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Therese Monberg

@guide_andalucia

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Love Andalucia - and want to share all the beautiful places, walks and restaurants you maybe wouldn’t have found…😎🌴Situated in Estepona.🌞

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🇪🇸Every year in early September, Ronda comes alive for the Feria de Pedro Romero, one of Andalusia’s most beautiful and traditional fiestas. It’s a six-day celebration held each year in early September.

🕺🏻It is named after the legendary bullfighter Pedro Romero, who was born in Ronda in 1754.

🏟️This year was particularly special, as the historic Plaza de Toros (one of Spain’s oldest bullrings and the cradle of modern bullfighting) reopened after two years of restoration.

🐂Saturday is always bullfighting on horseback – followed by the famous Corrida Goyesca, where the bullfighters wear spectacular costumes inspired by the era of Goya.

🐎I do not like bull fighting so we went to see the horse carriages on Sunday - Concurso de Enganches - a beautiful display of traditional horse-drawn carriages and elegant equestrian teams.

🍽️This time we had lunch at Tragatá created by Benito Gómez, who is also behind the city’s two-Michelin-starred Bardal.❤️

#Ronda #FeriaDePedroRomero #CorridaGoyesca #Andalucia #tragatapas taken in Ronda, Andalucia, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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a month ago

🇵🇹🏩Hidden in the charming village of Melides, on Portugal’s unspoiled Alentejo coast, lies Vermelho Melides – Christian Louboutin’s first and only hotel (until now - we were told that at the end of the year he will open another hotel in the same area with 10 rooms overlooking the rice fields😊)
❤️The hotel opened in 2023, the intimate 13-room retreat reflects Louboutins passion for art, craftsmanship and design, with the signature Louboutin red woven throughout. Vermelho means “red” in Portuguese – a tribute to his iconic red soles.👠

We didn’t stay at the (very expensive!) hotel but we had lunch at Xtian the hotel’s restaurant which was very nice.
🏺You can buy the beautiful porcelain that they use in the Restaurant in a small shop in Melides but it’s only open at night.

🏘️The village Melides itself is a peaceful whitewashed village surrounded by pine forests, vineyards and some of Portugal’s most beautiful, untouched beaches – a place where time seems to slow down.🏖️

#VermelhoMelides #ChristianLouboutin #Melides #Alentejo #Portugal LuxuryTravel BoutiqueHotel XtianRestaurant DesignHotel TravelPortugal taken in Melides, Setubal, Portugal by @guide_andalucia

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3 months ago

🇪🇸🏰In the heart of the Sierra de Aracena Natural Park, Aracena is one of Andalusia’s charming white villages. Its history dates back to Roman and Moorish times, but the town is best known for its impressive 13th-century hilltop castle, built by the Knights of the Order of Santiago after the Christian Reconquest. From the castle, you’ll find breathtaking views over the green hills that make this region so unique.🌳🏞️

⛰️Hidden beneath the castle lies one of Spain’s most extraordinary natural wonders – Gruta de las Maravillas (The Cave of Wonders). Discovered in the late 19th century and opened to visitors in 1914, the cave is a magical world of crystal-clear underground lakes, spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, carved by nature over millions of years.
🎟️Buy tickets online (it also includes the Jamon museum, Geological museum and the castle. The visit is with a guide (in spanish only when we were there but they had problems with the internet so I think they normally have headphones with the speak in English)
🏩We stayed at Hotel Convento Aracena & Spa. The hotel is a restored 17th-century convent, that has a nice pool area and restaurant.

🍽️ We had a good local tapas lunch at Taberna Rincón de Juan.

#Aracena #GrutaDeLasMaravillas #Andalusia #SpainTravel #HiddenGems taken in Aracena, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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3 months ago

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🏘️I can really recommend a visit to Antequera - it is a beautiful and fascinating historic city.

🏛️After being a Roman city, it became an important Muslim city after the Moorish conquest of Spain in the 8th century.

⛪️In 1410 Antequera was captured by Christian forces. Many of the churches, convents and grand buildings that define the city today were built in the centuries that followed, earning Antequera the nickname “the Florence of Andalusia.”

👀
🏰I can recommend you to see the moorish Alcazaba fortress with amazing views. The Fortress guarded the route between Granada and Seville, making Antequera one of the most important frontier cities of Al-Andalus.

