My husband and I will be spending a week in Spain in mid-October. Our flight back to the US leaves from Madrid on Sunday morning. On Friday, our plan is to drive from our hotel outside of Ronda to Cordoba and drop our rental car around lunch, spend the afternoon seeing the Mezquita, and spend the night in Cordoba. Then train to Madrid on Saturday where we are staying one night before our flight out. We have never been to Cordoba or Madrid.
I am looking at train tickets from Cordoba to Madrid on Saturday and it looks like there is a train every two hours. Is it worth leaving Cordoba right after breakfast so we can do a walk around Madrid and possibly see the palace in the afternoon? Or should we plan to spend more time in Cordoba and arrive in Madrid later in the day so we can get dinner, but probably not have time for much else? Since we will be there the weekend after 10/12 (the Spanish national holiday), I would rather book tickets ahead to avoid a sell out, but let me know if I'm being too cautious.
We will come back to Madrid some day and actually see the city. This question is more just about how to best allocate our last day in Spain. Our hotel in Madrid is in Puerta del Sol.
Thanks for the help!