On this post I will highlight the best things to se and the best things to visit in the beautiful city of Córdoba in only one day.
After spending a great time in Seville (see my posts of Seville Day 1 and Seville Day 2), it was time to move on. So, after breakfast we left Hotel Derby in the direction of Córdoba which is about 1:45 minutes away from Seville by car.
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The plan was to park the car and then go straight to Hotel Carpe Diem to leave our luggage. We could then walk to the Cathedral afterwards where we were going to meet our guide for a guided tour booked for 12:30.
However, the plan didn’t work out. Due to traffic, it took us longer to get to Córdoba than what we were expecting and once we arrived there our navigator took us to the wrong address for the car park. We had to find the correct address to continue, delaying our arrival considerably.
Once we arrived in Córdoba town centre where the car park was supposed to be, we could not find it.
We went around 3 times in circles and we simply could not find it. So, we saw another car park and just decided to park there instead, although it was further away from the hotel we were staying.
We entered this car park, but it was completely full, we could not find a single space to park the car. In the end we left and drove to the hotel where I asked for help from the staff.
They were very helpful and the lady at the reception came with us in the car and guided us to the car park that we were supposed to use on the first place. All these shenanigans delayed our arrival, and we missed the guided tour at 12:30.
Below is a map showing the places we visited or passed by in Córdoba:
Back at the Hotel Carpe Diem, it looked like they were overbooked, and they run out of double rooms, so they upgraded us to a family room. It was a bigger room with an extra two beds. We didn’t need it, but it was nice to have more space.
The hotel was good, and the staff was very nice. There was a little bar at the roof top where you could help yourself to drinks at the fridge and use the honesty box next to it or make a note and tell the receptionist on your way out what you have consumed. We thought it was a nice gesture from them.
The hotel didn’t have a breakfast room or dining room and didn’t serve breakfast/dinner, but there was a café close by, where we went to next morning.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CÓRDOBA
Córdoba is the capital of the province of Córdoba in Andalusia. It started as a Roman settlement and was taken over by the Visigoths and following the Muslim conquest, later become the Caliphate of Córdoba. In 1236 it became part of the Crown of Castile and the head of the Kingdom of Córdoba.
It is a beautiful city full of Moorish architecture, to include the Mosque-Cathedral. The historic centre has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1994.
VISITING CÓRDOBA
As we missed our guided tour, we went to the cathedral and bought another ticket at the door. Luckily at that time there was not a long queue to get in. We finally started the visit by ourselves of the beautiful Córdoba Cathedral.
The “Cathedral of Córdoba” real name is “Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption”, is a Roman Catholic diocese. Because originally it was a mosque, it is also known as the “Great Mosque of Córdoba”.
It started as a mosque in 785 by the Caliphate of Córdoba and was extended many times throughout the centuries. It became a cathedral in 1236 when the forces of Castile captured the area.
Like the Cathedral in Seville, the Islamic construction was maintained or remodelled such as the minaret that was converted into a bell tower.
It had modern restorations in the 19th century, it became an important monument of Islamic Architecture and one of Spain’s most important monuments that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984.
For a complete history of the Cathedral and its construction read this article on this LINK.
To enter the Cathedral, you need to cross the lovely courtyard full of orange trees similar to the one in Seville’s Cathedral. Within the courtyard you will find the ticket office and the entrance to the “Torre del Alminar” (The Bell Tower).
The cathedral is stunning with its marble pillars supporting brick arches from Roman and Visigothic ruins that were part of the mesquite. And there are a lot of them, it is a forest of pillars as far as you can see. Then in the 16th century an impressive Renaissance nave was built to make the mesquite-cathedral even more amazing.
Above, various photos inside the cathedral.
The mosque-cathedral is the top attraction to visit while in Córdoba and it is easy to see why. The mixture of religions and architecture is really impressive.
You can book a skip-the line guided tour of the cathedral that will last 1 and half hours via this link HERE or you can book an E-ticket with an optional Audio-guide HERE.
We were sorry that we missed our guided tour, as we felt we missed a lot of important information about the history of Córdoba, but just wandering around the building was enough to understand why this was one of the most important monuments of Moorish architecture.
Once we finished with the visit, we walked to the “Alcazar de los Reys Cristianos”, also known as “The Alcazar of Córdoba“, located nearby via the narrow roads of the old town. It is in the historic centre near the cathedral.
This was the residence of King Alfonso XI of Castile in 1328 and the architectural style is also of Mudejar inspiration. The building is very beautiful with important rooms to visit such as the “Hall of Mosaics”, “Courtyard of the Moriscos” and “Courtyard of the Women”.