🏛️We also saw the fascinating Museo de la Ciudad de Antequera which is in a beautiful old building and that takes you through the story of the region through art.

🪦Just outside the city lie the remarkable UNESCO-listed dolmens (there are 3), including Dolmen de Menga — a massive stone tomb built over 5500 years ago, long before the Egyptian pyramids. (To avoid disappointment, check the opening hours when we were there, they were restoring the the Menga and it was closed.)

🏩We stayed in a small and very affordable hotel - Hotel Infante - that is in the old part of the city and has a small rooftop with a pool.
🏩If you like something more luxurious, I can also recommend the Amazing hotel Bobadilla Hideaway about 30 minutes drive.

🍽️We enjoyed A nice lunch at Bienmesabe Santa María with a view to the church and next to Alcazaba.

#Antequera #Andalusia #Spain #DolmenesDeAntequera #Alcazaba taken in Antequera, Andalucia, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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4 months ago

🇪🇸

🛘One of the most beautiful places that you can see in Andalusia is the nature park, El Torcal close to Antequera and Malaga.

🌊Over 150 million years ago the area El Torcal lay beneath a warm tropical sea.

🛘When the mountain ranges of Andalusia were formed, the ancient seabed was lifted thousands of metres above sea level. The limestone layers were compressed, folded and tilted upright. Over millions of years, rain, wind, frost weathering slowly eroded the rock along its natural cracks, creating the remarkable stacked “pancake” formations for which El Torcal is famous today.

🐚🦑Because the seabed was lifted, you can still find fossils of ancient sea creatures embedded in the rocks.

ℹ️There is a visitor center at the entrance of the park where you can learn more about the story of the area. There are two routes you can easily walk from the center.

❗️❗️We made a walk with an amazing Guide, Ricardo that was much longer than the normal routes and I can really recommend this if you’re okay with walking a little more in areas without any real paths. Find Ricardo here on instagram - richardandaluz.

🏩We were staying in Antequera - see my other post about this charming village.

#ElTorcal #Antequera #Andalusia #Fossils #guide taken in El Torcal de Antequera by @guide_andalucia

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4 months ago

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👀I have earlier posted about Vejer de la Frontera, a beautiful small village that has a rich historical and cultural heritage - one can still feel the Arab influence of its past.

🪕 On one of our trips we had a special experience with Marimantas Vejer, that helped us learn about Vejer and its history with a unique approach through music and performance, walking through the narrow streets of Vejer.

🎼Marimantas Vejer offers guided serenaded tours with a stroll through the streets of Vejer – and tell the story of the people who shaped the history of the town.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑Marimantas make group walks but as we were with friends we had our own tour and it was really amazing😊😊

🗣️The walk can be taken in Spanish, English, German, Italian and sign language.

#vejerdelafrontera #marimantasvejer#andalucia #spain #whitevillages taken in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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8 months ago

🏘️about Almeria.
On our trip around the Almeria area, we visited the city Almeria. Almería is a historic coastal city founded in the 10th century during Muslim rule. It developed into an important Mediterranean trading port.
Today, the city is known for its dry, sunny climate, its harbour, and the surrounding desert landscapes (see my other post about the Taberna desert).

What to see
👀 Overlooking the city is the large Alcazaba fortress.
🏰It’s one of the largest Moorish fortresses in Spain, even bigger in area than Alhambra’s defensive section.
👳‍♂️One of the rulers of Almeria in the 11th century was Jayran who began his life as a slave. He expanded and strengthened the fortress and turned the city into one of the richest taifa kingdoms of the time.
🤴🏼👸Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile captured Almería in 1489 and hereafter it was Christian ruled.
🎬Parts of the fortress have been used as a film location, including scenes from Game of Thrones.

👀you must go for a walk in the old town - Calle de las Tiendas.

👀 we would have liked to see the tunnels from the Spanish Civil War (refugio de la guerra civil), but it is closed at this moment - no information now about when it’s reopening.

👀 El Cable Inglés in Almería is a historic early‑20th‑century iron ore loading pier built by the British Mines and Railway Company to link trains directly with ships in the port. 🚢
It operated from 1904 until the 1970s and is now a pedestrian viewpoint over the Mediterranean.

