Hi all! It's been a long time since I came this way, but I know you guys never fail. I’m doing a short-ish trip to Spain in February with friends to see a concert in Barcelona.

It will be a 11-night trip, ‘whirlwind’ by my usual superslow pace, but it is what it is and DH will not be joining anyway. It will be split as follows:
- Cordoba 3 nights (arrive 2/4)
- Barcelona 4 nights
- Madrid 4 nights (depart 2/14)

Though I’ve been to Madrid recently it’s been ages since I’ve been to Barcelona and I’ve never been to Montserrat which is a must-do for me on this trip.
One of the girlfriends would really like to include a visit to one of the cava wineries. I was kind of favoring Codorniu (mostly for historical reasons) but she'd rather go to Llompart but is flexible as long as there is bubbly on the schedule. It seems sort of possible to combine these two activities into a single day. Any ideas on how to make this happen without renting a car? I'd rather not drive in/out of Barcelona and I dislike the thought of renting for a single day.

Any ‘new’ things to do in BCN (newer than 10 years, lol)? I’m already including St Paul & St Creus Hospital as it was only partially open when we there last (we had to wear hardhats and orange vests for the visit). I'll revisit Sagrada Familia and maybe Casa Batllo because it is a favorite, other than that, the schedule will be open.

Also, Cordoba… it’s been at least 22 years. Even though the festival is in April, it seems the Patios will be open for visits, is this worthwhile in winter?
Has anyone been to the Madinat Al-Zahara site as a day trip? It's been on my list for a long time but never had anyone tell me their experience.

Any hint will be appreciated, Happy New Year to everyone!!!!

Well the easiet is to catch a train. The station is something like 300 metres from the entrance to Freixenet which is by far the largest Cava producer with a massive (massive) storage facility built like a car park and then having earth piled over it. The tour is fascinating. The other houses are down the hill.

The other visit you might like is to Torres, again a train is a solution. The winery is about a 20 minute walk or less by taxi. Here the fermentation process works with no pumping as the process is built into a slope.

sea61.com
renfe.com

If you'd like to visit one of the producers that doesn't mass produce Cava, but does make some of the best Cavas around, hen I'd suggest Juve y Camps in San Sadurni d'Anoia.Yoyu'll haver to email them to request a tour

https://www.juveycamps.com/en/enotourism-penedes/

We've done the tour of the wine cellars a couple of times and loved it, especially the tastings afterwards. I'd recommend the Reserva de la Famiila and the Gran. Here's a list of their wines:

https://www.juveycamps.com/en/cava/#coupages

Llopart does a great tour and tasting, but they are not that close to the train station - it looks like the winery Rubicund mentions is in walking distance.

If I’m reading correct;y, you want to combine the winery visit with Montserrat? One thing Llopart has going for it is an amazing view of the mountain, which is cool to see before a visit there. The cable car is closed in February, so you’ll need to take the Cremallera. Check the timetables carefully because they stop running in early evening. Or go to Montserrat first, then the winery.

I love staying overnight at Montserrat. I love it when there are hardly any people around, and you can go to vespers and see the boys choir (except on Thursdays and Saturdays, they don’t sing those nights.) waking up to the sunrise can be magic. So if you have never been, consider overnighting there on your way to Madrid. Park your stuff in Barcelona at a luggage place, and pick it up before taking the train to Madrid.

Montserrat charges now to enter the Basilica and see the Virgin but not if you are a guest at the hotel. I’ve stayed up there many times… the spirituality returns as soon as all the giant buses leave.

marigross,
The 4 or 5 patios in the San Basilio quarter of Córdoba, yes, will be open, but in my experience are just not worth it in the winter. There's just not that much to see. I was there in February and visited but meh....it certainly wasn't a highlight of my 4 day visit,
The other highlights were
1. the evening sound and light visit to the Mezquita, "Alma de Córdoba,"
2. the evening horse show (somewhat like the horse ballet at the Real Escuela de Jerez) in the Caballerizas Reales, which are two "newish" activities for Córdoba evenings, in addition to a stroll over the illuminated Roman bridge to the Torre de Calahorra. And Córdoba is filled with great places to dine these days....just follow ekscrunchy's recent thread.
What I would do in your case is to visit the Renaissance noble home, the Palacio de Viana, with its twelve interconnecting patios which is both a patio museum and a noble residence not only with patios but with tiles, fountains, a variety of greenery, statues, the stables, carriages and the original kitchen. You don't need to take the guided tour of the second floor to enjoy this mansion, just stroll downstairs and visit all the patios at your leisure. Closed on Monday.

