10 day trip to Southern Spain- any "hidden gems"?
 

Will be in Toledo, Granada, La Posada Del Torcal spa (in El Torcal National Park), Gibraltar and Seville in Mid-May. Any "gems" (unique restaurants, bars and cafes, historic battle sites, libraries, small towns, small theatres, etc.) to speak of that have not been reported on in this forum. Looking to experience "everyday Spain." Anything you can share would be most appreciated. Thank you kindly.

Try a few days in Cordoba! Mid May usaully consists of several local festivals (Patios, Cruces, La cata del vino). If you walk around the Jewish Quarter you will be surrounded with sights of ancient Rome, Islam, Catholic Spain. The taverns around the Mosque offer some outstanding dining and Flamenco shows.<BR><BR>Montilla in the province of Cordoba is wine country comparable to Jerez. The best part is no tourists to compete with and just north of Ronda.

If you like walking, the area of Grazalema and Zahara is terrific.

Cadiz, el Puerto de Santa Maria (where you may encounter el festival de la Primavera), Jerez de la frontera and Sanlucar de Barrameda; then, west of the Do&ntilde;ana, Palos de la frontera (from whence Columbus sailed on his first Voyage of Discovery) coastal Huelva to Matalasca&ntilde;as with a stop near Almonte at el Santuario de la Virgen del Rocio). There's a big Romeria there the week before Pentecost Sunday (8 Jun).

I know many would disagree, but one of the highlights of our recent trip to Spain (our first) was a day trip to Tangier in Morocco. The &quot;fast ferry&quot; (catamaran) leaves daily from Gibralter, and it is about a 1.5 hr. crossing. This &amp; other sites are full of horror stories about doing this, and reasons not to go, but if you go with a guide it is wonderful. (You may note a few positive messages from others on Fodors who went with Aziz, the same guide we went with.) We found him through Rick Steve's guide book. You can e-mail him ahead of time for info and to get a better feel about this option([email protected]). He charged us 35 euros per person for a group of three, and the tour included only us for a full day (10 am to 6:30 pm). He also does a shorter, walking &quot;market tour&quot; for I think 18 euros. (The ferry runs about 45 euros RT.) Anyway for &quot;unique&quot; this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We only visited Gibralter briefly, while departing and returning from Morocco, and chose not to go back to spend a day there, as originally planned. (We were staying near Marbella.) Feel free to e-mail me direct if you want more info. about this idea! Natalie ([email protected])

El Rocio, a settlement in the Huelva province about 1 1/2 hours south of Seville. Absolutely authentic. You'll be hard-pressed to find another tourist here, and on Sundays, this dirt-road town fills with families out on a picnic, singing Flamenco and drinking lots of cheap wine.

Not really hidden, but one of our favorite things in Spain was sitting at an outdoor cafe or tapas bar and watching the people and activity. In Granada, we saw a little boy, maybe 2 yrs old, who was &quot;attacked&quot; by a telephone receiver which fell off its cradle at phone booth. It was so funny, the boy wasn't hurt, and my sons talk about it whenever they are remembering our Spain trip.

In the old town in Granada, a restuarant called Pilar del Toro. There is an outside seating area upstairs and the food is excellent(though a bit pricey). Enjoy!

Check out La Carbonia while in Sevilla. A locals hang with informal flamenco singing and dancing with an openair patio. No cover charge. It's in or near the old Jewish quarter.