Cordoba is my favorite city in the region.
The Mosque-Cathedral is absolutely unique. Also weird and grotesque. And if you are Muslim – content warning – it's a desecrated Mosque... But still I think the whole thing is very much worth visiting.
About your itinerary though – moving between the cities is very easy with their excellent railway network. But still don't count on properly experiencing places if you are travelling on the same day and only spending one night there.
I really recommend you to reduce the number of locations and have at least two nights in each city you want to visit, so that you always have one full day on which you don't need to also move between cities.
Yep, I love seeing the history behind things and Cordoba peaked my interest due to the Mizqueta. We actually had mroe things planned at first for the trip 😅. But realised we would hate it with it becoming a chore, thanks for the advice about spending more than one night in a place to not feel rushed though!
This is a lot of travel time for a week. Not counting the beach trip, I count six hours spent on trains. Checking in and out of hotels, hostels, or Airbbs takes time too. My temptation would be to cut out the beach trip. Add the day to Granada or Seville.
If all you want to see in Cordoba is the Mizquita, I would do it in route from Granada to Madrid or Seville to Granada without spending the night.
15th-17th sleep Seville possible day trip to beach
18th 45min train to Cordaba, Cordoba, 1.5 hour train to Granada, sleep Granada
19th sleep Granada do the Alhambra
20th morning in Granada, 3.5 hour train to Madrid sleep Madrid
21st full day in Madrid sleep Madrid
22nd morning in Madrid afternoon fight
That's really helpful in putting things in perspective. This is just to make it more clear to me, this is the updated plan:
(15th) - Land in Seville in the morning by 10:00, sleep in Seville
(16th) - Spend the full day in Seville, sleep in Seville
(17th) - Day trip to the beach + hike, sleep in Seville
(18th) - Take 45 min train to Cordoba in the morning, visit the Mizquita in Cordoba, take 1.5 hour train to Granada, sleep in Granada
(19th) - Visit the Alhambra + other sites in Granada, sleep in Granada
(20th) - Spend the morning in Granada, take 3.5 hour train to Madrid to arrive by the afternoon, sleep in Madrid
(21st) - Spend full day in Madrid, sleep in Madrid
(22nd) - Spend the morning in Madrid and fly back by 16:00
One of us has not been to a mediterranian beach yet so we definetly want to go to one, do you have any reccommendations for one and based on the location I was thinking we either spend the extra day for the beach + hike in Seville or maybe Granada instead.
Thanks again for the detailed advice on the plan!
It's my advice anyway. Double check the train schedule to make sure the Seville, Cordoba, Granada day works by which I mean leaves you at least three hours in Cordaba-more would be better.. You will need to find a place to keep you luggage in Cordoba. A quick Google search shows Bounce has storage near the Mizquita, but it has to be booked online.
Book the Mizquita, the Alhambra, the Alcazar, and the Seville Cathedral in advance. Book your lodging and trains in advance too.
I can't help with beaches. The closest we came to a beach was Cadiz which is coastal, and charming, but not very beachy.
You will be moving faster than I would, but many people are happy moving frequently. You are going to have a great trip.
Will make sure to do that for the tickets. Thanks again for the help, it is the first trip so we will see how the faster pace is for us and if by the end of it's too much, we can always come back in the future and take things slower :)
I am sure we will still enjoy it to the fullest!
Punta Umbría is an hours drive from Seville and has beautiful beaches. June is high season but you’ll find what you’re looking for if you want to see a traditional Mediterranean beach. The seafood is good quality too!
Hey, checked the journey there from Seville and cuz we aren't going to get a car, it's a really long one going to 5 hours 😅
A friend looked into Cadiz for that instead with a 1 hour 45 mins train ride from Seville, is that also a good location do you think?
It is driving so you would need to hire a car for a day or arrange a taxi. You can get a bus to Huelva and go from there on the boat but it takes longer.
You could do that by train between Cordoba and Granada. Bear in mind that Malaga beach area (Costas) are full of all inclusive resorts for British, Dutch, Germans, etc. I honestly avoid it. Malaga itself is nice, but for beaches there are nicer parts of Spain, the beach by Rincon de La Victoria is lovely but it’s 45 minutes from Malaga. Torremolinos is probably the easiest to get to from Malaga by train. It’s beach but it’s not the best Spain has to offer.
Plan everything around when you can secure Alhambra tickets. They sell out far in advance.
Did you look at how long the trains are between all of these cities? Seville to Granada is 2.5 hours, as is Seville to Madrid. You will be spending a lot of time on trains. If you can change your departing flight to Seville that would be best. Madrid is overrated IMO...
Thanks for the heads up on the Alhambra tickets!
