37.30° N · 3.14° W
More than two thousand inhabited caves surround the cathedral of Guadix. You can walk through them, visit them inside and sleep in them, at 18 or 20 degrees all year.
Part of Unusual places to stay in Spain
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
A free hour-and-a-half walk through Guadix's troglodyte quarter, among white chimneys, the cave church of the Ermita Nueva and the Padre Poveda and La Bala viewpoints.
An original cave house of the quarter, inhabited until 1980, turned into a municipal museum on how caves were dug and lived in. 45 minutes.
Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque cathedral built between 1492 and the 18th century, with videomapping on La Piedad and a climb up the tower. An hour and a half.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
In spring and autumn, with mild days for the cave quarter and Gorafe. In summer the caves stay cool, but outside it is hot at midday. In winter the nights are cold and Sierra Nevada is usually snow-capped.
Where to stay
Why we like it: Cave houses for one to eight people in the San Torcuato district of Guadix, a few minutes' walk from the cathedral, with a kitchen, summer pool and restaurant.
Why we like it: Nineteen caves in Alcudia de Guadix, 13 minutes from Guadix, with views of Sierra Nevada, a fireplace, kitchen, pool and a cave restaurant.
Why we like it: Eight cave houses among poplar groves in El Bejarín, 20 minutes from Guadix, with their own porch, a pool and Arab baths on the same site.
Services for this trip
Areas, for any way of travelling
| Area | Who it's for | Average night |
|---|---|---|
| Guadix centre | Dinner on foot, cathedral next door | |
| Cave quarter | Caves inside the city | |
| Alcudia and El Bejarín | Caves in the countryside, 15–20 min by car |
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: a board of local cheeses with a Guadix-region wine by the glass, and a dish from the menu of the day
What to order: the suckling lamb chops or the wood-fired pork ribs, with artichokes with anchovy alioli to start and fig tart for dessert
Map
Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
37.09° N · 3.40° W
By carCar-free
36.95° N · 3.36° W
By carOn footCar-free
37.91° N · 3.00° W
By carOn footLuxury
38.01° N · 3.37° W
By carLuxury
Tips
With the low sun, the hills turn red and the white chimneys stand out. At midday there is no shade.
It is €2 more and from the top you understand how the city is laid out before climbing to the caves.
La Calahorra and the Roman theatre can only be visited by reservation, and the theatre only on Sunday at 10:00.
The last published municipal timetable listed it as temporarily closed.
A winter Monday in a hurry. The interpretation centre closes on Mondays, La Calahorra only opens from Friday to Sunday and the Roman theatre on Sundays: in a single weekday afternoon you are left with the cathedral and the street.
Guadix lies in a basin north of Sierra Nevada, surrounded by clay hills that water and wind have cut into ridges and ravines. That clay can be dug and insulates against cold and heat. That is why, since the end of the 15th century, after the Castilian conquest, a good part of the city lives underground: the town council counts more than 2,000 inhabited cave homes, forming an arc around the old town and covering more ground than it does.
From the street you see only the whitewashed façade and, above it, the white chimney that ventilates each cave. Inside, the temperature stays between 18 and 20 degrees all year. The cave quarter can be walked on foot and for free, with two viewpoints, and at the Cuevas de Guadix Interpretation Centre you see what one was like inside. Below, the monumental city: the cathedral, begun in 1492, and the Alcazaba and the Roman theatre, remains of Roman Acci and Andalusi Wadi-As.
Quiet, dark and temperate. The clay cuts out the noise from outside and keeps the temperature: in July you sleep cool and in January you don't walk into a freezing house. Even so, the three caves we recommend have heating, and two of them a fireplace or wood stove. Natural light enters through the façade, so the rooms at the back barely get any. They are complete apartments, with bathroom, kitchen and living room inside, not hotel rooms.
There are two ways to do it. Within the city, the Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón put you about 500 metres from the cathedral, to have dinner in the centre and walk back. In the countryside, the Casas Cueva del Tío Tobas, in Alcudia de Guadix, have views of Sierra Nevada and a restaurant in a cave, and the Cuevas Hammam Abuelo José, in El Bejarín, add Arab baths in the same complex. All three accept dogs, with different conditions.
A day covers the cathedral in the morning and the cave quarter in the afternoon, with sunset from the Cerro de la Bala viewpoint. With two nights you can leave Guadix: the Gorafe dolmens and desert, about 35 minutes away, take a long half day, and the La Calahorra castle, with its Renaissance marble courtyard, opens Friday to Sunday with a free guided visit by reservation.
By car, Guadix is about 54 km from Granada along the A-92, about 50 minutes. There is also a train from Granada and Almería: the station is about 2 km from the centre. For Gorafe, La Calahorra and the caves in the countryside you need a car.
Questions
Yes. The streets and the Padre Poveda and Cerro de la Bala viewpoints are freely accessible. Only the interpretation centre charges admission.
No. The Guadix caves stay between 18 and 20 degrees all year, and the accommodation ones have heating.
They are private homes. To see one from the inside, go to the Cuevas de Guadix Interpretation Centre or the cave church of the Ermita Nueva, or sleep in one.
In November 2026, from €69 in Guadix for one person, from €80 in El Bejarín and from €85 in Alcudia de Guadix for two, according to each accommodation's website.
Yes, by train from Granada or Almería, and the centre and the cave quarter are covered on foot. For Gorafe and La Calahorra you need a car.
The three we recommend accept them: Tío Tobas charges €10 a day, Abuelo José €30 for the first two days and €10 for the following ones, and Pedro Antonio does not publish conditions.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/andalusia/guadix