The garden is luxurious and magnificent and exists on this site since the 10th century. It had been renewed many times and a major renovation happened in the middle of the 20th century.
Today it is a lovely garden full of different plants and trees adorned by pretty fountains and ponds.
A visit to the “Alcazar of Córdoba” is very enjoyable and should not be missed if time allows.
You can book a guided tour of the Alcazar HERE.
Alternatively, there is this guided tour of Córdoba that includes skip-the-line tickets to the Cathedral and the Alcazar as well as a tour of the Jewish Quarter.
The Royal Stables of Córdoba is next to the Alcazar and you can watch a combined horse/flamenco show by booking it HERE.
Once we left the Alcazar we stopped in a local bar for a drink and a piece of “tortilla” to keep us going until dinner time.
We continued our visit to Córdoba by visiting “Casa de Sefarad”, located in the Jewish quarter in a restored 14th century house very close to the synagogue.
Today the house is used as a museum, a cultural centre with a library and a shop where you can find many Jewish related objects, Jewish culture and information.
The exhibition rooms are located around a central courtyard which shows a pebble mosaic floor with the star of David in the centre with side walkways.
This is a very interesting visit where you can learn a lot about the Jewish culture that was part of Córdoba history.
Following on from there we walked just a little bit further and we arrived at “La Casa Andalusi” on Calle Judios.
This is a restored house that has been created to show the visitors how an Andalusian home would have looked like in the 12th century.
It is just gorgeous with its nicely decorated rooms and pretty garden with a water fountain. It is cool and an oasis of calm where you can only hear the sound of the water from the fountain.
Another visit worth taking while in Córdoba if you can. Check it out on the video at the Travelling Surveyor’s Instagram page HERE.
Various photos of Casa Andalusi below:
After that we walked to our hotel for a little nap before going out again in the evening for dinner. We managed to do a lot in an afternoon, and there was more we would have liked to see.
We would have loved to walk on the Roman Bridge, to visit Calahorra Tower, Plaza de la Corredera, Templo Romano and Plaza de las Tendillas, but we were a bit tired and needed some rest.
Dinner tonight was booked at “Bodegas Mezquita (céspedes)” in the historic town.
We booked dinner for 8 pm which is incredibly early for Spanish standards. We were the only ones at the restaurant at that time.
The restaurant looked quite nice and had good reviews, but again we didn’t like the food at all. It lacked the “finesse” on the presentation, and it looked like the food was just thrown on the plate without any thought. The taste was not good either, but the wine, this can never go wrong and was amazing.
We haven’t been very lucky on the restaurant choices on this Spanish trip. With so many lovely restaurants, we had been picking the wrong ones.
After dinner we walked through the historic centre and stopped in a bar for some more drinks to end up our night and visit to Córdoba.
Next day we would leave early to Granada, the land of my grandfather.
I hope this post helps you to plan your visit to Córdoba and gives you an idea of what can be done in Córdoba in one day.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Córdoba. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
THINGS TO DO
ATTRACTIONS
1 – Cathedral of Córdoba – ***
2 – Alcazar de los Reys Cristianos – ***
3 – The Royal Stables of Córdoba
4 – The Jewish Quarter – ***
5 – Casa de Sefarad – ***
6 – La Casa Andalusi – ***
7 – The Sinagogue
8 – Roman Bridge
9 – Calahorra Tower
10 – Plaza de la Corredera
11 – Templo Romano
12 – Plaza de las Tendillas
WHERE TO STAY
HOTELS
1 – Hotel Carpe Diem– 2* – £ – ***
2 – Hospes Palacio del Bailio – 5* – £££
3 – Eurostar Palace – 5* – £££
4 – Balcón de Córdoba – 4* – £££
5 – Hotel Madinat – 4* – £££
6 – Casa Sirfantas – 3* – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation just search and book via the widget below:
WHERE TO EAT
RESTAURANTS
1 – Bodegas Mezquita (céspedes) – * – ££
2 – Regadera - ££
3 – Casa Pepe de La Juderia – ££
4 – Noor – £££
5 – La Cucharra de San Lorenzo – ££
6 – GastroTaberna La Albahaca – ££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to Spain:
1 – Experiencing Gibraltar -Day 1
2 – Experiencing Gibraltar – Day 2
3 – Cádiz, The Jewel of Andalusia, Spain – How to spend Day 1
4 – Cádiz, The Jewel of Andalusia, Spain – How to spend Day 2
5 – How to Explore Jerez de la Frontera and Seville – Day 1
6 – Seville – Day 2
7 – Córdoba
8 – Granada – Day 1
9 – Granada – Day 2
10 – Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda
11 – Marbella
12 – Gibraltar – Day 3
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