I found the comments and answers on this site to be invaluable in helping to plan our trip so I hope to return the favor for someone else who can hopefully gain something useful from my feedback. We were in Spain from October 12-28 flying into Madrid, exploring some of Andalucia, and finally spending our last several days before flying home from Barcelona. I’ll attempt to keep my notes relatively brief and mostly reference things that we learned or would do differently, plus comment on any exceptional restaurants, tours, or accommodations that we encountered.
We were mostly using Madrid as our port of arrival and home base for two separate day trips, and I personally wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. We don't have much interest in art galleries, but found the city to have plenty of charm, character, and interest aside from that. Our Airbnb was across the street from San Miguel market and it was really fun to pop by there and try little bites of different foods, which we did on several evenings. We did Rick’s walking path which was a good way to get oriented. Our first day trip was to Toledo and we loved it there. As many say, we easily could have spent an overnight or even longer in Toledo, but it is worth getting there for a day if nothing else. Of note, the line for the cathedral was so long that we weren’t able to visit with our remaining time for the day. This wasn’t something previously on my radar as being a tough site to get into so we hadn’t rushed over to do it first thing, and this ended up being a mistake. It was a busy holiday weekend and we hadn’t meandered our way over to it until the afternoon, so these were both factors, I’m sure. We enjoyed the cheesy tourist train to take you around the area and stop for some good photos. We otherwise just liked wandering all over. Segovia was also fantastic. I felt like this town was better seen in a day with not much more that I’d feel the need to return for, but the aqueduct shouldn’t be missed. Also, the Alcazar was incredible and one of my surprise favorite sites that we visited. Since it is very uncrowded compared to other similar sites, you can really get a good view of the interior architecture, decor, and ceilings. The cliff that it hangs over is stunning and we took many great photos. After our two day trip days and the better part of arrival day hanging out in Madrid, we took the fast train to Córdoba for an overnight.
We absolutely loved Córdoba and were so happy to have more than just a day here. But again, like Toledo, I would certainly come to see it and get into the Mezquita during a day trip if that was the most time available, but my opinion is that I would try really hard to pull time from somewhere to allow for an overnight in this town. It is incredibly charming with the small winding lanes and is beautiful and relaxed by night. We stayed at the hotel Patios del Orfebre which was an absolute gem. If you can find this place for a good deal, book it. We spent several hours wandering through various patios and speaking to the kind residents who opened up their spaces for us to enjoy. Even in October, the flowers were still beautiful. Of note, near the patios is a restaurant, La Posada del Caballo Andaluz, where we enjoyed a fantastic lunch with media raciones of the sautéed artichokes, fried aubergine with honey, and migas. I tried my first tinto de verano and never looked back. We went to the Mezquita first in the late afternoon and also during the free hour the following morning. Late afternoon was a great time to go and we had the space without any tour groups. The tour groups also (I believe) aren’t allowed in during the free morning hour. We were glad to have seen it in the afternoon since there are a few key areas which are roped off during the free time. We also wouldn’t have felt that we’d adequately seen everything we wanted to in that quick hour.