ITINERARY: 9 Days in Spain / Gibraltar – Jewish & Kosher Trip Guide

Day 2 – Head South and Explore Cordoba, and Seville

We headed out early to the city’s main train station, Atocha, to grab a train south towards Seville. In under 2 hours, we arrived in Cordoba to spend the day exploring the old town and its Jewish roots. Across the street from the train station is the city’s bus terminal, which houses a number of lockers to store your luggage. This is at first come first serve, so this could be full during the busy season.

A short cab ride to the old city had us exploring the Jewish Quarter which is home to the Casa de Sefarad, a museum of Sephardic Jewish history in Spain and the region. (Sefard / Sefarad = Spain) There’s a lot to learn and explore in that museum about how Jews lived in the region and about the expulsion of Jews in 1492. Nearby is also the Sinogoga de Cordoba (synagogue) and a statue of Maimonides (the Rambam) who is famously from this town.

One place that should be avoided, if you are sensitive to it, is the Mezquita, which we had mistakenly thought was a former Muslim building and architecture, and while it is beautiful, the building is filled with numerous sarcophagi, Christian art, and crosses.

However, right behind the Mezquita is a beautiful Roman bridge we recommend walking across and a tower museum on the other end. There’s also a little park to enjoy on the water. From there, we hopped into an Uber back to the bus/train station to grab a late afternoon train to Seville.

Seville is Spain’s 4th largest city, the largest in Andalusia, and it feels truly cosmopolitan, aside from the lack of any meaningful Jewish life in town. One can definitely spend a lot of time in and around the city, or use it as a home base for Andalusian excursions. We settled into our Airbnb apartment and walked around the bustling shopping areas in town, picking up some fresh eggs and veggies to make our own kosher dinner in the apartment. At night, we walked through town to experience an evening performance of Flamenco music dancing, which was born in Seville. The show was about an hour+ and was appropriate for all ages.

Day 3 – Explore Seville, Drive South to Gibraltar

We took the day to walk around Seville, including its shopping areas, and view some architecture both modern and historic.

Early in the day, we headed to the Metropol Parasol. It’s the only modern landmark in Seville that stands out amongst the old buildings located in Seville. From the top, you can get a beautiful birdseye view of the city.

After enjoying our packed lunch and grabbing coffee at a local cafe, we walked over to the Royal Alcázar of Seville, a landmark Moorish royal palace with fountain-filled gardens, ornate arches & 16th-century tiles. We spent a few hours on the grounds, enjoying the gardens, and architecture, learning some history, and taking great family photos. If you have additional time, nearby is another beautiful landmark, the Plaza de España.

In the late afternoon, we headed with our luggage to the central train station to rent a car and drive south. We intended on spending Shabbat with the frum community of Gibraltar, which is only a 2+ hour drive south of Seville. We were recommended to not bring the car into Gibraltar as there is little to no parking in the tiny British-controlled peninsula. There are a few parking lots on the Spanish side of the border in the town of La Línea de la Concepción. You can pre-pay for parking here, and proceed to walk your luggage (make sure you have good luggage with wheels) across the border. You will need your passport handy to walk through the border control, which literally takes 3 minutes to walk through.