Andalusia: practical recommendations for preparing your trip. Distance from Malaga to Cordoba Using Granada-card or Alhambra-card

It developed under Abd al-Rahman III and his sons. There were 400 thousand volumes of books, one catalog occupied 44 volumes of 50 sheets each. Books were not only written, but also exported from all over the Arab world. Under the later rulers, the library became scarce, and after the Reconquista, its remains were destroyed by the Inquisition...

But, as usual, things don’t stay good for long. Gradually, social contradictions began to grow in the country: taxes increased, religious tolerance decreased (tolerance in our opinion), here and there uprisings of Mozarabs, Muladis and Berbers began against the Arab nobility.

In 929, Abd al-Rahman III decided to strengthen the central power of the Moors and proclaimed himself caliph - “commander of the faithful.” This meant not only the actual, but also the legal independence of Muslim Spain from the Baghdad Caliphate. Cordoba became the first capital of the Moorish rulers of Spain. The monarch had unlimited power. The provinces were headed by administrators appointed by them - wali. A mercenary army was formed. In the 10th century, the commander Almanzor undertook a series of successful campaigns against Christians in Leon and Catalonia, he burned Barcelona and destroyed Santiago de Compostela.

The Berbers ruined everything!!! Their new dynasties, the Almoravids and Almohads, began to show intolerance towards “infidels”. This applied to both Christians and Jews. The Mozarabs had no choice but to seek help from the independent Christian states of the north. As a result of contradictions, wars and strife, Al-Andaluz was unable to maintain its unity. In 1031, the caliphate broke up into taifas - independent emirates (Cordova, Seville, Granada, Toledo, Murcia, Valencia, etc.). The devastation continued, and by the 13th century only Granada, led by the Nasrid dynasty, remained in the hands of the Moors. The “Garden of Eden,” as Granada was affectionately called by Muslims, lasted until 1492.

Thus, Moorish rule in Spain went through 4 periods: the Damascus Caliphate (45 years), the period of the independent emirate (130 years), the Cordoba Caliphate (100 years) and the period of fragmentation (250 years).

When the Castilian king Fernando III took Cordoba in 1236, a large part of the population fled. The city turned into a provincial one and its decline continued until the end of the 19th century. However, some of the former greatness has been preserved...

All the trophy riches of this land went to the Spanish kings, who, after the victory, equipped Columbus's expedition with these funds. In October of the same year, the navigator, as we know, discovered America, and a completely different story began. In this new history, the splendor and glory of Cordoba - the center of the once powerful Islamic empire - were, if not forgotten, then lost. However, the city is now completely devoid of the provincial melancholy of the former capitals. Even the ruins here seem “not fragments of the past, but unfinished palaces of the future.”

How to get to Cordoba from Malaga(if you are too lazy to rent a car or you forgot your license at home): in the north-west of Cordoba, a kilometer from Tendillas Square, there are both bus and train stations (nearby).

The bus from Malaga leaves at 9 am (the first one), then at 11 - 30, 16 - 30 and 19 - 30. It takes 4 HOURS!!! The price of one ticket is 14.9 euros.

The bus departs from Cordoba to Malaga at 8-30, 10-00, 15-15, 17-00 hours. The journey takes 2.5 - 3 hours.

We were short on time, so we chose the train.

My friend lives in Spain, namely in Malaga. For several months she could not persuade me to come to her for a few days. And last summer I finally bought a plane ticket and flew to Spain for two weeks. I settled in her apartment, but now from Malaga and traveled further around this country. I was also in Cordoba. You can get there from Malaga as follows:

By train

To travel from Malaga to Cordoba, you can use train transport. Thanks to this option, you can be on site within an hour after departure (plus or minus five minutes). The route is operated mainly by trains of the AVE and AVANT categories. You can read more about this transport and the features of traveling with it in Spain in
The first train leaves from Malaga María Zambrano railway station (Explanada de la Estación, s/n) at 06.45, and the last one available for boarding is at 20.15. The interval between departures of this transport is from half an hour to one and a half.
The entire schedule can be viewed in detail on the Renfre carrier website.
Arrival in Cordoba at the railway station, which is located at Glorieta de las Tres Culturas, s/n.

Train ticket prices

The fare starts from 25 euros, but there are offers that are twice as expensive.

Purchase

There are three ways to buy a ticket for rail travel in Spain:

you can contact the nearest ticket office at Malaga train station;
You can buy a ticket yourself at special terminals, of which there are many located at Malaga station;
a certain time before travel, for example, a few days, you can buy an electronic ticket on the official portal of the carrier. But you must print it out before boarding the vehicle so that you have something to show to the controller.

