A Day in Córdoba, Spain – Visiting the Mezquita Cathedral

Visiting Córdoba, Spain for the day? Great! If you’re traveling through southern Spain and want to explore around a bit, Córdoba is a great place to stop. We did a day trip from Seville by train, traveling with Loco2 train system and had a great experience.

How To Spend a Day in Córdoba – 

Puente Romano

Take the time to walk across the famous Roman bridge, Puente Romano. The Romans originally built this bridge in the early 1st century BC. It has been restored several times, extensively in 2006, to what it is today. Only the 14th and 15th arches are original. It’s fun to walk down away from the center of town and look back to see Córdoba from a different viewpoint. The bridge is always hoppin’ with musicians playing live music and artists selling their work.

Plaza de la Corredera

If you need a place to relax, Plaza de la Corredera is a great place to do it. This is the most famous plaza in Córdoba and is a popular place for people to hang out and meet up with friends. There are many restaurants and cafés outlining the plaza with outdoor seating areas that are perfect to sit and order a cold drink while you people watch. There is a lot of wide-open space that is great for families traveling with kids who need an area for the littles to run around and get some energy out. There were some kids playing soccer there and they were so sweet to let Jimmy have a turn kicking the soccer ball around which he was very happy about.

Exploring, Shopping & Our Favorite Treat

Córdoba is such a cute little town that you can have absolutely nothing planned and be purely entertained just by wandering the streets and looking in the shops. There are so many cute shops there with fun things to buy. I found the best shop that had quirky and fun displays made with books that I’ll never forget. There was a book display that completely arched around the whole front door entry way. You had to walk through it in order to get into the shop. I love when people get creative with everyday things for decorating. Also while wandering around, we stopped at a small café and found one of our most favorite pastries, Lazos de Holjaldres. We liked it so much that we ended up ordering three of them one after another. They’d be perfect paired with a café con leche to balance out the sweetness. We found them at Atrium Cafeteria. It’s a cute little café that has glass floors, and I would highly recommend going there and trying these pastries.

Mezquita Cathedral de Córdoba

This cathedral is the most unique cathedral that I have ever visited. If you do anything while in Córdoba, you have to see this cathedral. The history of the building is quite fascinating with a bit of tension as well. Originally it was a Catholic church, then in 784 it was constructed into a Muslim mosque which was expanded later by different Muslim rulers. In 1236, Córdoba returned to Christian rule and the building was then converted back into a Catholic church. In the early 2000’s Spanish Muslims living in Córdoba lobbied to have permission to pray within the building, feeling like it was their right since the building used to be a mosque. The church and the Vatican have rejected their wishes to do so. 

The thing that makes this church so beautiful are the columns and colorful arches. There are 856 marble and granite columns within the church. The double arches are breathtaking and were a way to create higher ceilings. The beautiful red and white colored pattern was a stylistic thing that was famous during that time period and is similar to other buildings of its day. I’ve never seen an interior of a church that’s as beautiful as this one. I was so glad that Jimmy decided to finally fall asleep in his stroller and take his nap during our time in this cathedral, so that I could relax and enjoy it fully, wandering around as I please.

Ticket Tips

Adults – €10, Children 10-14 Years – €5, Children Under 10 – Free

Hours – 10:00 AM- 7:00 PM

(Monday-Saturday 8:30-9:30 AM – Free Entry For Everyone) 

There are two types of lines for buying tickets. There are lines for machines only and lines for in person purchases. The machine lines are always faster. Make sure to stand in those lines. But remember, they are cash only. The in person lines do accept cards if that's all you have. Make sure as soon as you are done getting tickets that you head over to stand in the other line to actually enter the building. This line tends to be the longest line of all, so it's best to start standing in it as soon as you can. Nate and I actually separated to make the process faster. I stood in the line to enter the building first while he went and bought tickets and then met up with me later.

Patios Flower Festival

The first and second week of May, Córdoba is bursting with flowers. They hold an annual Patios Flower Festival where people open up their homes to the public to show their inside garden areas and all the flowers that they have planted within them. They have a competition and are judged to see whose flower displays are the most grand and elaborate, with prizes going to the top winners. People walk around the streets wandering through the homes of the participants, eager to see their flower displays. It was so fun to participate in and see this tradition of Córdoba that is loved by their community. We were there for the last day of the festival, and I’m so glad that we caught it. To read more about the Patios Flower Festival, check out my post here.

Parks and Ice Cream

We finished our day in Córdoba with some licking of ice cream cones and a little playing at the park. There are many fun ice cream shops in town and lots of great parks to play at. The ice cream we had wasn’t anything notable, but it hit the spot and helped us beat the summer heat. We enjoyed playing at the Parque Infantil Los Patos, near the train station, until it was time to walk over and catch our train late that evening. It is a beautiful park with a nice garden area in the center surrounded by water. There was a group of people with their dogs that were having a dog play date, and they invited Jimmy to come over and pet all of their dogs. He was in heaven. It made me realize even more how much we need to get a dog of our own. Everywhere that I visit, it amazes me the kindness that is found there. Córdoba, Spain is no exception. Spanish people are so kind.

Unfortunately we missed our train that evening, and had to stay an hour or so longer just hanging out in the train station. The worst part was that we had to buy new tickets. So learn from our mistake and check your ticket time! And then double, and triple-check it too. Enjoy your time in Córdoba!