Explore the old town

While wandering around Córdoba’s oldest and most attractive neighbourhood, San Basilio, look out for the flower-filled patios hiding behind iron gates: every May these are opened to the public (for free) as part as the Feria de Patios, in which cordobeses compete for the honour of having the prettiest internal courtyard. In the equally historic neighbourhood of Santa Marina there’s a monument to Manolete – a famous cordobese bullfighter killed in the ring in 1947 – situated just around the corner from an old-school tapas joint of the same name (it’s the only bar on Plaza Santa Marina). Both are a five-minute walk from the 15th-century Palacio de Viana, where you can visit twelve historic Córdoban courtyards.