Did you know that some people in Andalucia, Spain live in caves? No, it’s not like the cave men of thousands of years ago. I mean people actually build their houses into the land like a cave. Several weekends ago, I spent a night in a Guadix cave house.
You can actually find houses like these on Airbnb. This one and this one look pretty cool. They are typically painted white inside. The idea is that they are super cold in the summer and super warm in the winter. My initial idea was to get a group of friends together and rent one of these. However when I was invited by friends who lived there, I thought “even better!” Chaz and Arielle are English teachers like me who got placed in the town of Guadix. They chose a cave house over a flat because why not? They were super gracious to invite us out there several weekends ago.
Where the heck is Guadix?
You might be scratching your head right now feeling like you thought you knew Spain better. It’s okay. Guadix is a town in the Granada province just an hour by bus outside of the city of Granada. Granada is both a city and a province in the southern Andalucia region. Andalucia is made up of eight provinces named after each of the largest cities (with the exception of Jerez in the Cadiz province).
It was super easy to get to Guadix from Granada. You simply go to the Granada bus station (you can take the Granada metro or several city buses that show up on Google Maps) and take an Alsa bus from there. You can buy your tickets online or at the bus station. Unless you have a lot of time, I would recommend online. Often there’s a line at the bus station kiosks. You can just show the driver your ticket on your phone.
Another option to get out there is Blablacar. Blablacar is a ridesharing app for your phone. People who are already driving from point a to point b list their journey. Then you can pay to ride in their car. I’ve take Blablacar millions of times to travel within Spain and other parts of Europe. I will note that if you do not speak Spanish, be sure your driver can speak English before booking with them. I speak fluent Spanish, so it honestly never crosses my mind when booking Blablacars in Spain. However not everyone in Spain speaks English, so it could be a problem if you don’t speak the language.
Our day
It was a nice Saturday morning. The weather was a tad cold but sunny. Myself and the other English teachers I work with gathered at the bus station. Nothing like a pack of guiris. If you’re not aware, guiri is the term Spaniards use for foreigners. It most often gets used for other white foreigners i.e. the British, Americans, Germans, etc. I honestly have mixed feelings about the word as it’s not always used in the nicest sense. In Spain the Christmas lottery is a big deal. Their original ad this past year was about how the guiris are moving to Spain and how every Spaniard needs to buy a lottery ticket so a guiri won’t win. It got taken down because I’m sure many people complained. It is true that foreigners with money are moving to the Spain (especially the coasts). However they’re just here to enjoy the sun as many are retired. They have no bad intentions. Okay … rant over.
So we boarded the back and rode out to Guadix. Our first order of business upon arrival was to eat some churros. If you’re not aware, churros are a common breakfast or snack food here in Spain. They’re these skinny, sweet sticks that you dip in chocolate and sprinkle sugar on top. Super yummy.
Then we headed out to the market. The market or mercadillo, as it is often called here in Spain, is a Saturday morning market where you can buy all kinds of stuff. Everything from food to candy to clothing to household goods. It’s fun to browse. I of course ended up with a dress. It was only 10 euros. I also almost ended up with some Adidas for 20 euros, but they didn’t have my size.
This is the dress I ended up buying. I’m wearing it here in Granada.
Wandering around the town of Guadix
The town of Guadix is a typical Southern Spanish town. That means it’s full of beautiful architecture and at least one cathedral.
These are some ancient Roman ruins.
And this statue is just a tad creepy …
Wandering around with me means we have to find at least one place for Insta photos. That day I was wearing my Zaful flannel dress with some chucks. Traveling in a dress can be so easy. You just add a pair of sneakers and you’re ready to go!
This sweater was such a great find. It’s so darn comfortable! It’s great if I’m just hanging out around the house or if I need a good sweater to put over a dress.
Outfit details
Dress (similar) Sweater earrings shoes
The Guadix cave house neighborhood
After some tapas and wandering around the city center of Guadix, we wandered up to the cave neighborhood. This is really where the adventure started. Above Guadix on the hill are tons of cave houses. After setting our stuff down inside their house, we went off for a walk to explore.
There is a part that has a mirador. This is basically an area with a view of everything.
There are several points of interest in this area. There’s a house that’s sort of like a cave museum right there. We opted to just go to the mirador as we were already staying in a cave. There’s a also a church right there.
The views were absolutely stunning. The sun was just starting to set, making the light extra beautiful.
Shots around the Guadix cave house
After exploring the town, we gathered in the living room. We ate guacamole, enjoyed beers and some folks were playing the guitar. They had many spaces for folks to crash if they wanted to.
Overall, I would say my weekend trip to Guadix was a success. Thank you to Chaz and Arielle for hosting all of us. You all had to put up with something like 15 people in your house. You were wonderful hosts!
Have you ever stayed in a cave house?
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