Most journeys have a route; the Al Ándalus has a plot. Over seven days between Seville and Madrid, the train moves through a thousand years of caliphs, conquistadors and kings — and the specialists at Palace Tours, who arrange this journey season after season, never tire of narrating it. Here is the story, stop by stop.
Act one: Andalusia
Seville opens the tale with the Alcázar's fragrant courtyards and an evening of flamenco — our Seville guide sets the scene. Córdoba follows with the Mezquita, that forest of striped arches with a cathedral grown in its heart (the full guide). Then Jerez pairs dancing horses with cellars of ancient sherry (we wrote about both), and Cádiz — Europe's oldest city — turns everything sea-silver.
Act two: Extremadura, the surprise
Few first-time guests expect Extremadura to steal scenes, yet it does: Mérida's Roman theatre still stages plays two millennia on, and Cáceres' medieval quarter is so intact that filmmakers use it as a time machine. Both are UNESCO-listed, both nearly tourist-free.
Act three: the road to Madrid
Toledo gathers Christian, Muslim and Jewish Spain onto one granite hill — see the three-cultures guide — before Aranjuez's royal gardens hand the train its final flourish on the approach to Madrid.
The train runs both directions — Seville → Madrid and Madrid → Seville — with live departure dates on each page. Before you choose, read when to go and how booking through Palace Tours works.
