The best of Spanish Baroque: Private day trip from Seville

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, Carmona occupies a hill above the Sevillan plain and carries the layers of every civilization that has claimed Andalusia, from Carthaginian walls to Moorish gates to Renaissance churches. What to see

• The Roman Necropolis, one of the largest and best-preserved outside Italy, with family tombs carved into the rock and a small museum of funerary objects
• The Alcazar de la Puerta de Sevilla, a fortress gateway built in layers by Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors, still standing where it has stood for two millennia
• The Plaza de San Fernando, a handsome Baroque square at the heart of the whitewashed old town What to do
• Climb the Puerta de Cordoba for panoramic views across the Sevillan plain
• Walk the Roman-era streets of the old town, where Baroque churches and whitewashed facades line every corner What to eat
• Pavia de bacalao (salt cod in batter) and local Montilla-Moriles wines at a traditional bar off the main square

Ecija earns its nickname, the 'City of Towers,' from the eleven Baroque church towers that puncture its skyline, each one a more elaborate exercise in azulejo tile, stucco, and stone than the last. What to see

• The skyline of towers, best seen from the edge of town before entering, eleven church belfries rising in a concentration of 18th-century Baroque ornament, unlike anywhere else in Spain
• The Plaza de Espana, a vast and elegant square lined with grand buildings, including the Palacio de Benameji, now a city museum with excellent Roman mosaic collections
• The Torre de la Iglesia de Santa Maria, the tallest of the towers, with a tiled exterior that covers every available surface in polychrome patterns What to do
• Walk between the towers on the town's old streets, comparing the Baroque excess of each; there is genuine one-upmanship between them
• Visit the Palacio de Benameji museum to see Roman mosaics found beneath the city What to eat
• Flamenquin cordobes (pork loin in breadcrumbs) and local olive oil on pan tostado

Founded as a ducal capital by the powerful Osuna family in the 16th century, Osuna is a Baroque and Renaissance jewel that few tourists from Seville ever reach, and its two great hilltop monuments reward the effort entirely. What to see

• The Colegiata church and ducal pantheon on the hilltop, where the Dukes of Osuna are buried in a spectacular 16th-century collegiate church with fine paintings and carved altarpieces; Game of Thrones fans will recognize the surrounding streets from the Meereen scenes
• The Universidad de Osuna (1548), one of the first universities in Andalusia; its Renaissance courtyard virtually unchanged since it was built
• The lower town's grid of Baroque mansions, convents, and churches, built when Osuna was one of the wealthiest noble seats in Spain What to do
• Climb to the Colegiata for the views across the Campina plain and the ducal tombs inside What to eat
• Mantecados, crumbly lard-and-cinnamon shortbreads made in Osuna bakeries since the 16th century; the best in Andalusia