After the Quijote Maratón: Córdoba
The Route: Ciudad Real → Córdoba → Madrid, Seville or Málaga airport Logistics: AVE south through the Sierra Morena, about 55 minutes. One night, then onward by high-speed train to an airport. Marathon Month: October Duration: 1 night
Ciudad Real ──(about 55 mins AVE)──> Córdoba (1 night)
│
Madrid (MAD), Seville (SVQ) or Málaga (AGP) ◄──(high-speed train)──┘
The Quijote Maratón is run on the high plain of La Mancha, and the fastest way off it is south on the high-speed line to Andalucía. Córdoba was the capital of Islamic Spain in the tenth century and one of the largest cities in Europe. Its old centre is on flat ground beside the Guadalquivir.
October in Córdoba is one of the best months to visit. The summer heat, which regularly passes 40°C, has gone, and afternoons in most years are in the mid-twenties, with cool mornings and little rain. The orange trees in the streets and in the Mezquita's courtyard are carrying green fruit. The famous flower-filled patios are a May event, so most private patios are closed to visitors now.
AVE trains run from Ciudad Real to Córdoba in about 55 minutes. Book in advance at renfe.com for the best fares. Córdoba's station is on the north side of the city, about 25 minutes' walk or a short taxi ride from the old centre.
Night One: Córdoba
The Mezquita-Catedral is the reason to come. Begun in the eighth century and enlarged over two hundred years, the mosque is a forest of more than 800 columns of marble, jasper and granite carrying red-and-white striped double arches. After the Christian conquest in 1236 it became a cathedral, and in the sixteenth century a Renaissance nave was built into its centre. The whole building is on one level, and the entrance is through the Patio de los Naranjos, the courtyard of orange trees.
A general ticket costs €15 (about £13); buy a timed ticket online. From Monday to Saturday, entry is free between 08:30 and 09:30, which is a quiet way to see it if the legs allow an early start. Allow at least an hour.
From the Mezquita, walk down to the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir: pedestrianised, flat and about 250 metres long, with the Calahorra tower at the far end. The riverside paths on both banks are level and quiet.
The Judería, the old Jewish quarter west of the Mezquita, is a maze of whitewashed lanes, flat but cobbled. The small medieval synagogue on Calle Judíos is one of only three in Spain to survive from before 1492. The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, the fortress-palace where Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus, has terraced gardens of pools and cypresses, mostly on the level; municipal monuments close on Mondays.
With a second morning to spare before the train, Medina Azahara, the ruined tenth-century palace city of the caliphs, lies about 8 km west of the centre and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A tourist bus runs from the centre to the visitor centre, and a shuttle climbs from there to the site. The paths through the excavations slope gently downhill and are partly gravel; the museum at the visitor centre is level and indoors. Check the bus times and the site's opening days, as it closes on Mondays.
Where to stay. Hospes Palacio del Bailío is a converted palace on the north side of the old town, with Roman remains visible beneath a glass floor. Hotel Viento10, a small hotel in a former hospital a few minutes east of the Mezquita, is closer to the river.
Where to eat. Casa Pepe de la Judería, a few steps from the Mezquita, serves Cordoban classics on several floors and a roof terrace: salmorejo, the thick cold tomato soup, and flamenquín, a fried roll of ham and pork. Bodegas Campos, a warren of patios and barrel rooms east of the centre, has served Montilla-Moriles wines and local food since 1908.
Getting Home
Córdoba is on the Madrid to Seville high-speed line. Trains reach Seville Airport (SVQ) via Seville Santa Justa in about 45 minutes plus the airport bus; Madrid-Barajas (MAD) via Madrid Puerta de Atocha in about 1 hour 45 minutes plus Cercanías C1 to Terminal 4; and Málaga Airport (AGP) in about an hour plus Cercanías C1, 12 minutes. Book the train with the flight.