Nestled in the northern foothills of the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains, Guadix is an excellent option should you be looking for a day trip from Granada or for somewhere a little off the beaten track to spend a few days. It’s one of my favourite places to visit in the province of Granada and, of course, it is one of the best locations to explore the famous cave houses of Granada. 

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Where is Gaudix

🚗 Guadix is a 40 minute drive from the city of Granada, & approximately 2 hours from Málaga. 

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🚌 It’s approximately a 1 hr bus journey on ALSA buses from Granada.

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🚂 It’s a 1hr45 minute scenic train ride from Granada.

→ Check all train timetables on the trainline site

👣 Take a tour from Granada to Guadix & the Geopark

Where can you stay in Guadix

The coolest option is to stay in one of the Guadix caves that have been converted into holiday homes. This way you really get the full Guadix experience. The following are my recommendations.

⭐️ Top Pick – Cuevas de Rolando

The Cuevas de Rolando are located just outside town in a very peaceful area. We stayed here and had an absolutely delightful time. The cave houses are basic but well equipped and the beds are extremely comfortable. There is a small pool and the highlight of these caves is watching sunset from the look out point on top of the caves. There is a BBQ available for each cave.

Note that it would be hard to stay here without a car.

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⭐️ Cueva de la Higuera

Staying in this cave house means staying right in the heart of the cave neighbourhood. This Guadix cave house offers modern furnishings while preserving the traditional cave atmosphere. There is a gorgeous terrace with a pool and BBQ for those balmy Andaluz evenings. Parking on site and an airport shuttle can be arranged.

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⭐️ Non-cave hotel – Habitaciones Las Termas

If cave houses don’t appeal, try Habitaciones Las Termas. Here you’ll feel as if you’re staying in a small 16th century palace. Right in the heart of the old town, with breakfast included, this is a great option if you enjoy outstanding service in a small hotel.

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🏨 If none of these hotels appeal to you, use my interactive accommodation map of Guadix to find something more to your liking

Getting around Guadix

The town is small but it almost feels like 2 distinct towns – the cave town and the old town. In reality it’s easy to see both in a day if you want to do so. 

🅿️ If you’re wanting to explore the old town there is free parking on the feria ground. By the cave district there is parking but it’s not obvious when you look at Google maps. We walked though the old town to get there and once we arrived we realised we could have parked there.

🚂 There is a small tourist train that runs between the old town and the cave area. It runs from outside the Visita Guadix tourist agency (Plaza de la Catedral) in the Old Town to the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Gracia in the Cave district. 

🚶🏽‍♂️It’s easy to walk around Guadix because it’s so small but be aware that in the summer it’s extremely hot (of course) so stick to walking in the shade and always carry water.

​Is Guadix better to visit for a day trip or as somewhere to stay?

This really depends on what you’re doing. I went with my kids and we stayed 2 nights in one of the cave houses. For us, it was the final stop on a road trip between Sevilla and Almería and so we loved having somewhere where there weren’t a million things to do and we could just relax and take it easy. The cave house experience, in my opinion, is well worth it.

​However, if you’re in Granada and are looking for an interesting day trip, this is absolutely 100% a great idea. 

What to do in Guadix

Guadix is one of Europe’s oldest settlements. The earliest surviving records show it as an important Roman colony named Acci, (the Romans were by no means the first to settle here), which morphed into Wadi Acci under the Moors (then Gaud Acci) and from here to Gaudix.

The city, like the rest of Granada, was under Muslim rule until it fell to the Catholic Monarchs in 1489.

Visit the Guadix Cave District

It pretty much goes without saying that you’re planning to visit here to see the Guadix caves. The small cave district is centred around the Plaza del Padre Poveda. Here you’ll find numerous cave houses built into the red clay hills.

‼️ In the whole province of Granada there are almost 12,000 cave houses. The total number of people living in caves has dropped from 46,000 in 1970 to fewer than 30,000 in the 21st century.

⏰ You can explore here in a just a few hours if you’re not planning to climb up into the hills above the town as I did.

⚠️ The cave dwellers of Guadix do not like to be called troglodytes, they are prefer ‘cave dwellers’, or “cuerveras” in Spanish. It’s important to remember this when you’re here and talking to people. 

