hi,
does anyone have any info on - am train sevilla-cordoba,leave luggage at cordoba train station, take late afternoon train to madrid?
thanks,gail

gail,
We just did this recently; took the 10 a.m. AVE from Santa Justa station in Sevilla to Cordoba-a 40 min. ride. We then took a late afternoon AVE to Madrid, an 1hr. 20 min. ride.

At the Cordoba station right above the AVE tracks at the top of the escalator you'll find luggage storage bins in 3 sizes. With far too much luggage, we needed 2 large bins. But please make sure you have PLENTY of coins with you, as there's no attendant there to help you, no change machine, and bins require exact change. Also luggage carts in Sevilla and Cordoba require a 1 euro coin. For the large bins-4,5 euros, medium-3, small (really small)-2,4 euros.
After closing the bins, you'll get a little thin receipt with a number (open the receipt-the number is on the inside, on the outside it's blank) which you'll need to retrieve your luggage.

We then grabbed a taxi to the Mezquita (5,5 euros), spent an hr. there among tremendous crowds, then took a walking tour of the Juderia-walked up to the end of the Calleja de las Flores (but far fewer flowers these days) along with everyone else, to take that quintessential photo op of the Mezquita (a bit tricky given the crowds), then the Museo Julio Romero de Torres, the gardens of the Alcazar and finally revisited the rambling Museo Taurino, where this time a sweet guard took charge of our visit, giving us an interesting guided tour (in Spanish-no English signs at the museum).

But we sure did choose the wrong time/day for this yr.'s Cordoba visit (but couldn't tear ourselves away from Sevilla any earlier). At 11 a.m. on Easter Monday the mosque and souk-like souvenir store area surrounding it were just jam packed with tour groups!
We retreated to the tranquility of the upstairs outdoor terrace of El Caballo Rojo and had a lovely lunch of exquisite regional dishes, like artichokes with grapes, raisins and pine nuts, salmorejo (the thick gazpacho with ham), ajo blanco (cold white almond soup) with very gracious service-just perfect.

Since we had just taken a carriage ride in Sevilla, we skipped one in Cordoba, but it would be a nice way to see the city, particularly on a hot day (and Cordoba can be an oven in the summer-was 75 F on our visit).

We didn't visit the new Arab baths, the hamaan, the synagogue or taxi to the Palacio de los Marqueses de Viana on this trip because of lack of time.

My advise would be to take an earlier AVE to reach Cordoba by 9:30 ish, so as to beat the tour bus hordes at the Mezquita. It opens at 10.

Hope this helps.

Dear Gail,

I checked the spanish railway company Renfe's website and the Cordoba train station has luggage lockers available 24h.a day.

Yes, this is doable, the AVE train leaves practically every hour, you can check specific timetables in the website www.renfe.com and even buy tickets online.

Make that "my advice".

ttt for ladybug98