We recently posted about our trip to Córdoba, Spain and around Andalusia a couple weeks ago and now we’ve finally uploaded some photos! Córdoba is a smaller city, but well known in the south for the Mezquita. In addition to that most popular sight, we also checked out the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, the Jewish Quarter, Templo de Culto Imperial, Puente Romano, and the Arco de Triunfo.
There are seventeen autonomous communities of Spain and Andalusia, the southern most on the Iberian Peninsula, is considerably worth taking tour of the region. Once known as Al-Andalus during the Moorish occupation of the region, Andalusia has an Islamic past that will take you back to a time before the Reconquista. As we began our introduction to the region while traveling with our good friend Ed from RexyEdventures, we planned to undertake the typical Andalusian triangle route consisting of Córdoba, Seville, and Granda. These destinations are most notably known for the tomb of Christopher Columbus, the mosque/cathedral of the Mezquita, and the Alhambra, a palace and fortress. The ideal order in which one visits these sights will vary depending on the year, what events are taking place, and which city you want to be in on a particular day of the week. For us, beginning in Córdoba (one of our former top 5 Spanish destinations), stopping in Seville, and ending in Granada proved to be ideal as we appreciated each destination a little more than the one before it. How you get around is another important aspect of the trip. Traveling by train, bus or car are all options. To truly make your time your own, renting a cheap car would be an ideal way to get around as you make the loop. Another affordable option is by bus which only cost us 80€ from Madrid and back, though splitting the price of a car with a group can also be budget friendly.
We recently posted about five lesser known Spanish destinations that are worth a visit. Now it’s time to discuss our top five destinations – well-known or not – that we plan to visit while living in Spain for a few months. Since we’re so bad at planning ahead, writing this post is a good way for us to get the ball rolling on planning side trips around Spain. Plus we just bought our first guidebook. Yes, we’ve been traveling for nearly a year and have never purchased one! With internet resources and personal recommendations, we never saw the need. But now that we’ll be in Spain more long-term it’s was time. Our plan is to be based in Madrid because we love it so. Therefore, it’s not included as one of our desired side trips since, duh, we’ll be living there!
Three magnificently wine filled days in Mendoza flew by quickly and we needed to start making our way toward our next destination: Iguazu Falls on the Argentina/Brazil border, but first we had to decide what to do in Córdoba for just one day, since it was our stop along the way. Córdoba happens to be the second largest city in Argentina behind Buenos Aires, though Córdoba’s population of 1.5 million pales in comparison to the 13 million people of Buenos Aires.
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