Museum of Cave houses / Cave Interpretation Centre

💃🏻 The best way to get a feel for the culture and history is to begin with the cave museum. In this small museum a local cuevera will tell you about the origins of Guadix, the caves, how they’re made and why people continue to choose to live in cave dwellings in the 21st century. You can ask her any questions you like, just please be respectful of the local way of life. 

We found this small museum to be extremely interesting, most of all because we could ask questions about life in the caves town. 

Miradores

As you wander around the cave district (which is very small), you’ll see there are a couple of view points you can climb to look out over the cave houses with their white chimneys in one direction and into the old town in the other direction (above).

📍 If you want to find them on the map, they’re called, Mirador del Padre Poveda & Mirador del Cerro de la Barra. The photo above was taken from Mirador del Padre Poveda.

➕ My kids and I also wandered up into the hills above the cave area to see what was up there. We had a lovely hour or two exploring in the hills. 

Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Gracia

This church is located opposite the Cave Interpretation Centre – you can stick your head inside to see what it’s like. It was built in the 16th century and in the 18th century, a cave-oven was converted into the altar.

Old Town Guadix

​Similarly small, exploring the old town of Guadix won’t take long. If you’ve got the energy after spending a morning in the cave district, you could have lunch on the plaza here and then use your afternoon to slowly amble around the old town.

Alcazaba

Sadly, the Alcazaba of Guadix (an 11th century Moorish fortress) is not open to visitors at the moment as it is being restored. According to officials it will be open ‘soon’ but who knows what that actually means. It’s possible to walk around the outside of the walls but I wouldn’t say this was one of the best things we did in Guadix.

Cathedral & Cathedral tower 

The Guadix cathedral was built over the site of the Guadix mosque. It was constructed between the 16th and the 18th century. There is a museum to be visited in the cathedral and as far as I understand it, the cathedral tower can also be visited. 

Mirador de la Magdalena

​A mirador in the centre of old Guadix offering impressive views over the city.

Roman ruins

Just outside the old town you’ll find the remains of a Roman theatre. There’s not much to see and you can’t explore, only look at it from the outside. The Roman city was founded shortly before 27 BCE in the time of Tiberius. The theatre had space for around 4000 spectators.

Plaza la Constitución

🍨 On this small old town plaza you’ll find a couple of good options for restaurants, midday ice creams and the main tourist office (upstairs) above some more Roman ruins. The staff are very helpful in the tourist office.

Find the directors’ chairs 

🎬 There are a few directors’ chairs to be found in town (we only found 2), including one at the train station because a scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was apparently shot here. We also saw one by the cathedral and one on a viewpoint in the barrrio de las cuevas.

What else to do around Guadix

Badlands de Purullena & Miradores

If you have a car then a great option is to take a drive out to see the Badlands around Guadix. There are a few miradores in the Geopark. 

We went to the Mirador del fin del mundo, where there are actually three look out points. We drove to the first one and walked along to the other two. The views were absolutely out of this world gorgeous. The best help I can give when figuring out how to get to the viewpoints is to ask in the tourist information for actual directions. Google maps reviews made me scared to go it alone. They told me it was impossible in a normal car (it isn’t), that it isn’t safe (it is) etc etc. In the tourist office they told me it’s something locals do all the time and it’s perfectly possible, you just need to know where you’re going. So pick your mirador (another highly recommended one is the Mirador de Purullena) and ask for directions. 

👣 If the geopark lookout points interest you more than Guadix, it’s also possible to take a day trip in a 4×4 to see them from Granada

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Gorafe Megalithic Park Visitors’ Centre

In the stunningly beautiful national park there are over 240 Bronze Age dolmens, making it one of the most important parks in all of Europe in terms of catalogued dolmens. 30 of these dolmens are visitable. There’s also a visitors’ centre in Gorafe.

It was declared a World Geopark by UNESCO in 2020.

🚗 It’s possible to drive into the national park if you have your own car.

👣 Find a tour into the national park

Calahorra Castle

Just a 20 minute drive from Guadix is the small town of Calahorra, home to the famous Castillo de la Calahorra. It’s only open on Wednesdays and is only visitable if you contact the private owner (958677098). Even if you can’t get inside, the views of the castle are lovely and it’s nice enough to walk around the outside.

And of course, if you can’t get to Guadix, you could try the Mirador del las Cuevas in Granada where you’ll find a gorgeous little museum that does a good job explaining the cave dweller life and history as well as offering an incredible view point over to the Alhambra.

Where else should you visit in Andalucía?