By bus

To travel to Cordoba from Malaga, you can also use passenger buses. This area is served by ALSA. You can get there in two to four hours, depending on the route you choose and the number of stops the buses make along the way.

Typically, there are more buses available in the afternoon than in the morning and evening. The first flight departs at 09.15, the last at 19.30. The interval between departures is from half an hour to several hours, so I recommend checking the bus schedule before the trip. You can also find it on the carrier’s official website.

Buses depart from Malaga bus station (Paseo de los Tilos, s/n), and arrive in Cordoba at Av de la Libertad, S/N.

Bus ticket prices

A bus ticket can even be bought for 5-6 euros, but there are offers that are also several times more expensive.

Purchase

You can pay the fare directly to the driver;
You can buy tickets at the bus station - either at the ticket office or at a special sales terminal;
You can issue electronic tickets in advance on the carrier’s portal.

By car

Another option to get to Cordoba is to travel by car. If you have your own car, then it will not be extra effort - refuel and hit the road along the wonderful Spanish highways. If you don’t have a car, you can rent one. I’ll say right away that in Malaga I didn’t come across any companies where you can rent a car. But I looked at many on the Internet and, by the way, found good options at affordable prices.

The A-45 highway runs between the cities, which is worth traveling along. These 160 km can be covered comfortably by car in two hours.

I want to tell you that in Spain the toll for using the autobahns is being waived. In this case, we can say that we are “lucky”, the road is of regional importance, and therefore no toll is charged. You will have to spend money only on the fuel you need. There is also one more point: if you have not previously traveled to Spain by yourself by car or have not used such modes of transport for a long time, then you need to familiarize yourself in detail with the peculiarities of driving in this country. All the necessary information can be found

It is better to plan a trip to the south of Spain in June, late September or early October. When there is no sweltering heat, but you can still splash in the sea, and housing prices are lower. Andalusia consists of eight provinces: Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Seville and Malaga. The capital is the city of Seville. And all this on Costa del coast Salt, which translates as Sunny Beach. This is the very heart of Spain. The climate here is very mild, even in winter the temperature rarely drops below 20 degrees. Having monitored air ticket prices, I understand that the best option for our route is to fly to Malaga and fly out from Seville. And the route is this: 10-14 days in Malaga (from here you can go to Granada, Cordoba, Ronda), then to Tarifa for 2-3 days (from there a day trip by ferry to Tangier) and then to Seville for 3-4 days. Malaga is home to the largest international airport in Andalusia, which also receives domestic flights from all over Spain. There are regular direct flights from many Russian cities to Malaga, which is very convenient.

Malaga– an amazing city with a very rich history. The beautiful beaches are world famous for their clear water and fine sand, many are marked with EU blue flags. And wonderful Andalusian cuisine!

I booked an apartment in Malaga Apartamentos Doña Elvira Kings inn with two bedrooms and a kitchen in the city center for 3-5 people. The cost of these apartments is about 65 euros/day. They have a very convenient location, all the most interesting and necessary things are within walking distance. The historical center, market, shops, and the beach are about 15 minutes away.

Before booking accommodation, I advise you to read the article on how

I will write more about how to best spend time in Malaga in a separate article. And in this one I’ll tell you which nearby cities you can go to from Malaga and what’s best to see there.

The train station is also not far from our apartments, and opposite is the bus station. They will be very useful to us. You will have to travel a lot by trains and buses :)

You can buy train tickets in advance on the website www.renfe.com, but I prefer to buy them locally. It is better 1-2 days before the trip, for example, when returning from one trip, buy tickets for the next one. It’s cheaper if you buy straight there and back – “ida y vuelta”. MD trains are slower but much cheaper than AVANT or AVE trains. Before going to the cashier, it is better to prepare a note for the cashier in advance, especially if your Spanish is not very good.

You definitely need to go to Granada, it is located 132 km from Malaga. It is more convenient and cheaper to go there by bus (round trip about 20-22 euros), since there is no direct train there. The bus schedule can be viewed on the website www.alsa.es , and buy tickets at the box office.

The pearl of Granada (and not only) is the Moorish palace Alhambra complex. This is something you can't miss. But queues at the ticket offices line up there long before the opening; tickets are sold there only for the current day and only for cash, and the number of tickets is limited. I don't want to waste precious time standing in line. Therefore, it is better to buy tickets in advance on the website www.alhambra-tickets.es. A full Visita general de la Alhambra y Generalife ticket allows you to visit all the sites of the complex - Alcazaba (Jardín de los Adarves), Partal Garden (Pórtico del Palacio, Jardines y Paseos, Rauda, Palacio de Yusuf III, Paseo de las Torres), palace Generalife (Jardines Bajos), Alhambra (Paseo de los Cipreses, Secano, Jardines de San Francisco) and Nazrid Palaces. Costs 14 euros. For children under 12 years old you need to order a free ticket. It is convenient to receive your purchased ticket from the machines located in the pavilion in front of the entrance to the Alhambra. Just enter the bank card you used to pay for the tickets on the website and the machine will print your tickets. Or at the ticket office of the Patronage of Alhambra and Generalife at least an hour before the visit, present your passport or bank card and booking receipt.

