"Andalucia" Top 5 Page for this destination Andalucía by Beach_dog

Andalucía Travel Guide: 12,358 reviews and 32,168 photos

Geography

Andalucia, one of Spain's largest autonomous regions is comprised of the Provinces of Huelva, Sevilla, Cordoba, Jaen, Granada, Almeria, Cadiz and Malaga. Its located in the far south of the Iberian peninsula.

Its a rugged mountainous region and contains Spains highest mountain range, the Sierra Nevada. The coast around Malaga, the 'Costa del Sol' is one of the most developed tourist areas in Europe, but to the west 'Costa de la Luz' and the east Costa Tropical and Costa Almeria are quiet and not so developed.

Andalucia's climate is varied, the summers are hot and dry, especially inland around Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba, in fact the region around Cordoba and Sevilla is known as the frying pan of Spain. Winter time inland can be dry and cold especially in the mountains and snow is not unusual, but the coasts are mild with many warm days. Andalucia.s desert regions are some of the driest areas of Europe.

History

Andalucia has been occupied by successive waves of peoples from the Paleolithic to the present. The Phoenecians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors and Christians have all left there mark in the region. The most significant culture were the Moors, a mixture of of Arab and Berber peoples from North Africa and Morocco, who arrived in 710 AD and stayed for over 7 centuries. In the 1490's they were finally conquered by the Christians from the North. They made a great impact on the region in the people, culture and architecture. After the conquest, artisans that stayed on working with the Christians developed the Modojar style of Architecture, a mixture of Arab and Christiam styles. Many examples can be seen in the regions older buildings, and many Moorish mosques and palaces were reused by the Christians.. Most notably the Mezquita (Mosque turned Cathedral) at Cordoba and the Alhambra Palaces at Granada, but examples can be found throughout Andalucia.

Culture

The people of Andalucia know how to celebrate, each town and city has its annual Feria, Fiesta or Romeria. These are normally held on the town Saints day or on other religious occassions, such as Christmas, New Year and Easter. The region is the home of Flamenco and Bullfighting. For the best Flamenco try Sevilla and Granada. Bullfights takes place normally during the ferias, but often take place at other times also.
The best Festivals include the Giant April Feria in Sevilla and Semana Santa celebrations at Malaga, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba and Jerez.
Nightlife in Andalucia starts late (from midnight) and oftenruns through to the morning, this is especially so during festivals.

Last visit to Andalucía: Nov 2003
Intro Updated May 24, 2004
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Reviews (36)

Medina Azahàra - Andalucia Things to Do (23)

under construction more travel advice

Mezquita mosque turned cathedral. - Andalucía

Cordoba - Andalucia Things to Do (23)

Cordoba, another of Andalucia´s special cities steeped with history. Founded by the Romans it later became one of the... more travel advice

Mountain view, Las Alpujarras. - Andalucía

Natural Parks in Granada Province. Off The Beaten Path (5)

Natural Parks... Sierra Nevada Sierra de Baza Sierra de Castril Sierra de Hu?tor Places of natural interest... Las... more travel advice

Natural Parks and Reserves in Jaen... Off The Beaten Path (5)

Natural Parks... Despe?aperros Sierra de Andujar Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas Sierra Magina Natural... more travel advice

Transportation (2)
See All Trains to and around Andalucia.
Hotels (1)
Bancotel
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Comments (21)

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Gillybob Nov 18, 2010 at 12:24 AM

meetings.virtualtourist.com/...
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Bwana_Brown Oct 4, 2008 at 4:01 PM

An excellent high level tour of some of the attractions Andalucia has to offer! Thanks for the beatuiful photos too.
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uglyscot Mar 29, 2006 at 5:27 AM

I wish I'd known of VT and your pages before I went to Andalucia- but then I was dependent on my old parents for moving around. Lovely area anyway.
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hotsauce28 Mar 2, 2006 at 2:05 PM

want me to sing to you?? i can sing really loud!! that'll keep you up.. oh, but you might have nightmares of neighbours killing cats.
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KiNyA Feb 24, 2006 at 2:37 PM

Andalucia... Damn this place looks so great. Hopefully I'll go there this summer... Very nice page with awsome photos!
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Rudolph Jan 26, 2006 at 8:57 AM

Thanks for your pages - we will have a look soon...
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alucas Jan 11, 2006 at 11:12 AM

Stace, a superb page with lots of good photos. Now added a few more places to my list to visit in May !
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irisbe Jun 22, 2005 at 9:05 AM

Stace this is an extraordinary page! Forget that lottery ! Some one should pay you for this... `-) btw that was an interesting tip about the hotelchecks. First time I hear about this one. Thanks for sharing!
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iandsmith Feb 19, 2005 at 4:39 AM

Amazing, Guadix and Antequera could almost be twins............Lovely pages otherwise! Back for another visit.
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nomada Jan 24, 2005 at 1:58 PM

Me encanta tu pagina. Como echo de menos Andalucia, lo conocido y lo mucho que falta por conocer... hasta pronto!