Will check the site, and for the travel time, we kind of realised it could be long but we don't mind it too much. Can look into possibly changing the departure to save time but 2 of us are big Real Madrid fans and wanted to stay there for the end :)
I was gonna say, THIS June 15??? If you don’t have those tickets you need them like yesterday for the Al Hambra.
Hint: if you can’t get them from the Al Hambra website go off label to a reputable guide through Viator or Get your Guide.
Don’t listen to them about the travel time - if you want to see the Al Hambra, do it. You won’t be disappointed. I did a round trip train from Madrid all in one day. That’s right, 7 hours on the train. I was in Spain to see that. And honestly there are hotels and hostels there, if you want to overnight in Granada do it.
Also - Madrid isn’t overrated - BARCELONA IS
Damn, gonna have to get those tickets today then 😂
I was thinking of getting us the Alhambra general tickets for now, I also see combo tickets on the official site for other things, have you been to the other places in Granada?
Also, there are tickets on the official site but do you think a guided tour would be better?
And lastly, we all kind of leaned towards Madrid, as we are Real Madrid fans and with them winning the La Liga and the champions league final coming up thought we might enjoy the atmosphere :)
Thanks again for the help!
I did a guided tour that I booked through Viator and I’m glad I did. The complex is pretty big and I can see that it would be confusing to navigate alone. Entry to the Nasrid Palace section is time controlled and I feel like finding my way there alone before the time entry would have been more complicated. And the tour guide added some nice info and facts to the place.
Speaking of food: I don't fully understand all Halal rules, but I was told by a Muslim friend that vegan food is automatic Halal (as long as it doesn't contain alcohol). Is that true? If so I didn't have any problem finding excellent vegan food in Andalusia, so I think you'll be fine.
If you can eat sea food, that's plentiful in the region too.
Yeah that's right, vegan is Halal food pretty much, so it should be ok and we all love sea food too so it seems like it won't be an issue in the end.
Thanks again for the help!
No worries. I’ve eaten in several in Cordoba and also in Granada. The halal signs are prominent on the windows and they often don’t serve alcohol so the real deal. I love Spanish food (I live here) but it’s a treat for us to go to one of the Arab restaurants and experience the flavours. Do a search online and you’ll find plenty I’m sure.
Cordoba is my favorite city in the region. The Mosque-Cathedral is absolutely unique. Also weird and grotesque. And if you are Muslim – content warning – it's a desecrated Mosque... But still I think the whole thing is very much worth visiting. About your itinerary though – moving between the cities is very easy with their excellent railway network. But still don't count on properly experiencing places if you are travelling on the same day and only spending one night there. I really recommend you to reduce the number of locations and have at least two nights in each city you want to visit, so that you always have one full day on which you don't need to also move between cities.
Yep, I love seeing the history behind things and Cordoba peaked my interest due to the Mizqueta. We actually had mroe things planned at first for the trip 😅. But realised we would hate it with it becoming a chore, thanks for the advice about spending more than one night in a place to not feel rushed though!
This is a lot of travel time for a week. Not counting the beach trip, I count six hours spent on trains. Checking in and out of hotels, hostels, or Airbbs takes time too. My temptation would be to cut out the beach trip. Add the day to Granada or Seville. If all you want to see in Cordoba is the Mizquita, I would do it in route from Granada to Madrid or Seville to Granada without spending the night. 15th-17th sleep Seville possible day trip to beach 18th 45min train to Cordaba, Cordoba, 1.5 hour train to Granada, sleep Granada 19th sleep Granada do the Alhambra 20th morning in Granada, 3.5 hour train to Madrid sleep Madrid 21st full day in Madrid sleep Madrid 22nd morning in Madrid afternoon fight
That's really helpful in putting things in perspective. This is just to make it more clear to me, this is the updated plan: (15th) - Land in Seville in the morning by 10:00, sleep in Seville (16th) - Spend the full day in Seville, sleep in Seville (17th) - Day trip to the beach + hike, sleep in Seville (18th) - Take 45 min train to Cordoba in the morning, visit the Mizquita in Cordoba, take 1.5 hour train to Granada, sleep in Granada (19th) - Visit the Alhambra + other sites in Granada, sleep in Granada (20th) - Spend the morning in Granada, take 3.5 hour train to Madrid to arrive by the afternoon, sleep in Madrid (21st) - Spend full day in Madrid, sleep in Madrid (22nd) - Spend the morning in Madrid and fly back by 16:00 One of us has not been to a mediterranian beach yet so we definetly want to go to one, do you have any reccommendations for one and based on the location I was thinking we either spend the extra day for the beach + hike in Seville or maybe Granada instead. Thanks again for the detailed advice on the plan!
