Sierra de Aracena
A short trip from Seville off the beaten path
Originally published February 6, 2020. Updated November 2023
All images are courtesy of the Spain Less Traveled team, unless otherwise stated.
There is no doubt. There are some lovely day trips from Seville, which is a stop on most Andalucía Spain itineraries.
The entire region of Andalucía is such a beautiful, cultural, and historical part of Spain, and Seville is right in the center.
Ronda is beautiful but its narrow streets can barely handle all of the day-trippers. And then there is Carmona with its fabulous parador.
But I am here to give you another option for a unique day trip from Seville. This is for those who really want to experience pure Spain. Let me introduce you to the Sierra de Aracena. It can be done as a really long day trip from Seville (with a car), or even better, a few nights!
(And if you are looking for more tips for Andalucía off the beaten path, check out the Ultimate Andalucía Travel Guide.)
Less traveled towns in Spain to fuel your wanderlust
Located in Huelva province, which most visitors to Spain have not even heard of, the Sierra de Aracena is a picturesque area full of small whitewashed towns (like the more famous pueblos blancos). Distance hikers love walking from town to town.
While this can be a (long) day trip from Seville, I recommend spending a night or even a few nights to truly get to know the area. It’s a good detour on the way to or from Portugal too.
You will need a car for this.
And if you want to visit as daytrip from Seville, you will need a long day. Therefore June is a good time of year for this daytrip to take advantage of the daylight.
This also requires some patience for navigating precarious, curvy, narrow roads.
Some basic knowledge of Spanish (or Google translate) is also useful as very few in this area speak any English.
But you will be rewarded a part of Spain that is truly less traveled.
While the towns of the Sierra de Aracena do not offer big name attractions like the Alcázar, they offer you a chance to get a glimpse into real small town life in Spain. Driving on the Huelva Province’s rural route HU8212, it is hard to forget how close to the Portuguese border you really are. The limited radio stations in the area are shoddy signals from both Spain and Portugal. Some of these towns do not have any sort of data, not even 3G.
The town of Aracena is a great base, and also the best place to spend the night if you decide to make your visit to the Sierra de Aracena more than a day trip.
Other towns worth stopping are Linares de la Sierra, Almonaster la Real, Alájar, and Jabugo. But there are so many other possibilities.
You will be find with miradores, empty castles, bull rings you can freely walk on to, delicious local food (the area’s jámon is some of the best in all of Spain), and even a much smaller, uncrowded mezquita with many similarities to Córdoba’s.
And this area has some of Spain’s best hiking and fishing too!
So are you ready to explore the Sierra de Aracena?
Great!
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