🏨 Hotel
we stayed at a nice hotel in the old part of the city, Muruallas de Jayrán. It has a lovely courtyard and a small pool at the rooftop.

🍽️ to eat
lots of nice tapas restaurants. On many of them you get tapas for free when you order drinks. I can recommend El jurelico and Casa Puga.

#Almeria#MoorishFortress #Alcazaba#ElCableIngles#murallasdejayrán taken in Almería, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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8 months ago

🏜️After we went to Mojacar and the Mina Rica mine in Pulpi (see other posts about the area around Almeria) we went to see the only desert in mainland Europe, the Tabernas desert located just outside Almería.
🪨It’s very beautiful with dry riverbeds, and dramatic cliffs shaped over millions of years by erosion giving it a rugged, almost lunar appearance.
🎬The Desert has often been used as a filming location -it was a favorite spot for Spaghetti Westerns, and more recently, it has been used as a location for Game of Thrones.

🛻You cannot drive directly into most parts of the Tabernas Desert, as much of it is protected. However, there are marked trails where you can walk and there are also companies that are allowed to drive in. We went on a very nice tour in 4*4 with Malcaminos tours guided by Cristina.

🏰If you have time, you can also see The Castillo de Tabernas nearby that is a hilltop castle overlooking the desert. Built during the Moorish period, it was part of a network of defensive forts protecting the region. Today, the castle is mostly in ruins, but it offers spectacular panoramic views of the desert and mountains.

🍽️ We had a really nice meal close by at Los Albardinales Restaurante Museo. Los Albardinales is a blend of restaurant, olive oil museum, and working olive oil mill set in a 1920s olive mill.
🫒We tasted different kind of olive oils and you can purchase bottles of their award‑winning oil, as well as other local artisanal products.

#TabernasDesert #castillodetabernas #losalbardinales #OliveOilMuseum #HiddenSpain taken in Desierto De Tabernas by @guide_andalucia

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8 months ago

💎After a visit to Mojacar (see other post) we went to visit the former iron mine Mina Rica that is home to the breathtaking Geoda de Pulpí — a natural crystal chamber lined with enormous, transparent gypsum crystals.The cave is one of the largest geodes in the world you can actually walk into.
The visit is a guided tour and some of the tours are in English and some in Spanish.
📸You’re not allowed to take photos in the mine - if you want some photos you pay for it before you go into the mine. The guide will take some photos in the mine (maybe a little too many..😜)

🎟️It is very important that you buy tickets in advance online. It can be hard to get tickets if you don’t buy them a while before.

🏰If you have time while being in the area of Pulpi you can drive by the The San Juan de los Terreros fortress located in Pulpí. Tickets to the mine also gives access to the fortress where you find an exhibition about the crystal mine. There is a café with a scenic outlook.🌄

🏨 I struggled a bit finding nice hotels in the area - maybe because of the season (november). I ended up finding a really interesting and primitive place called Casa Rural Cortijo La Alberca about an hour away from Pulpi but close to the Taberna desert we were visiting next day. The Cortijo La Alberca is a charming countryside hostel near the small village Níjar. It is a traditional Andalusian cortijo, with a garden, and a pool overlooking the hills. 🏊🏻‍♂️
We were the only ones there and there’s absolutely no service and no food - neither breakfast nor dinner - but it might be different in high season. Price - low😜

🍽️We had dinner in the small village Nijar at the very local La parada which was actually really good and very cheap. When you ordered drinks the tapas on the menu was free😊🤑We heard that Tavern of the Market was supposed to be good, but it was closed. For breakfast Lorca 41. 🥐

👀Otherwise not much to see in Nijar but some nice handcraft and other things in the shops “Entre barro y pitas” and “Numero Once.”

#SanJuanDeLosTerreros #Pulpí #CostaDeAlmería #
GeodaDePulpi#CasaRural taken in San Juan de los Terreros - Pulpí - Almeria by @guide_andalucia

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8 months ago

The weather is very often better on the east side of Malaga around Almeria when it’s not so good on Costa del Sol. As it was raining a lot around Marbella in November we decided to go to the area around Almería and we began our trip in Mojacar.