I've taken the bus to Medina Azahara and it's definitely worth it. Closed on Monday.

My newsletter with an article about the 8 nicest sparkling Penedés wines to serve for NYE includes the Llopart Leopardi 2015 Brut Nature, made with the 3 local grapes of xarel·lo, macabeo & parellada.

Cordon Negro went down very well at Christmas ;-)

We had L'Origan Aire 2020 Brut Nature. Gets a 90 from the Guía Peñín.

Thank you! I'll look into Torres.

Thank you!

Thank you! I didn't know that the cable car did not run in February, so I'll plan accordingly. I would like to see the boy's choir at 1:00pm so the winery visit will have to be in the afternoon.

marigross,
You now need a reservation to hear the Escolania at 1 pm. The calendar indicates what dates are still available.
https://reserves.abadiamontserrat.ca...colanias-chant

Hola Maribel!!!! I found Eks post, and been reading through it. Wishing and hankering for a spot at Noor, but this might not be within the budget/common interests for this particular trip.

We will be in Cordoba Sun-Tues so it seems like we will miss the horse show. Do you know when they post the dates for the Alma de Córdoba show? I keep looking for the February dates to open but they don't. I'll do the Medina thing by myself on Tuesday, my travel mates might not be interested as it would be a first-time visit for one of them and the other one is not as historically-inclined as I am.

Wait what?!?! Oh no.. my date of Feb the 9th does not seem to be available! Puts a damper on the whole visit plan.

Noor is indeed not in everyone´s budget or common interest, but there are plenty of other great places that can be, as can be Paco Morales´s contemporary small plates space, El Bar de Paco Morales, and other new places----Regadera, La Cuchara de San Lorenzo, Terra Olea, Garum 2.0 and the classic tabernas. Lots of great dining these days in Córdoba. I'll be heading there for Semana Santa.

About Alma de Córdoba, usually a month in advance, but I would check daily. It looks like Tuesday would be your only time. In the winter the show is only given a couple of days per week and starts at 8 pm. The show does sell out.

Another evening activity----there is a new hammam that might be of interest to your friends.
https://cordoba.hammamalandalus.com

Write to them. The email is on the website. It seems they only open the calendar one month in advance (at least when I look at it.)

They are quite helpful in the tourist office there.

Thank you for the suggestion, I will.

We took a day trip with Spanish Trails tour company to Montserrat and cava winery. It was some years ago but we had a great time. Hiked out to the Madonna chapel as well.

If you want to visit cava cellars, Torres is not one of them since it's basically wine cellars. Freixenet I don't recommend it very much. It is a very, very large company and most of its grapes no longer come from the territory. Codorniu is a bit the same but has the added value of the modernist building. Parés Baltà has a top tour called Terroir Tour 4x4. The description is: enjoy a trip in 4×4 through the Natural Park of Foix, from the valley up to the highest mountains, visiting millenary terraces up to the chapel of Foix. Discover one of the most surprising landscapes of Penedès while knowing about the wide range of soils, microclimates and biodiversity that sorround us. We finish the adventure with a commented tasting of our organic and biodynamic wines and cavas. The tasting is paired with fuet, Manchego cheese and our extra virgin olive oil produced in Priorat. The duration of the visit is approximately 4 hours.

You can get there from the Barcelona Sants or Plaça Catalunya train stations, take Renfe line R4, towards Sant Vicenç de Calders. Stop in Vilafranca del Penedès. You will be able to take a taxi from the stand next to the station exit, they are just 5km from there (or bike).

Gracias!