Spent 7 hours in Cordoba as a “stopover” between Sevilla and Barcelona. It was this or skip Cordoba entirely, and I’m so glad we chose to attempt it. It took a fair bit of planning for logistics to make sure trains, luggage, and our guide lined up - so I’m including a fair amount details in the report (as previous reports helped me a great detail in piecing some things together).
We took a train leaving Sevilla Santa Justa at 8am. It arrived at Cordoba train station at 845am. We went up the escalator and crossed the street to the bus station to find the lockers. There was a sign upon entry directing to LOCKERS to the right, the room was at the far end of the corridor. Just before the corridor was a booth (which was closed) and outside of it a little machine selling tokens for the lockers. The machine warned to check and make sure lockers were actually available, so we did - several lockers were still available at this time (about 855am), but there were definitely more without keys (taken) than with (free). Lockers were 4€ each. The machine took only 1 and 2 € coins, and luckily I had set some coins aside for this. I was approached by someone presumably begging for change as I loaded the machine, but they did not persist when I gave a firm “No”. The locker fit our larger-than-carryon sized suitcase along with two regular sized knapsacks.
We locked up our belongings, and kept the keys in our money belt - we wanted to take especially good care since it didn’t seem like there would be much help there if something went awry. Note: I attempted to visit the toilets at the bus station but only 1/5 was working and the line was 6 people deep, so I bailed as I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get to our meeting spot for our set time of 920am.
There were cabs waiting outside the bus station and we grabbed one to take us to our meeting point with the guide - Puerta de Almodovar. It was a short ride (5€) and we arrived at about 905. We grabbed Americanos to-go and used the restroom in a little cafe just to the left of the Puerta.
We met up with our guide (Isabel Martínez Richter - spoiler: she was amazing and hiring her was worth every euro) promptly at 920 and started our tour. We walked into the old city and discussed/visited points of interest including: Synagogue, flower street, leather workshop, Cordoba patios, then we walked around the length of the Mezquita walls and down to the river at the old bridge. It was still not too hot yet. We had another opportunity for a toilet stop at the tourist office before heading into the Mezquita. Isabel’s guiding of the Mezquita was brilliant and truly brought it to life. I think we spent about 1.5 hours there alone.
After the Mezquita, our time with Isabel was over (it was around 1230pm). She suggested some early lunch options for local foods including the combo of Tortilla de Patata and Salmorejo de Cordoba from Bar Santa (a little takeout place) across from the exit of the Mezquita. We decided to eat there and were so glad - it was sooo delicious!! We ate on the steps of the Mezquita.
Next, we decided to visit the Alcazar de Los Reyes Cristianos. It was ~7 minute walk from the Mezquita to the Alcazar entrance. The queue was about 15minutes long and it starting was getting really hot out, but there was periodic shade from the trees which was nice. The entry fee was 5€ per adult and started with a quick wander around an interior which was mildly interesting, but the beautiful gardens were the highlight for us. We left the Alcazar and made our back through the old city to the Puerta Almodovar. We flagged down a cab and got back to the bus station around 1440 to retrieve our luggage. Notably at this time point there were no lockers left, and the booth by the tokens was still closed (I had read about luggage overflow but I couldn’t see it). We got our luggage and headed back across the street to the train station, and made our 1540h train to Barcelona with plenty of time.