Day 1
Depart on an early morning flight from the UK (departs from Luton 0600 hrs, Gatwick at 0725 hrs, from Manchester at 0800 hrs and Glasgow at 0910 hrs approximately) – other regional flight connections and/or overnight accommodation before or after the tour available on request. On arrival in Malaga we will be met by our coach and transferred to our hotel in Córdoba. There will be time to explore the city at leisure.

Day 2
This morning, following breakfast, we will have the first of our visits by foot to the patio gardens of Córdoba. Patios, or enclosed courtyards, developed from the 10th century onward, although it was in the 19th century that the concept of the patio as a shared space began to flourish. As people came in from the countryside to work in towns, families would occupy a few rooms of the three or four storey buildings built around courtyards, which became communal living spaces where people ate, washed and entertained. They also became communal gardens with a few plants, nearly always in pots, and perhaps a tree for shade and a climber to grow up the inside of the walls. Although such communal buildings are rare now, many people still choose to share their patios, treating their courtyard as their garden and spending an important part of their lives in that space. Geraniums (or pelargoniums, if you prefer) dominate, planted in terracotta pots which are often brightly painted, but there are also carnations, petunias, ferns, bananas, jasmine, bougainvillea and jacaranda. No two patios are exactly the same and as we wander from one to another, we can expect an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colour and fragrance. In the afternoon we will visit the Great Mosque with its Orange Grove, which was first laid out in the late 8th Century and must be one of the true wonders of the world. Outside is a huge patio covered in orange trees - Patio de los Naranjos - which was originally covered with fountains used for bathing before entering the mosque. On entering you are struck by the vast number of pillars supporting the arches with their distinctive red and white tiles which are so much a symbol of the whole design. The mosque is now a mixture of Moorish and Christian with chapels incorporated into the building and it is stunning in both its appearance and atmosphere. The stunning gardens of The Royal Palaces of the Alcázar are Moorish in style, laid out in rows around long pools with numerous fountains. The sound of the water and the smells of the garden make it an experience for all the senses. At the end of one of these long pools are statues of Columbus together with Ferdinand and Isabel symbolising their meeting in Córdoba. Evening at leisure.

Day 3
After breakfast this morning we will visit further patio gardens by foot in Córdoba. In the afternoon we will visit further patio gardens in the area, as well as the Viana Palace, which has wonderful gardens itself and no fewer than fourteen patios. The fourteenth-century palace is now a museum, with an extraordinary collection of furniture, tapestries, porcelains, ceramics and paintings and a cynegetic library of 7000 volumes. We return to the hotel late afternoon and there will be free time for the remainder of the day.

Day 4
This morning after breakfast we will transfer to the airport in time for our return flights (due to arrive back into Manchester at 12.10 hrs, Luton at 13.15 hrs, Gatwick at 11.50 hrs and Glasgow at 14.00 hrs approximately).
PLEASE NOTE ALL FLIGHT TIMES ARE PROVISIONAL.

Our hotel is the comfortable Hotel Conquistador. All rooms are en-suite with air conditioning, hairdryer, satellite television, direct dial telephone and mini bar.