🏘️Mojacar is a small picturesque white village. Its history stretches back over 4,000 years and it has beautiful views over the hillside.
The town is cute and worth a short visit, but also quite touristy.
I would really recommend a visit to a small museum called Museo Casa de la Canana.
It is set inside a traditional old village house and shows what everyday life was like in Mojácar in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 🏠The museum has its name from the lady who lived in the house - in the cellar she had chickens, goats, and pigs.🐖🐓🐐

🍽️Didn’t really find any place that we would recommend to eat. 😳But more places might be open in the season.

🏨We stayed a night in Cortijo El Sarmiento which is a small countryside hotel located just outside Mojácar in a rural setting overlooking the surrounding hills.
In car only 10 minutes to the beach as well as to Mojacar. There is a pool 🏊🏻‍♂️with a nice view and breakfast is very good👍🏼.(No dinner normally)

#Mojacar #AlmeriaSpain #HiddenSpain AuthenticSpain#Cortijo#casarural taken in Mojácar, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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8 months ago

🌊Another town worth visiting on Costa del Luz is Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
🏇Every summer in august there is a horse race on the beach - Carreras de caballos de Sanlúcar - that is very popular among the locals.
You can buy tickets or just see it on the beach but to see anything well it is advisable either to come early on the beach or to buy tickets.🎟️

👀 the town itself is very pretty and they are also a few sites to see.
There is Castillo de Santiago. 🏰Built in the 15th century by the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, it served both as a fortress and as a residence for the nobility. It is famous as the place where Queen Isabella the Catholic first saw the ocean, inspiring her later support for Columbus’s voyages.
It hosts exhibitions, cultural events such as medieval days and guided tours.Nice view from the tower. 🌅

❗️A nice surprise was the town hall - Ayuntamiento de Sanlúcar de Barrameda - it is located in the Palacio de Orleans-Borbón, a 19th-century palace built by the Dukes of Montpensier (a branch of the French royal family).
The architecture blends Neo-Mudéjar and Italian Renaissance styles. It has a beautiful garden with exotic plants- it feels almost like a small botanical garden. 🌸🌼⏰Nb - it is only open from 8.30-13.30 monday til friday.

🏨We stayed at a beautiful hotel Posada de Palacio.
It is set in an 18th-century palace, with Renaissance features mixed with Arab-Andalusian influences and has beautiful inner courtyards🌴🌳🌸 and a rooftop terrace.

🍽️We had dinner at a very nice restaurant - El Espejo - located in the same building as our hotel.

☕️A nice spot for breakfast or a light lunch is Lumiere outside the beautiful baroque church Iglesia de los Desamparados.
🍹A nice bar is Bar Juanita.

#SanlucarDeBarrameda #PosadadePalacio #CastillodeSantiago #PalaciodeOrleansBorbon #IglesiadelosDesamparados #Andalucia #CostaDeLaLuz #SpainTravel #HiddenGemsSpain #TravelSpain #SpanishCulture #DoñanaViews
#guide_andalucia
#costadelluz taken in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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a year ago

⭐️⭐️⭐️In a restored 19th-century tidal mill by the salt marshes in El Puerto de Santa María, we find the 3 Michelin star restaurant, Aponiente.

👨🏻‍🍳Aponiente was founded in 2007 by the visionary chef Ángel León, known as “El Chef del Mar” because his entire culinary career is devoted to the ocean.

👨🏻‍🍳🐟Leon is using only marine ingredients — even creating bread, sausages, and desserts from things that come from the sea.🌊

👨🏻‍🍳🌾Leon is working to make the ocean a sustainable food source for the future. He uses edible plankton, underused fish species and sea plants like eelgrass. 🌾🦀🦑🐡

✅Aponiente also earned Michelin’s inaugural Green Star for Sustainability, recognizing its eco-friendly practices.💚

❗️It was a very good and very interesting experience, but it is not for everyone. I can’t say I liked every single dish, but if you’re interested in very different and experimental food, it is definitely worth a visit!🥰

#Aponiente #ElChefDelMar #AngelLeon #MichelinStar #MichelinGuide #SustainableFood #FoodInnovation #SeaToTable #PlanktonBread #SeaRice #Eelgrass #GourmetFood #FineDining #Cádiz #SpainFood #OceanFlavors #MarineGastronomy #SeafoodLovers #Foodie#andalucía #elpuertodesantamaria Santa María taken in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain by @guide_andalucia

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a year ago