12/10/2026
Some regular clients of Achilleion Travel (and formerly Meadway Travel) have recently returned from a holiday in Seville, which they thoroughly enjoyed - here is a detailed description of their diary and some photos, which they are happy for me to share on Facebook.
If you would like a quote for a similar holiday to this, please email [email protected] or call me on 0118 3389383.
With thanks to Mr & Mrs McCreight:
Hello Alison,
Here is diary and some photos of our trip in September
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SIGHTSEEING AND REAL FLAMENCO IN ANDALUCIA : SEPTEMBER 2026
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This is a short diary for anyone interested in travelling to Andalucia in Spain, who likes flamenco and some of the places you can see .
My wife and I travelled to Andalucia for ten nights in 2026. The idea was to be based in Seville, in a hotel very near the station so that we could use that as a hub to visit Cordoba, Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz and any other places we could see, either by train or coach.
Also to see the sights and see some real flamenco. I love flamenco music and have listened to it for over fifty years. Seville, Jerez and Cadiz are the places where flamenco originated. You can see flamenco in Spain in either a tablaos flamenco (a choregraphed show with many dancers, sometimes with a meal - usually for tourists) ) or in a pena flamenco ( a private club,
but open to tourists, where the audience are mostly Spaniards and the venue is fairly small
and intimate.)
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For the flights and hotel we used the UK independent travel company ACHILLEION TRAVEL(0118 338 9383)
and recommend them highly. We have used them since 2010 for bespoke trips to Canada,USA and Costa Rica. They helped deciding on the hotel, and getting flights from and to London Heathrow and Seville that departed and arrived at reasonable hours in the day.
Useful information:
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1. As a foreign tourist you can buy a "tarjeta dorado" (golden card) which is similar to a senior rail card, at any main train station in Spain - just show your passport. You can get 10% to 20% off your
train tickets with that.
2. We used a company called Naturanda, at 12A Calle Rastro, Seville, to book a coach trip to Ronda and pueblos blanco (white towns). They were very efficient and organised.
Web site: https://naturanda.com/en/visits-and-excursions-in-seville/
3. Local taxi journeys quite cheap generally in towns (about 12 Euros) but we got bus (6 Euros ) into town from Seville airport.
So here is a brief summary of the holiday and things that might be of interest:
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DAY 1: SEVILLE. Based in Hotel Monteolivio, Calle Monteolivete. This is in a quiet residential street with plenty of restaurants and cafes nearbye. Also near a big supermarket and Burger King. It has a funky dining room and you can get a good basic self service breakfast. It also has a small outside pool with loungers and seats and a small bar inside. Most days we went to station for breakfast at the Deliquo cafe inside, as we had early starts most days. Station has plenty places to eat. Walking time from station into Seville centre is about 30 minutes - exactly why we booked a hotel near to it.
Temperatures in Seville were 30C plus most days when we were there. Today we just booked some journey tickets - the Renfe train
information centre system inside the station was interesting. You had to get a queue ticket from a machine depending on what information you wanted (in 5 languages) then wait and watch the overhead screen for your number to come up - THEN you could go to the specific assistant desk number and do what you needed to.
Just wandered round Seville a bit after that.
DAY 2: CORDOBA. Also our wedding anniversary! About an hour to Cordoba on train.About 20 minutes walk from the station into the city centre. We were going to visit Mezquita cathedral but had forgotten to book online for tickets and next slot was about 3pm but our train back was due at 4pm so will come back Thursday(DAY 5). Instead, we visited the cathedral outside and then did a short guided walk of Cordoba, which we found in the latest Lonely Planet Guide to Andalucia. The Spanish love their squares (plazas) and we stopped on the walk at Plaza de la Corredera. This is huge
and surrounded by cafes. Returned to Seville.
DAY 3: SEVILLE. We decided what our plan was for the week and booked all the tickets. Plan today is to go to Teatro Flamenco - a pena flamenca (flamenco club) at 6 Calle St Jorge in Triana district. You buy tickets online and it starts at 6pm most days and you must arrive on time. It is a very small 28 seater theatre with a small stage, located inside Triana Market. If you want to see real flamenco, this is one of the places to see it. In the meantime, temperature in Seville was about 34C, so we slowly walked into
cerntre of Seville, stopping for some cold water at Plaza de Espana. Then we made our way across the bridge and along the riverside to Calle Betis, a picturesque street in Triana district. We wandered around Triana market and had lunch there. Time flies and it was nearly 4pm so , as it was so hot we just decided to do
nothing until 6pm. We sat down outside the bar Casa Barrinche on the corner of Plaza del Altozano and had some b**rs until Teatro Flamenco opened. The flamenco was wonderful - just a guitarist, singer and dancer performing for an hour. Got a taxi back to hotel, as there is a taxi rank on the corner of Plaza del Altozano.