You buy tickets for a certain time interval - either from 8:30 to 14:00, or from 14:00 to 18:00 (from November to February) and from 14:00 to 20:00 (from March to October). Another important point: the ticket indicates the exact time of visiting the Nazrid Palaces; if you do not arrive at this time, then you will not have another opportunity to get there on that day. Bus number C3 runs from the center to the Alhambra. Its stop is located behind the Isabella monument in the square of the same name, at the end of Gran via. The fare costs 1.2 euros.

Or you can purchase a Bono Turistico de Granada tourist ticket on the website www.granadatur.com or at the Granada office at Plaza del Carmen s/n. When purchased on the website it costs 33.5 euros, and in the office - 30 euros. With this ticket you can visit the Alhambra and the Generalife, the Cathedral, the Royal Tomb, the Carthusian Monastery, the Monastery of St. Jerome, the Science Park, the Caja Museum and travel for free on public transport (I will not name the exact number of trips). If you have time to visit all this, you will save about 30% of the cost. Well, if you don’t want to condemn yourself to such feats, then after visiting the Alhambra and the main attractions, you can simply walk around the city, relax in some cozy cafe and calmly see what you have time for until the evening. Fortunately, all the main beauty spots are located in the historical center of the city.

Then you definitely need to visit the city Ronda- a white city hovering over an abyss. That's what they call him. Buses go there. The journey will take approximately 2.5 hours, the cost of a round trip ticket is about 20 euros. But... the road is mountainous and winding, not for the faint of heart, that is, not for us :) Therefore, for people like us, it is better to go by train. The train leaves in the morning at 10-05 o'clock and back from Ronda at 16-50 o'clock. Travel time is 2 hours, a round trip ticket is also about 20 euros. The historical and modern parts of the city are separated by a deep gorge and the famous Puente Nuevo bridge. This is what we most often see in panoramic photos of the city. The city has a lot to see: numerous temples, the palace of the Moorish king (Casa del Rey Moro), a beautiful park and the oldest bullring in Spain. By the way, only in Ronda at the beginning of September is there a Goyesco- bullfighting season, during which all participants are dressed in costumes from Goya's paintings. In the Palace of the Moorish King there is a passage carved into the rock leading to the bottom of the gorge. The main thing here is not to get too carried away, so as not to miss the return train.

The city is located 160 km from Malaga Cordoba, the train journey will take about 2-2.5 hours. Round trip fare is about 20-24 euros. Or you can take the bus. From the railway station to the historical city center it is about 15 minutes on foot, most of the way along a picturesque boulevard with palm trees. You should definitely visit the unique Cathedral - the Mezquite (former cathedral mosque), visit the Alcazar Palace, rebuilt from a Moorish fortress, and stroll through the magnificent palace gardens there. Walk along the Roman Bridge, built under Caesar, along a flower street with snow-white houses. Try bread soup with almonds, which is traditionally prepared in Cordoba.

We plan our holidays in Malaga so that trips to neighboring cities alternate with beach and city days of rest. After all, you also want to swim and lie on the beach, and there are so many interesting things in Malaga.

From Malaga our route runs to the city of Tarifa, then to Seville. But about this and about how to plan a trip to Moroccan Tangier :)

Finding the perfect train connection has never been easier: Thanks to virail, you will be able to compare hundreds of offers at the same time by simply inserting your travel date through the price and departure filters, you will be able to narrow down the results and find the optimal solution. The booking takes place on the provider's website, to which you will be automatically redirected.

Which companies take you from Malaga to Cordoba, Andalusia by train?

Among all virail partners, you will also be able to travel with Renfe, serving the train route between Malaga and Cordoba, Andalusia.

Renfe is a national Spanish company that offers a very well developed high speed network served by Ave trains. It also covers regional short-distance routes, via the Feve train and international long-distance routes, for example with the Elipsos night train.

How much are low cost train tickets from Malaga to Cordoba, Andalusia?

By booking in advance, you can find cheap train tickets from Malaga to Cordoba, Andalusia from RUB 29.40. However, train tickets for this route cost on average about 35.50 RUB.