Spain and Portugal Explorer – Stunning Spain – Ronda and Seville

Welcome to my story style travel blog, featuring my adventure through Spain and Portugal in the summer of 2025.

You can read the blog in order, or about whichever destination intrigues you! Within my stories, I’ll offer some recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:

* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some areas

*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish

*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your Tour CEO be in charge

* And finally…the new people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this has equal importance with exploring new countries.

This time I used Expat Explore; the tour is called Spain and Portugal Explorer. It’s actually split into 2 parts….you could do either part, or do the whole thing so of course I did the whole thing! I’ll explain more about that along the way! This is my second time traveling with Expat, and their Eurpoean itineeriees are really awesome and not super expenisve. Also, transport is by coach bus which is nice because the buses offer air conditonong, comfy seats, WiFi and charging ports.

This afternoon we leave Granada and drive to Ronda, a jaw dropping place that is so cool it barely seems real! The town is dramatically split in two by a deep gorge called El Tajo. Connecting the two sides is the famous Puente Nuevo bridge, towering over the canyon with the river winding through the cliffs below.

We walk from the bus parking lot and past this gorgeous view

And then over to the bridge – looking down makes your knees tingle and wobble a bit. Haha.

For an amazing view of the bridge you can walk down to a viewpoint – but it’s quite a challenging hike to do in the heat. I at least make an effort, and then give up and go back so I guess the only thing I get out of this today is a bit of exercise. But luckily, there are some very fit and ambitious people on this tour, and here’s their view!

As I’m making my way back over the bridge I find another viewpoint on the other side, and it’s just as good so I’m satisfied.

I still have some time to kill so I decide to visit one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. Ronda is considered the birthplace of modern bullfighting and this was the first bullring constructed entirely from stone and with covered seating. Makes it much more bearable in the heat! The Romero family of Ronda provided over three genreations of bullfighters; Pedro was the most impressive having killed more than 5600 bulls in his career. The Ordonez family was also notable, with statues of 2 of them outside the entrance.

I take a few minutes to walk around the ring, but not for too long because that afternoon sun is HOT.

I climb up the fancy staircase and have a rest in seat #50(symbolic because I will be turning 50 in 3 days).

Fun Fact: Madonna shot the video to her song Take a Bow in this bullring with real life bullfighter Emilio Munoz. I watched the video, but I can’t tell it’s this specific bullring. Haha.

After I leave the building I find out there is a whole museum section that I have missed. Dammit! Since there isn’t much time left, I walk over to the building next door where there is a rooftop bar with amazing views of the bullring.

Back on the road, we roll into Seville and head to San Marco restaurant for an included dinner. It’s paella again, but this time the seafood version and it is amazing. Paired with a simple salad, a lemon sorbet for dessert and unlimited wine!!

We check into the hotel, AC Hotel Sevilla Forum. It’s one of the nicer hotels, with a large bar and dining area on the main floor.

And now we have a full day to explore Seville, the heart of Andalusia. Grand cathedrals, Moorish palaces and sun soaked plazas are waiting to be discovered, along with the rhythm of the flamenco….Seville is the birthplace of this powerful and artistic dance style. We start the day at the Plaza de Espana, a monumental square that was originally built as a pavilion for an expo in 1929.

It is honestly amazing; a mix of architecture styles in red brick and decorated in ceramics. It’s a semi circle, with a central open space separated by a canal and 4 ornate bridges.

I seriously love it. Around the plaza are tiled alcoves that represent different provinces. I go around and try to snap a photo of all the places we are visiting…I find 8!

Our guide takes us through more parks

and for a stroll in the Jewish Quarter, finally ending up in the Plaza del Triunfo where we have some free time. I have some time to explore the Archive of the Indies, which houses materials documenting the Spanish Empire in the Americas and Asia.

It’s free to have a look around inside, and all of the documents are on display

And it has a beautiful courtyard

Fun Fact: The archive has 9 kilometres of shelving, with 43,000 volumes and 80 million pages, Wow! And since it is a research library, it’s in the process of being digitized and available online.

I have time for a quick lunch, so I stroll past many of the tapas bars along a street connected to the plaza, and I see a few of my friends so I join them at Casa Funes for a bowl of gazpacho and a glass of orange wine.

This afternoon we could choose free time or a guided tour of the Alcazar and Cathedral, so I choose the tour. We start at the Real Alcazar of Seville, a royal palace complex that was originally a Moorish fort.

Like so many other buildings in Southern Spain, it is a blend of many architectural styles.

It has been a residence for Spanish monarchs, and remains an active palace today. It is beautiful inside; it’s also been a filming location for Game of Thrones.

The gardens in the back are gorgeous, but I stay mostly in the shade because it is a HOT one today.

Seville regularly has temperatures of 40 degrees in the summer, and it feels very close to that!

And now onto the monumental Gothic cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world.

Known as Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, the builders’ intention was to create a church so magnificent that people will think they’d gone mad….and they certainly did. Inside are 80 chapels, and it houses the remains of Christopher Columbus. Here are some cool shots from inside.

One cool story about this painting, the Vision de San Antonio painted by Murillo. In 1874, thieves cut out the central portion of the painting; the portion featuring Saint Anthony. A year later, someone tried to sell the piece to an art dealer in New York. The guy was suspicious, so he returned it and the painting was restored. You will notice a dark circular mark around the saint, which shows where it was reattached !

After exploring the interior, I decide to climb the Giralda Tower , which was originally a minaret and has been converted into a bell tower.

A perfect example of Islamic and Christian heritage melded together. It’s pretty high, but the way to up to the top is spiral ramps, which makes it so much easier. There are 35 ramps, and on the wall of each one is the number of the ramp, so you know how far it is to the top. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Haha.

It has 24 bells, including one that weighs 1.5 tons!! The views from up top are pretty cool too!

This tower is a true icon of Seville.

Tonight, we are going out for dinner and a show. Everyone gets dressed up…

But we’re not going to just any show…..Seville is one of the true birthplaces of Flamenco…it’s not something you just watch…it’s something you feel. We arrive at El Palacio Andaluz, and are ushered to our seats to start dinner. Tonight’s dinner is a salad, stewed pork, dessert and unlimited wine and sangria(within reason haha).

When I picture flamenco, it’s usually women dancing, but this show is centered more around the men…and they are AMAZING!! The show consists of singing, dancing, and guitar; it is raw and emotional.

The women move with power, sensuality and elegance -using their dresses as part of the dance as their heels strike the floor with the rhythm of the guitar.

Their arms carve circles through the air, often holding fans or playing castanets.

The men stomp the floor in thunderous rhythms, with a swagger and precision…claiming our attention with their strength and emotion.

The show is fantastic, and definitely a must-do when in Spain.

After the show, we take our time in leaving, taking photos and some of the dancers also come out for photos. I don’t catch any of them, but on my way out I luckily run into the hottest and best dancer of the show and I have a little fan girl moment and snap a pic with him.