Excursions

Get out and explore! Excursions are offered for most semester, year, and summer programs*. Semester students are typically offered between two to three excursions and summer study students are typically offered between one to two excursions. You'll receive a calendar of excursions during orientation; here are a few day and overnight excursions we've offered in the past.

Morocco

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Deepen your understanding of Granada’s Arabic legacy by exploring three northern Moroccan cities: Tangier, Tetouan, and Chefchaouen. You’ll take a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, where you’ll enjoy cous-cous at a women’s association, explore the souk (market) and old medina (old district), and ride camels. With a long, complex history, Tangier’s beauty and diverse culture has inspired artists and writers like Delacroix, Matisse, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, and Tangier native Mohamed Choukri. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city also served as a global center for espionage and smuggling.

Next, you’ll tour Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains. Founded by Moorish exiles from Spain, this city boasts blue-rinsed houses and buildings, a tradition left over from the Jewish population that once called Chefchaouen home.

Finally, we’ll visit the Martil Valley. Set among a string of orchards with the stunning Rif Mountains in the distance, you’ll find that the city of Tetouan deserves its reputation as a visual treasure. With its rich culture and history, Tetouan’s medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site that features a mix of mosques, shops, tanneries, and houses, all painted white with green doors and windows.

Seville

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Your visit to Seville starts at the Reales Alcazares, a palace built by Arabs in the 14th century. You’ll explore the Barrio de Santa Cruz, once a Jewish neighborhood, before touring Seville’s cathedral, the world’s third largest and (allegedly) the final resting place of Christopher Columbus. Spend your free time relaxing at the Parque de Maria Luisa and the Plaza de España, one of the city’s most popular spots, with its fountains and mini-canals filled with rowboats. Take a stroll to the bank of the Gualdalquivir River to see the Tower of Gold and La Maestranza, one of the oldest bullrings in the world.

Ronda

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Ronda is a pueblo blanco (whitewashed town) sitting on the Tajo de Ronda, a 500-foot-deep gorge that divides the town. Here you’ll find monuments from the Roman, Arab, and Christian periods, like the hammam (Arab baths built in the 13th century), the Puente Nuevo (a stunning bridge that connects the old and the new towns), and one of Spain’s oldest and most beautiful bullrings. Authors Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles spent time in Ronda and wrote about its beauty and traditions.

Cordoba

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Cordoba was the capital of the Islamic caliphate in the Middle Ages. Once Europe’s most populous city and the intellectual center of the Western world, Jews, Muslims, and Christians lived peacefully together in Cordoba, and many philosophers, scientists, and artists emerged from the city. An understanding of Cordoba's cultural background enriches your exploration of its monuments, like the world-famous mosque with a cathedral built in the middle, known for its breathtaking rows of arches and columns. Enjoy a walk through the maze-like streets of the old Jewish quarter, filled with balconies decorated with colorful flowers, whitewashed patios, artisans’ workshops, and a synagogue dating to 1315.