Why You Should NOT Visit These Cities in Andalucia In Summer!

Andalucia is one of the most popular summer destinations in Spain and even Europe. With sweeping beaches, cultural cities, and mouthwatering food, it’s totally understandable.

But some destinations in Andalucia are better left alone in the heat of the summer. Because they basically get too hot.

Seville and Cordoba cities top as the hottest cities in Spain with temperatures up to 50ºC and trust me, it’s really unbearable as the air becomes suffocating.

Unfortunately, I see so-called “travel experts” recommending tourists to travel to these and other cities I’ll mention below during the hottest summer months in July and August every day.

Look, you can go if you want to. But you deserve to know what you’re getting into.

That’s why I decided to write this article so that you can know how it REALLY is to travel to Andalucia’s hottest cities in summer and why I don’t recommend doing so.

There are so many other epic destinations in Andalucia you can visit in summer that are cooler and by the sea so you can go for a dip when it feels too hot.

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Cities NOT to Visit in Andalucia in summer

Seville

Seville is together with Cordoba the hottest city in Spain in summer with temperatures over 45ºC and sometimes even 50ºC. Not so surprisingly, the city has been nicknamed the Iberian Oven.

Due to heat waves from Africa and being completely landlocked, the heat gets suffocating. In my experience (and I used to live in Seville) the streets are empty in the daytime while the locals come out of their offices and homes after sunset to meet friends for cold drinks and tapas.

Seville is such a beautiful city and every summer, I get questions about what to do and see in Seville. My first question back is when are you planning to go to Seville?

If the answer is July or August, I’ll be honest and suggest other destinations. Because if you haven’t lived the heat in Seville in summer it’s hard to imagine it.

If you for some reason must visit Seville in this period of time, there are some wonderful beaches close to Seville at an hour+ drive and we also found a lovely lake you can swim in, Embalse Aznalcollar, under an hour away from the city which is fantastic if you have a car to get there.

Cordoba

Cordoba is just as unbearable as Seville in the summer. With some of the most incredible tourist attractions in Andalucia, Cordoba’s epic UNESCO sites are probably not worth the heat you’ll experience in summer.

Even tourist attractions close or have restricted opening hours from mid-July to the end of August due to the heat. You can forget about visiting the magnificent patios in Cordoba and other attractions are only open a few hours a day.

In fact, I visited Cordoba in May last year for the Patio Festival and it was already 30ºC+ and we struggled to walk around and enjoy the place without showering the dog and ourselves in every water fountain we came across.

But I have also spent August in Cordoba and surrounding towns like Priego de Cordoba, Rute, and Iznajar and it wasn’t exactly pleasant, though Iznajar Lake has a small beach where you can swim!

Close to Cordoba city, I also found a great lake for swimming, Embalse de la Breña, near Almodovar del Rio where we visited Almodovar del Rio Castle.

Granada

Granada is famous for the magnificent Moorish Alhambra complex at the foothills of Sierra Nevada National Park. It’s one of the most visited attractions in Spain with all the good reasons.

However, in the summer months, the temperatures climb up in the high 40’s (Celsius) and just as the other cities mentioned, it’s fully inland and the heat gets very heavy.

We spent some weeks in summer in the towns around Granada last summer and the only thing that saved us was the availability of cooling river hikes and waterfalls like Los Bolos and Baños de Urqizar in Dúrcal and the swimming holes of Los Cahorros de Monachil in Monachil.

These places are far from the city and can be done as day trips which doesn’t easy the sightseeing in Granada much. There are also some spectacular beaches in Granada province but you’ll have to travel an hour to the coast just like from Seville.

Jaen

Jaen is likely one of the most underrated cities in Andalucia and while I highly recommend visiting, I’d stay clear from mid-June to mid-September.

Temperatures in this period often hoover 40ºC+ and the air is usually very still making it a boiling pot. Jaen province is all inland but there are wonderful places with rivers, waterfalls, and swimming spots like Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park.

That said, these areas are best explored by car as the waterfalls and river hikes are spread across the natural park.

Avoid other places in these provinces too

The above cities are also the capitals of their provinces. Except from Granada, either of them have a coastline and in all honesty, I don’t recommend going anywhere in the provinces other than on Granada’s Costa Tropical.

The inland in Andalucia is absolutely scorching hot in summer and you’ll thank me later if you rather hang out on the coast where temperatures naturally are cooler and you can go swimming in the sea to break up the occasional days when it’s too hot.

Tips to avoid heat stroke when traveling in Andalucia

First of all, I’ll repeat. I don’t recommend visiting any of these places in the summer. There are plenty of other places you can go to instead.

However, if you must pass through any of these cities in the summer because you have a layover or it’s your only opportunity to visit, so you want to go for a day anyway, there are a few things you can do to stay safe.

If you feel any signs of heat stroke like dizziness, heavy breathing, or nausea, call the emergency number 112 directly and explain the situation and where you are.

To prevent heat stroke, there are some precautions you can take, like minimizing alcohol, coffee, and tea, drinking plenty of water, and cooling down your neck, head, and body in water fountains throughout the day.

Here are some tips to get through the day in a hot city in the summer:

• drink plenty of water (bring a water bottle to fill up in water fountains, ask for a free glass of water in any bar or restaurant – they’re obliged to give it to you by law.)

• Cool down the neck, head, face, and other body parts with cold water from water fountains.

• Avoid being outside in the hottest hours in the middle of the day (midday to 5-6 PM), you can spend that time inside attractions like the Mosque-Cathedral or the Real Alcazar to stay cool or even relax at an airconditioned bar or restaurant.

• Drink as little as possible of diuretic drinks like alcohol, coffee, tea, coke, etc and swap it out with fresh fruit juices and smoothies instead. Fruit like watermelon and melon are also fantastic at holding onto liquids in your body on hot days!

• Avoid sunburn by staying in the shade as much as possible and using high-factor sunscreen (we all know how the body temperature rises when you get sunburned – and these cities are hot enough as they are!)

• Using light-colored and loose-fitting clothes helps a lot to ventilate the heat. I love clothes that dry quickly so I easily can wet both clothes and myself in water fountains throughout the day.

• Cover your head with a hat or a cap, preferably with UV protection.

Where to go instead

There are so many wonderful places to visit in Andalucia that are on the coast or have an abundance of water around which make for excellent summer destinations.

Here are some of my top picks:

• Malaga (plenty of culture and history, beaches, and cooler temperatures than other places in Andalcuia in the summer)
• Cadiz (oldest city in Spain and western Europe, plenty of history, culture, beaches, and surf)
• Marbella (charming old town, where the rich and famous hang out, and excellent beaches)
• Estepona (charming old town with colorful pot plants and a local feel, go swim at the beach or at the Roman thermal baths of Hedionda)
• Nerja (beautiful coastal town near one of the prettiest white villages in Andalucia, Frigiliana, some of the cleanest and clearest water in Andalucia with beautiful snorkeling and kayaking, prehistoric caves, and river hikes nearby)
• Benalmadena (plenty of things to do, coastal area and hillside white village, monumental castle, and a vibrant marina)
• Tarifa (best place to learn kite surfing, history, and laidback atmosphere)
• Almuñecar (history, culture, more local atmosphere than Costa del Sol, great beaches)
• Salobreña (hilltop castle, white village, epic beaches, and local atmosphere)

Reflections on places to avoid in Andalucia in summer

As you can tell, it gets extremely hot in some places in Andalcia in summer. Luckily, there’s so much more to the region that you can still explore cooler coastal areas for weeks to end and still get plenty of culture and history.

No matter what you choose to do, happy travels!