Cordoba

As usual check the web sites www.booking.com and www.venere.com. If you choose to stay in the old part then the Maimonides Hotel is a very good choice www.eurostarsmaimonides.com pay the supplement and get a room overlooking the Mezquita. Large comfortable rooms, friendly staff and reasonably priced, all make it an excellent option.

For a recent return we chose another hotel in the same group as above, the Patios de Cordoba www.eurostarspatiosdecordoba.com and loved the hotel. The location is perfect, midway between the old centre and the Mezquita with some great places to eat and drink very close by. The building and rooms are lovely and it was incredible value.

La Boca, C/San Fernando 39, on a previous visit we had an a la carte lunch, not cheap but for the quality worth the money. They have a lovely courtyard for warmer weather, booking recommended as it is still very popular.

Taberna Sociedad de Plateros, C/San Francisco 6, is part of a small chain originally founded by the silversmiths guild. A very friendly place to visit to sample a wide range of tapas and one that is obviously popular with locals.

La Cazuela de la Esparteria, C/Rodrigo Marin 16, another place obviously popular with locals, on this visit we ate there several times in the bar area. The food was excellent and very reasonably priced. If you want to eat in the restaurant area then booking is essential at weekends as it is incredibly busy.

El Clandestino, C/Diario de Cordoba 11, a lovely small bar with friendly staff and open from breakfast till late night. On Saturday afternoon they cook a squid fideua (noodle paella) which they give out to customers, there is also live music.

El Rincon del Gallo, C/Diario de Cordoba 16, another good local bar with occasional free tapas not quite as friendly as above.

El Quarto, C/Capitulares 8, just along from the two bars above was a great find. Lovely staff excellent free tapas and the menu, which we did not get a chance to try, looked very good.

Taberna San Miguel (Casa El Pisto), Plaza San Miguel, a lovely bar to visit, we sampled a couple of tapas, both of which were good, it was more expensive than other places but it is well worth trying as the taberna itself is a real gem.

Taberna Gongora, C/del Conde de Torres 4, we made it here on the most recent visit and as we thought incredibly popular with locals who wait patiently for tables.

Taberna La Montillana, C/Vientos del Guadiato, modern bar but with a good reputaction for tapas. We sampled the croquetas, always a test, and they were very good.

El Picoteo del Gallo, C/Angel de Savedra 5,  a tiny bar with outside standing area and a friendly lady owner and a regular cilentele.

El Baron, Plaza Abades, a couple of minutes from the throng of crowds around the Mezquita is this lovely bar in a quiet square. A good selection of wines and beers and also tapas.

Garum 2.1 C/San Fernando 120-122 is a gourmet tapas bar and we ate at the bar and in the restaurant. Many different dishes to try and very good service also reasonably priced for the quality.

Bar Los Quatros Gatos, Plaza de las Canas, another excellent find with some great outdoor sitting, really friendly staff.

Bar Correo, C/Jesus Maria 2, this seems to attract loads of locals who stand outside drinking their canas (small beers) it seems to be a mystery as to what this bar has that attracts them in droves, but join the crowd.

El Anticuario, C/Espedes 11, very smart taberna which seems to cater for an upmarket Cordoba crowd, didn’t try the food.

La Poperia, C/San Fernando 120, a small modern bar doing very reasonably priced tapas and cheery friendly young staff.

Bodega Guzman, C/de los Judios 7, a large historic taberna with giant barrels from which the local montilla wine is served to a mixture of locals and visitors.

Mercado Victoria, Paseo de la Victoria, has been turned into a market with a selection of places where you can eat and drink. This has been done very successfully in Madrid and while this is a reasonable attempt it lacked atmosphere, still worth a visit however.

Drink

If you have travelled from other parts of Andalucia such as Seville you may have become used to asking for a Fino or Manzanilla sherry – a word of advice do not ask for this in Cordoba they have their own equivalent called Montilla and can take severe offence if asked for a Fino !

The Mezquita is obviously one of the main reasons that people visit Cordoba and it truly is one of the most wonderful buildings in the world.

Exploring the Juderia, with the narrow street full of white houses and patios which are famous in Cordoba.

The Alcazar is another gem not to be missed, the castle is not as large as the one in Seville but the gardens are beautiful.

Palacio de Viana, C/Rejas de Don Gome 2, this is an old palace now open as a museum but the highlight for 12 are the 12 Patio gardens which you can pay separately to visit.

Plaza de la Corredera, is worth a visit, it is the only square of it’s type in Andalucia although similar ones are found in other cities such as Madrid and Salamanca. It has recently been refurbished and now is a much more pleasant space than it was a number of years ago.

Although you are likely spend most of your time around the Mezquita and the old Jewish quarter, the Juderia do not miss out on the newer part of the town. The area around the Plaza Tendillas is the commercial and shopping part of the city but filled with lovely squares and great places to eat and drink.