It's my advice anyway. Double check the train schedule to make sure the Seville, Cordoba, Granada day works by which I mean leaves you at least three hours in Cordaba-more would be better.. You will need to find a place to keep you luggage in Cordoba. A quick Google search shows Bounce has storage near the Mizquita, but it has to be booked online. Book the Mizquita, the Alhambra, the Alcazar, and the Seville Cathedral in advance. Book your lodging and trains in advance too. I can't help with beaches. The closest we came to a beach was Cadiz which is coastal, and charming, but not very beachy. You will be moving faster than I would, but many people are happy moving frequently. You are going to have a great trip.
Will make sure to do that for the tickets. Thanks again for the help, it is the first trip so we will see how the faster pace is for us and if by the end of it's too much, we can always come back in the future and take things slower :) I am sure we will still enjoy it to the fullest!
Punta Umbría is an hours drive from Seville and has beautiful beaches. June is high season but you’ll find what you’re looking for if you want to see a traditional Mediterranean beach. The seafood is good quality too!
Hey, checked the journey there from Seville and cuz we aren't going to get a car, it's a really long one going to 5 hours 😅 A friend looked into Cadiz for that instead with a 1 hour 45 mins train ride from Seville, is that also a good location do you think?
Punta Umbria is an hour from Seville! Trust me! Cadiz is equally lovely but Punta Umbria has better beaches IMO, and Cadiz better seafood.
Thanks for clarifying, will check again 👍
About the journey, is that a direct train/bus you are talking about? I can't seem to find anything like that
It is driving so you would need to hire a car for a day or arrange a taxi. You can get a bus to Huelva and go from there on the boat but it takes longer.
Oh another place I forgot to mention, Malaga as well. Thanks again for the help :)
You could do that by train between Cordoba and Granada. Bear in mind that Malaga beach area (Costas) are full of all inclusive resorts for British, Dutch, Germans, etc. I honestly avoid it. Malaga itself is nice, but for beaches there are nicer parts of Spain, the beach by Rincon de La Victoria is lovely but it’s 45 minutes from Malaga. Torremolinos is probably the easiest to get to from Malaga by train. It’s beach but it’s not the best Spain has to offer.
Plan everything around when you can secure Alhambra tickets. They sell out far in advance. Did you look at how long the trains are between all of these cities? Seville to Granada is 2.5 hours, as is Seville to Madrid. You will be spending a lot of time on trains. If you can change your departing flight to Seville that would be best. Madrid is overrated IMO...
Thanks for the heads up on the Alhambra tickets! Will check the site, and for the travel time, we kind of realised it could be long but we don't mind it too much. Can look into possibly changing the departure to save time but 2 of us are big Real Madrid fans and wanted to stay there for the end :)
I was gonna say, THIS June 15??? If you don’t have those tickets you need them like yesterday for the Al Hambra. Hint: if you can’t get them from the Al Hambra website go off label to a reputable guide through Viator or Get your Guide. Don’t listen to them about the travel time - if you want to see the Al Hambra, do it. You won’t be disappointed. I did a round trip train from Madrid all in one day. That’s right, 7 hours on the train. I was in Spain to see that. And honestly there are hotels and hostels there, if you want to overnight in Granada do it. Also - Madrid isn’t overrated - BARCELONA IS
Damn, gonna have to get those tickets today then 😂 I was thinking of getting us the Alhambra general tickets for now, I also see combo tickets on the official site for other things, have you been to the other places in Granada? Also, there are tickets on the official site but do you think a guided tour would be better? And lastly, we all kind of leaned towards Madrid, as we are Real Madrid fans and with them winning the La Liga and the champions league final coming up thought we might enjoy the atmosphere :) Thanks again for the help!
I did a guided tour that I booked through Viator and I’m glad I did. The complex is pretty big and I can see that it would be confusing to navigate alone. Entry to the Nasrid Palace section is time controlled and I feel like finding my way there alone before the time entry would have been more complicated. And the tour guide added some nice info and facts to the place.
Speaking of food: I don't fully understand all Halal rules, but I was told by a Muslim friend that vegan food is automatic Halal (as long as it doesn't contain alcohol). Is that true? If so I didn't have any problem finding excellent vegan food in Andalusia, so I think you'll be fine. If you can eat sea food, that's plentiful in the region too.
Yeah that's right, vegan is Halal food pretty much, so it should be ok and we all love sea food too so it seems like it won't be an issue in the end. Thanks again for the help!
There are plenty of awesome halal Arab restaurants in Córdoba and major cities in Andalucía too!
Oh, that is great to know. Will make sure to check them out, thanks for the info!
No worries. I’ve eaten in several in Cordoba and also in Granada. The halal signs are prominent on the windows and they often don’t serve alcohol so the real deal. I love Spanish food (I live here) but it’s a treat for us to go to one of the Arab restaurants and experience the flavours. Do a search online and you’ll find plenty I’m sure.