Is this Andalusian gem Spain's most underrated city?
Sizzling temperatures are slipping down to the high 20Cs/low 80Fs; ancient underground watercourses ensure the city is shady and verdant, and visitor numbers are dwindling. Autumn is the perfect time to visit Cordoba, and from Oct 19-28 you can catch Festival Flora: sculptural displays of flowers in historic settings.
Stay here
In a quiet quarter above the Old Town, Hospes Palacio de Bailo (1) at 10-12, Calle Ramírez de las Casas Deza, offers luxurious repose in a converted city palace, parts of which date back to Roman times. Doubles from €221 (£199) without breakfast. Easier on the pocket, Hotel Casa de los Azulejos (2) (5, Calle Fernando Colón) splashes Cordovan colour around a garden courtyard. Doubles from €70 with breakfast.
Walk here
Start in the courtyard of the Mezquita (3), leave through the east gate and wander past the cafés and crafts shops on Calle Cardenal González to Plaza del Potro (4), where a 15th-century inn (now a flamenco centre) gets a mention in Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Then it’s on to Plaza de la Corredera (5), up past the ruins of a Roman temple to Plaza de Las Tendillas (6), before heading downhill to the labyrinth of alleys of the former Jewish quarter (7).
See this
The Mezquita, begun in AD 784, once the biggest mosque in the world after Mecca, and for the past 750 years a Catholic cathedral, is a forest of ancient pillars under a canopy of arches, with startling outcrops of Spanish baroque, Byzantine mosaics and Moorish stone.
Try this
Cordoba’s tradition of fine crafts stretches back 1,000 years, to the time of al-Andalus, when the city was capital of an Arab caliphate. In tiny studios, off flower-filled courtyards, you’ll still come across makers of decorative leatherwork, intricate filigreed silver jewellery and exceptionally fine guitars.
Shop here
At Zoco (8) (Calle Judios; artesaniadecordoba.com), studios of craftspeople are ranged around a garden courtyard.
Drink here
La Bicicleta (9) (Calle Cardinal Gonzalez) sells home-made cakes, juices and exotic sandwiches (bacalhau and avocado) during the day, then packs out after siesta time.
Eat here
El Patio de Maria (10) (elpatiodemaria.com) serves contemporary takes on local dishes such as flamenquín (gigantic croquettes) amid an abundance of flowers in a peaceful courtyard. Expect to pay around €35 for three courses with wine.
Off the map
The ruins of Medina Azahara, five miles (8km) outside Cordoba, a palace-city built in the 10th and 11th centuries, are evocative of the days of al-Andalus (medinaazahara.org; free to EU citizens, otherwise €1.50). You can get there by taxi, but guided tours are a more enriching experience (artencordoba.com; €23 including transport).
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