Andalucía
Eight hundred miles of white villages, three cities that would each carry a country on their own, and a coastline that goes from sublime to unspeakable in about forty minutes of driving. Knowing which is which is the whole game.
Hotels reviewed here
Anantara Villa Padierna: a Tuscan palace above Marbella, and the finest gardens on this coast
An Italianate palace ten minutes inland from Marbella, with formal gardens worth the trip on their own, a Roman pool, and staff who are the reason you would go back.
Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza: a Seville courtyard house you will get lost finding
An eighteenth century corral de vecinos behind the Santa Catalina church, forty one rooms around cobbled courtyards, and a plunge pool on the roof that solves a Seville August.
Hotel Tarifa Lances: the pool, the strait, and the best dusk in Cadiz province
A hundred and five rooms on Los Lances beach, newly under the Radisson Individuals badge, with a terrace that looks across to Morocco and a rate that still belongs to the old Tarifa.
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The paradores of Andalucia, and how to pick the ones worth the detour
Spain runs ninety-odd hotels in castles, monasteries and Renaissance palaces, at an average of about £112 a night. Five in Andalucia worth going out of your way for, including a UNESCO palace at €104 and a convent inside the Alhambra walls.
The best beach clubs in Marbella, and which day each one is for
Five clubs on the same stretch of coast doing entirely different things: La Cabane, Nikki Beach, Puente Romano, Bono Beach, and La Plage Casanis, which Off-White has taken over for the season.
Where to eat well in Malaga, and the one to book first
Six restaurants worth planning an evening around: Kaleja, La Cosmo, Jose Carlos Garcia, Palodu, Mi Nina Lola and Dynamit. Two of them are the same chef in different registers, one is a glass box in the middle of the port, and one is Norwegian.
The best time to visit Andalucia, month by month
Seville in August is a punishment and Seville in February costs eighty euros a night. What each month is actually like, what it costs, the dates that move every year, and why Malaga in December is worth a trip on its own.
Seville or Granada, if you only have time for one
The most common question about a first trip to Andalucia, and the answer is not the one people expect. Weather, eating, hills and what each city is actually for.
The best beaches in Cadiz, and the one to drive to
Two hundred kilometres of Atlantic that the package holiday never reached, because of the wind. Six beaches on the Costa de la Luz, and what each one is actually for.
Costa de la Luz or Costa del Sol, and what the wind decides
Ninety minutes apart and not the same holiday at all. One is the most developed coast in Spain, the other is protected dune and pine, and the difference is a wind that blows for four days at a time.
Where to stay in Seville, by the street you want to wake up on
Santa Cruz is beautiful and full. Alameda is where people actually eat. Triana is ten minutes further and a third cheaper. Five districts, and what each one costs you.
Five things to see in Málaga, and the order to see them in
Most people pass through Málaga on the way to somewhere worse. The city has quietly become the most interesting stop on this coast, and two days is enough to prove it.
The Alhambra deserves the fuss, and the booking system deserves the complaints
The most visited monument in Spain is also the one most people get wrong. What it actually is, why it survived, and the one mistake that ruins the day.