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Questions about travel from Madrid to Cordova

Hi fellows travelers:

After reading previous forum postings about Spain I find we are newbies to the game. It's our first time to this lovely part of Europe and we don't quite know the ins- and - outs. We're flying into Madrid in October to meet our Andalusia RS Tour in Cordova. We get into Madrid around 1830. I thought at first we'd just gut it out and head straight to Cordova, where our hotel is reserved, but am having second thoughts. That might be overly ambitious. Maybe grabbing a hotel in Madrid the night of arrival and heading to Cordova the next day on the bullet train is a better option? Any thoughts, lessons learned, recommendations appreciated.

Posted by
1878 posts

I would not try and go to Córdoba that first night. You would be lucky to make it to the train station two hours after landing, and the have to wait for the next train, then the train ride, etc. You would need to reserve a seat in advance and what if your plane is delayed?

Posted by
894 posts

Agreed. I would book a hotel room near the Atocha station - the point of departure for the Spanish high speed (AVE) trains. Travel from Madrid to Cordoba is approximately 2 hours by AVE, with a low price of around 30 Euros depending on the day and time of departure. If your travel plans are sooner than mid October, you could book your train travel now. Here's a highly recommended site for booking train travel in Spain:
https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm#Spanish_train_classes

Posted by
11570 posts

Stay overnight in Madrid and take train to Córdoba the next day. Córdoba is a wonderful introduction to Spain. (Note spelling is a b not v.)

Posted by
15788 posts

Another thing you can do to make it easier is to pack separately what you need for the first night only, and store the rest of your stuff in a locker at Atocha train station. Then you can hop on the metro to wherever you decide to stay. And you'll save a chunk of change by being able to purchase your train tickets to Cordoba as soon as they go on sale.

Hotel Europa is a good choice, just a couple minutes' walk from the metro on Puerto del Sol and there are good restaurant choices.