Southern Spain has two incredibly romantic cities: Granada, with its astonishing Alhambra Palace, and vivacious, fervent Sevilla, home of flamenco and corrida. You may hike between these cultural capitals through magnificent landscapes to tranquil villages with white houses, the amazing whitewashed villages of Andalucia, with their Iberian, Roman, and Moorish heritage. You may start at Las Alpujarras, hiking back in time among tiny villages of flat-roofed Moorish-style houses garlanded with roses and resembling their analogues in Morocco. Or you may set off to the Sierra de Grazalema Mountains, where impressive white villages include Grazalema, with its narrow paths and balconies abundant with flowers, and mountain-hovering Ronda, one of the most magnificent towns in the world, which is a prominent reminder of the multilayered history of southern Spain.

Granada / Las Alpujarras / Bubión
Start the journey from exploring Granada's renowned Alhambra Palace, one of Europe's most romantic monuments. This huge palace of the Nasrid kings is remarkable, with its hidden courtyards, fountains, and huge gates. Then set off to Las Alpujarras, a lovely region of mountain villages adhering to the southern side of the Sierra Nevada. Or head out for a day's hike riding the mules through the dramatic sceneries of the Poqueira Gorge, where almond, orange, and olive copses terrace the hillsides. An elaborate network of ancient artificial waterways brings precious water here and fills the atmosphere with the tender sound of bubbling springs. And then explore tiny Pampaneira, a town of flowers, fountains, and a pretty central square.

Ronda
Walk through seven Arab-style villages joined by narrow paths used since Roman times, and then set off for ancient Ronda. One of the most symbolic of Andalucia, Ronda may offer you an incredible perch on the top of the pointed mountain. The surrounding scenery is perfect, rural, and exceptionally tempting for walking. Hiking you may stroll through an marvlous scenery to the Mozarabic chapel of La Virgen de la Cabeza or visit Ronda's Roman theater, Moorish palace, and 18th century Spain's first bullring (plaza de toros).

Sierra de Grazalema
Sierra de Grazalema National Park, a Biosphere Reserve, is scenery of magnificent cork oak and ancient fir trees that gives refuge to some of Spain's rarest flora and fauna. Here you also can find about a dozen of Spain's most stunning traditional villages. From the serene "white village" of Benaojan, separated among stony pastures and high mountains, you may hike through odorous trails, stroll through remote woodlands, and travel along the Rio Guadiaro through a beautiful canyon of white limestone. And then spend nights in Grazalema, with its red-tile roofs, whitewashed walls, and old town square. It is one of the most striking of Spain's white-colored settlements and headquarters for Sierra de Grazalema National Park.

Sevilla / Flamenco
The elegant Andalucian capital is Spain's fervent city of flamenco and corrida, of artists and poets, of jasmine gardens and Moorish monuments. Enjoy the small, beautiful squares (plazas) and narrow streets and savor a cheerful flamenco show in the maze-like Barrio Santa Cruz. Sevilla is the best place in the world to experience flamenco.