DAY 4: JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA. Jerez is famous for flamenco, sherry and horse riding. Got a train to Jerez, which took just over
an hour. Today we are going to see a show at the Royal Equestrian Horse School, so just got a taxi from the station as it is a good 30 minute walk. The school is huge and you can walk round the grounds and some buildings, see the outdoor arena
and maybe some horses exercising. The horse show was in the indoor arena and lasted for over an hour. The finale was great
with eight horses and riders in mesmerising, choreographed formations. Then visited Jerez cathedral and back to hotel.
For eating we went to Bar Carmella, just round corner from hotel in Calle Sinai- very good.
DAY 5. CADIZ: Cadiz one of the oldest inhabited cities, right on the west coast of Andalucia About three thousand years old, going back to time of the Phoenicians. Also another place where flamenco originated. Station is just ten minutes walk from the centre.
We visited the cathedral, where Manual de Falla, the Spanish composer, is buried in the crypt. After that walked to the sea front promenade and along to the mile long causeway called Las Piedras de Caleta. As we went through an archway, there was a white painted seaside restaurant called Pena Flamenca Juanita Villar. I looked inside to get menus and it had a small flamenco stage at one end. So this is another pena flamenca and apparently one of the oldest in Cadiz. Fresh sea food on the menu - I had fish and chips (four fish) and my wife had crab with rice. Then walked along the causeway that has the ruins of 14th century castle Castilla de San Sebastian at the end, and back again. Also nice beaches in Cadiz. I think we will return and stay in Cadiz some time in the future.
DAY 6: CORDOBA. We return to Cordoba to see inside Mezquita Cathedral. It is magnificent. Go and see it. Went to an Italian
restaurant away from the cathedral afterwards for lunch, then back to hotel later.
DAY 7: RONDA AND PUEBLOS BLANCOS COACH TRIP: Set off at 9:30am for the coach trip. First stop was to visit an olive oil farm, which was a short distance from the white town (pueblo blanco) up in the mountains called Zahandra de la Sierra. We stopped there for about thirty minutes and had time to visit the small church and views from the top of the town. We then visited the white town of Grazalema, where we had just over an hour and the views were stunning. The guide took us up a short hill to the La Merina restaurant, built into the side of a cliff - highly recommended .We got a seat at the back on the left by the window overlooking the countryside. It was wonderful and prices reasonable for two people.
Then on to Ronda where you get about two hours to wander. Visited the bullring and the bridge overlooking the gorge below Ronda.
DAY 8: SEVILLE. Having done all our excursions, our last two days are spent in Seville. We walked to the Casa de Pilatos,
which is an Andalucian palace like a classical Roman villa - ideal for walking around very slowly. For lunch we went to Taberna Alambique Alfalfa in Plaza de Alfalfa, where they had a great tapas selection. Then walked back very slowly to the hotel, stopping on the way at the bar on the corner Avenida Kansas for an ice cold b**r. Later, we went to another pena flamenco. This one is called
Pena Torres Flamenca Macarena and is one of the best known in Seville. Find it at 29 Calle Torrijiano. This is a tiny back street, not far from Macarena Cathedral. It opens at 8pm on the dot. It may or may not be busy depending on who is appearing, but get there
before 8pm anyway in case of queues. You pay for a ticket when you enter, it was only 10 Euros. The tickets have no seat numbers, there are are 180 seats and front rows are usually reserved already for members and/or guests of the club. To allocate your seat, put
your ticket or piece of clothing or bag on the seat you want. Everybody seems to respect that rule. Walking past the stage , turn left to get to the bar, that sells drinks and tapas. Then opposite the bar is an outside seating area where you can drink and wait for any
food order to be called. The performance may start at 9pm or later. Ours started at 9:30pm and lasted about forty minutes, then a fifteen minute break . Second performance finished at midnight! If you like flamenco it was wonderful, just a male and female singer with a guitarist and two palmeros (who clap out the flamenco rhythm) in both performances.
DAY 9: SEVILLE. The plan on our final day is a boat trip on the Guadalquivir river, and a visit to the Setas de Sevilla. For boat trips you go down to the river side at Torres de Dorada (the golden tower) which you really cannot miss. The big boats seem to berth just in front of the golden tower but we had booked with a different company that was further down the river just on the other side of the bridge Puente de San Telmo underpass - I think they were called Navega en Sevilla. They had an orange and white flag flying and the boats were smaller. The trip lasted an hour up and down the river and was very pleasant, with just a dozen people and the pilot and guide were friendly and multi lingual. You get one free drink, then 2 Euros for any extras. Just on the riverside beside the golden tower there is a replica of a 16th century cargo ship like Magellan the explorer sailed in on his travels. Finally we visited Setas de Sevilla ("mushrooms of Seville"). It is in Plaza de la Encarciones and is a huge twenty foot high surreal art installation that looks like six giant mushrooms and fills the entire square. You can go to the top and walk round it, or go right to the top , and it is lit up at night. Truly amazing.
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Photos: Pena Teatro Flamenca, Setas de Sevilla, Mezqita Cordoba, Pena Torres Flamena
