Cordoba or Granada

It depends on whether you want to see the Alhambra in Granada or the Mezquita in Cordoba. Public transportation works well for either.

We visited both this past November and they are both amazing.

There's no right or wrong answer. As Barbara said, it's a choice between two excellent sights and two interesting cities. Personally, I'd give Córdoba the edge, as I found the Mezquita to be one of the truly extraordinary religious buildings anywhere. But the Alhambra is also great, and the Royal Chapel is magnificent.

How many days do you have in Valencia and Barcelona? I liked Valencia, but I'd rate both Córdoba and Granada above Valencia, so if you have the option of cutting days there so you can see both, it might be worth considering.

We did 2 nights in Granada and 1 night in Cordoba, seeing the Alhambra (Granada) and Mezquita (Cordoba), which worked well for us. Details are in our trip report (parts 1, 4, 5): https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-spain-aug-sep-seville-ronda-granada-cordoba-madrid

Agree. Both Cordoba and Granada are amazing; each unique and very special. Cordoba was my favorite, but the Alhambra is breathtaking as well. If you can take a day from Valencia, recommend you do both.

Another vote for public transportation . We’ve been able to do everything with trains and saves the hassle of navigating old town and or looking for parking .

Of the two which is more authentic and less touristy? How many nights?
Thank you

I agree with prior posters. One night in Cordoba to see the mosque in the early morning 8:30 before the tour groups and two nights in Granada we saw the Alhambra both day and night.

You have some great destinations. In Seville, we took the walking tour with Concepcion, whom Rick Steves made famous. Valencia was charming. Delightful walkable easy. Seville, Cordoba, Grenada and Barcelona were pretty walkable, too.

If you have one more night and don’t mind flying: Bilbao. The museum is a bucket list sight. Well, it was for me. We flew from Valencia.

And public transportation worked for us Seville, Cordoba, Granada. I must admit I am remembering from three trips 2006, 2017, 2025…so not as recent as some.

Maribel, who contributes on Fodor, is the Spain expert!!

This is what I did. Spend an extra night in Sevilla and do Cordova as a day trip so you can see the Mezquita and part of the old city. Then take a bus or train to Granada and spend two or three nights there to see the Alhambra and Albazin. From Granada, you can decide how you want to reach Valencia either by plane or train. We used public transportation.

When someone asks if a town is authentic, I’d like to know what is really being asked. People live and work in each of the cities. They’re their home, so they are authentic. They are not Disney World.

Both are popular tourist destinations so will be crowed around the main tourist sites. If you want to get the feel of either city from a non tourist perspective, explore parts of the cities away from the main sites. Most of the time you’ll only need to walk a short distance to reach a quieter part of town.

As already stated, public transportation works for either place. If you decide to rent a car, select a hotel not in the center of town. Most historic centers are vehicle restricted with a number of pedestrian only streets. On our most recent trip we stayed at the Parador in Córdoba. It’s away from the historic center and had its own onsite parking. Other than the other guests, there were no tourists in that part of town. To get to the historic area we took the bus from a stop very near the hotel.

On the recent trip in May, we spent 3 nights in Córdoba and it was our 4th or 5th time visiting it. Our 4th visit to Granada was in 2014 and we spent 3 nights there too. Which to spend more time in is a toss up.

Like Lane, I have a slight preference for Cordoba because I just loved the Mezquita and exploring nearby. We spent 3 nights there and 2 nights in Granada. However, as others have mentioned, the Mezquita can be done as a day trip from Seville. You really can’t go wrong, whichever you choose. My trip report from November might be helpful:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-analucia-and-madrid-in-november