A week in Córdoba

[adviceatthislatestage]

Have a week in Cordoba booked for the first week in May, to coincide with the patio festival.

Am planning to visit the Mezquita and the Alcazar as well, but what else is a must see?

Also ideas for cafes in the main town, plus restaurants that'd be good to celebrate DHs birthday in? Nothing too fancy-I've not got a Michelin star budget.

Is there enough to see/do in Cordoba itself or should we head back to Seville for a day or two? Especially if we want to see some authentic flamenco. Or would Jerez be better for that?

I do have a guide book and I have also googled but would like insight from those who have actually been.

Many thanks

Two places we would have liked to have seen if we'd had more time in Cordoba were the Palacio de Viana www.palaciodeviana.com/en/ and Medina Azahara, the ruined Moorish city outside Cordoba - it looked fascinating! Website is www.medinaazahara.org/en/.

There is a paella restaurant called El Bandolero next to the Mezquita with a lovely courtyard. Traditional Andalucian food and a huge range of rice dishes (my kids adore paella!). Lots of tourists however (not surprisingly!) but still a good place for lunch.

Certainly you might not need a whole week for Cordoba. The nice thing about it is that it's very walkable so you can easily visit the Mezquita, the Alcazar and gardens and stroll around the Juderia district in a day.

I'm very envious of you going for the patio festival - it looks wonderful!

Have you thought about a trip to Ronda? It’s about 2.5 hours driving from Córdoba. Lovely place, with restaurants overlooking the gorge, and full of history. I think it’s my favourite place in Spain.

La Mezquita is amazing.

Check how far away Granada is - that's where the Alhambra is (a huge Moorish palace complex & garden) - definitely worth a day trip, tho tickets get booked up well in advance, so check that too!

You could do most of Córdoba in a day or two. La Tapería is just a minute or two from the mezquita and was the best food I've ever had anywhere and I've been in Spain for 20 years. Not expensive at all either.

Seville is about 1.5 to 2 hours from Córdoba and definitely worth a day trip, much more so than Jerez.

Granada is doable as well, but it'd be a very long day to do the Alhambra as a day trip from Cordoba as the Alhambra is humungous. Maybe one night there? But even if not possible, Granada is amazing.

I aslo second Ronda, fabulous place, although heavy rains in the winter damaged the arab baths and I don't know what the situation is now.

You can book Alhambra tickets online

I've been to El Bandolero too, lovely food.

Don't miss the synagogue in Cordoba, it's fascinating. The Palace gardens are lovely too.
If you go to Jerez, do a sherry tour, Bodegas Gonzalez has a good one and you can watch the dancing horses at the royal riding school or whatever it's called.

I thought Granada was more interesting that Seville, but I lived near Seville so could go there at weekends whereas we went to Granada for Semana Santa, which was incredible. Seville does have extraordinary tapas restaurants (as long as you're prepared to eat every part of pretty much any animal) and yes, you can find flamenco. Another thing that happens around May is the pilgrimage of El Rocio - not sure if it will coincide with your trip, but it was pretty spectacular when we lived in that part of the world. www.andalucia.com/festival/rocio.htm