A Seville Weekend, Two Andalusia Day Trips
Two days from Seville covers exactly two day trips, no padding: Cordoba’s free Mezquita hour and Granada’s Alhambra, the two heaviest hitters in the region. Add a third day and Italica’s Roman ruins join the list; see the 3-day version or the full day-trip guide for the rest of what Seville can reach.
Book these before you go
- Book Granada’s Alhambra tickets the day your travel dates are fixed. Peak-season slots for the Nasrid Palaces sell out weeks to months ahead, not days.
- Check Seville hotel rates on Booking.com and look near Sevilla Santa Justa station, since both these day trips leave from there.
- Browse a Cordoba day tour on GetYourGuide if you would rather skip the early alarm, though the free Mezquita hour only rewards the DIY version.
| Day | Focus | Distance/time from Santa Justa | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Cordoba, the Mezquita | AVE ~40-45 min | ~18-50 euros incl. entry |
| Day 2 | Granada, the Alhambra | Train ~2h35-3h | ~50-76 euros incl. entry |
If you are flying in the same morning this itinerary starts, swap the order: do Granada first while you have a full night’s sleep behind you, and save Cordoba’s early alarm for day two once the jet lag has faded.
Day 1: Cordoba and the free hour at the Mezquita
Catch an early AVE from Sevilla Santa Justa; the roughly 140km run takes 40-45 minutes, with dozens of trains a day and fares from around 9-10 euros booked ahead, according to Renfe’s timetable . The reason to go early: the Mezquita-Catedral is free Monday through Saturday from 8:30 to 9:30am, no groups admitted, against a standard ticket of about 13 euros the rest of the day. Arrive by 8:15 to queue. It is the single best free-and-crowd-free move in the whole region. Spend what is left of the day in the Juderia and around the Roman bridge before the train back.
Day 2: Granada and the Alhambra
Granada sits about 250km out, roughly 2h35 to 3 hours by direct train. The Alhambra’s general ticket runs around 21 euros, 22.27 euros online with the booking fee, and comes with a mandatory timed slot for the Nasrid Palaces chosen at purchase. Book only through the official Patronato site ; resellers rank well in search and charge more for a ticket that sells out fine on its own. Missed the window? A guided Alhambra day trip from Seville usually holds a block of pre-reserved tickets as a fallback. Give the whole day to this one; it earns the travel time on its own.
Is two days enough to fit both Cordoba and Granada?
Barely, and only as two separate single-purpose days, never combined. Cordoba is a half-day trip stretched to a full one by the free morning hour; Granada eats 5-6 hours in transit alone. Trying to squeeze both into one day, or add a third stop to either day, is how this plan falls apart. Two full days, one destination each, is the honest minimum for this pairing.
Should Cordoba or Granada come first?
Cordoba first. It is shorter, cheaper, and has no fixed advance ticket riding on it, so if a delayed train or a slow Mezquita queue eats into your morning, you have lost less. Granada, with its timed Nasrid Palaces slot and its long round trip, deserves the day when your schedule still has slack, not the one right before you fly home.
Keep the Alhambra confirmation on your phone and a printed backup; the gate checks the exact timed slot, and a dead battery is a worse problem here than almost anywhere else in Andalusia.