:52 pm to haikarate
Flew into Lisbon and drove to Barcelona. Mostly in the south, though we did drive north to Madrid & Segovia. This was 26 years ago, but remains one of my favorite trips. The only problems we had were getting a reservation in Barcelona. Spent months calling/trying to find a place, when we finally figured out that they were hosting the European Football (Soccer) finials and a major auto show during the period we would be in town. Ended up staying north of the city, along the coast and taking the train into town each day. Wasn't too inconvenient. It was interesting riding subways/trains with all the Manchester United & Bayern Munich fans.
The other problem we had was when the Hotel in Toledo, confiscated our credit card (meaning cut in half at the request of our Credit Union). Wife was none too happy about that, but we did have backup.
The other problem we had was when the Hotel in Toledo, confiscated our credit card (meaning cut in half at the request of our Credit Union). Wife was none too happy about that, but we did have backup.
Posted on 7/17/25 at 2:53 am to haikarate
Malaga is beautiful. We also took a day trip to Gibraltar. The ferry to Tangier was cool and then we took the train to Casablanca. A day in Casablanca is more than enough. Merrikhsh is much more enjoyable .
Posted on 7/17/25 at 1:52 pm to haikarate
quote:
Gentlemen, how long did ya'll stay? I'm looking at 7-10 days
I'd do the 10 days. 7 is not long enough with those long flights. On our recent trip we stayed in Malaga for 2, Cordoba for 4, Seville for 5, and Marrakech for 5, then Malaga for 2 again.
Posted on 7/17/25 at 1:58 pm to parrotdr
Gentlemen, for those of you that stayed in hotels, what was the average cost and quality of the rooms?
Posted on 7/17/25 at 2:23 pm to haikarate
Just got back from Southern Spain. We rented an AirBnB about 45 minutes outside of Malaga. We rented a car in Malaga so we could take day trips from our base. We went to Granada, Cordoba, Ronda and several beach towns. All were great though Cordoba and Ronda were my favorite. It was a bit of a grind on me as the driver, as we typically left by 8am to beat the heat and then returned after dark. I got tired of the driving. We tried to do too much, but there was just so much to see. Maybe look into train service to avoid a lot of driving.
Posted on 7/17/25 at 8:11 pm to haikarate
Morocco is very easy to get around by electric railroad. Cheap and clean, fairly fast. No food, however, aboard.
We spent time in Marakech and Casablanca. Neat but I'm not dying to go back, but I probably will. I'd like te see Essourira and try the seafood, its' supposed to be spectacular.
We spent time in Marakech and Casablanca. Neat but I'm not dying to go back, but I probably will. I'd like te see Essourira and try the seafood, its' supposed to be spectacular.
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