Granada, Córdoba, Seville or Málaga: choosing an Andalusian base

The short answer

Choose an Andalusian base by the monument whose ticket will shape your stay, because each of XTOUR's four Andalusian bases is built around a different one, run by a different body. Granada has the Alhambra and its timed Nasrid Palaces.[7] Seville has the Real Alcázar and the cathedral, which are two visits with two operators.[9][8] Córdoba has the Mosque-Cathedral, with Medina Azahara on its outskirts.[3][10] Málaga has the Alcazaba, the Castillo de Gibralfaro and the Roman Theatre, and is the base XTOUR lists the Caminito del Rey under, though the walkway itself is out in the province.[12][5]

XTOUR does not publish travel times between these cities and does not judge which can be seen on a day out from another. It has no routing data, and a straight line on a map is not a journey.

Four cities, four histories

Andalusia's official tourism site, run by the regional government's tourism company, gives each city a different history, and four dates set them apart. Córdoba, once the capital of Al-Andalus, was taken by Ferdinand III in 1236.[3] Seville followed in 1248.[1] Granada's Nasrid dynasty, founded in 1238, ruled until the Catholic Monarchs took the kingdom in 1492.[2] Málaga became part of that Nasrid kingdom at the end of the 13th century.[5]

Granada: the Alhambra

The Alhambra is run by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, which describes itself as the body responsible for protecting, administering and conserving the Alhambra and the Generalife. Its website also presents four Andalusi monuments in Granada, from El Bañuelo to the Palace of Dar al-Horra, which its ticket site sells with the Dobla de Oro.[7][6]

The Patronato's ticket site sets the terms a Granada stay is built around: it requires an original ID card or passport and asks for punctuality at the timed Nasrid Palaces. Its ticket types also include the Dobla de Oro, which adds the Andalusi monuments in the Albaicín.[7] How the palace slot works, the identity and children's rules, and the notices the site carries are covered in the Alhambra ticket guide.

Seville: two monuments, two operators

Andalusia's tourism site calls Seville the capital of Andalusia and lists among its monuments the Giralda and the cathedral, the Reales Alcázares, the Torre del Oro, the Archivo de Indias, the Barrio de Santa Cruz, the Plaza de España and Triana across the river.[1]

The Real Alcázar and the cathedral are separate visits with separate operators. The Real Alcázar's official website names the Patronato del Real Alcázar y Casa Consistorial de Sevilla, at the Patio de Banderas, and carries its own booking link.[8] The cathedral's website marks itself as the "Only Official Site" and sells its own tickets, including guided visits to the roofs. They are not unconnected: on 6 October 2026 the cathedral's news page carried the headline "The Cathedral makes progress with the Real Alcázar and the Archive of the Indies in security, heritage, and visitor management".[9] The guide to the Real Alcázar and the cathedral sets out what each visit is.

Córdoba: the Mosque-Cathedral, and Medina Azahara on the outskirts

Andalusia's tourism site says Córdoba was declared World Heritage in 1994 and names the Mosque, the Cathedral, the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, the Roman Bridge, the Calahorra Tower and the Jewish Quarter as its sights.[3] The Mosque-Cathedral is run by the cathedral chapter: its website says the building is "a temple and a monument" and that the chapter has been responsible for managing it since 1236. Its visitor reception centre is at the Patio de San Eulogio.[10]

Medina Azahara, the ruined palace-city, is not among the sights the tourism page lists in the city itself: the page places it on Córdoba's outskirts.[3] Wikidata records it as located in the municipality of Córdoba.[4] XTOUR's reading is that it is within Córdoba's municipality but away from the city centre a visitor stays in; XTOUR gives no route or travel time to it. The guides to visiting the Mosque-Cathedral and to its two histories cover the building itself.

Málaga: a city base, and a gorge in the province

Andalusia's tourism site puts the cathedral, the Castillo de Gibralfaro, the Alcazaba fortress and the Roman Theatre in Málaga's old centre, with the Plaza de la Merced, where the house in which Picasso was born stands, a little further up.[5] The Alcazaba and the Castillo de Gibralfaro have their own website, published by Málaga city council, with sections for timetables, prices and ticket sales.[11]

The Caminito del Rey is a different matter. Its official booking platform places the walkway in the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes Natural Park, in the centre of the province of Málaga, with its visitor reception centre at Puerto de las Atalayas.[12] It is in the province, not in the city. The platform also says tickets cannot be bought at the reception centre, only online or at the ticket office at the walkway's northern access, and that children under 8 cannot enter.[12]

The four bases side by side

XTOUR's reading of these sources is that the choice follows from which booking matters most to you. If it is the Nasrid Palaces slot, Granada is the city that slot is in. If it is the Real Alcázar and the cathedral, two visits each with its own operator, Seville. If it is the Mosque-Cathedral together with Medina Azahara, Córdoba. If it is the Caminito del Rey, Málaga is the city XTOUR lists it from. XTOUR does not rank the four.

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR does not publish prices, opening hours, travel times or ticket-release dates for any monument here; each operator sets them on its own site. It has no data on crowds, hotel prices or weather in these cities, and it does not say whether two of them fit into one trip of a given length.

For the cities themselves, see the Seville, Granada, Córdoba and Málaga destination pages, and the Spain travel guide.