May 2022 Cordoba, Spain

Cordoba was a last-minute decision decided on largely because it was going to be a train transfer on the way to Granada. I’m really glad I stopped though, it’s a beautiful place with great old buildings, the gorgeous Roman Bridge of Córdoba, and a lot of winding little streets.

This was a 4-night stay…

  • Accommodation –  $325.00* (additional information below)
  • Getting around locally – $0
  • Living expenses – $120.57 (mainly just groceries and eating out)
  • Activities – $0
  • Mobile phone/data  – $9.95 (I use Google Fi which provides service in most countries. If you’re interested and based in the U.S., you can use this paid link to sign up, which will give me a referral fee at no extra cost to you.)
  • Medical insurance – $9.21 (I’m using SafetyWing; rates are determined by age, and mine is slightly above the base. If you’re interested there is a paid link/banner on the right side of the page)


Total $464.73 / 4-nights = $116.18 per

*Hotel info

  • I stayed at Rincón de la Fuenseca reserved through Booking.com. It’s a little different than the typical places I try to stay at; it’s a large house with a shared kitchen and patio. The room was similar to a small hotel room with a private bathroom. I think it might have been an office or something like that at some point though because the room had commercial lighting and some of the signs looked more like you’s see in an office than an accommodation. All-in-all it was a decent place and the guy running it was cool. My particular room was right by the entry on the ground floor by a side street, so there was a bit of street noise (there’s also a bar/restaurant right across the street), but for a short stay, it was alright.

Transportation to and from varies a lot, so I left it out of the above breakdown along with most incidental/one-time personal costs. But for those interested, in this particular case, I booked a direct train with Renfe from València Nord to Cordoba; the cost was 45,35€ ($48.08). All other standard day to day expenses are included to give an idea of how much basic living costs in the area are. Groceries will sometimes include personal care items (i.e., toothpaste, deodorant, etc.).

** I try to use Rakuten whenever it’s an option; why not take the money. It works with a browser add-on, and there is also a mobile app. Note from the Ratuken site, “Stores pay us a commission for sending our members to their websites, and we share it with you. It’s that simple!” If you haven’t signed up yet, and are interested, please consider using this referral link to help support me, and get a signup bonus. I use it regularly and recommend it, but take a look for yourself to decide if it’s right for you. When you sign up using the link, use it spending $, we each get $! The $ varies, I’ve recently seen at $40 and $30. They state “Offer may be modified or canceled anytime.” Payments are made by PayPal, or you can have a check sent to you.

*** Of course, the currency exchange varied during the stay, so for simplicity, I used a rate of 1 USD = 0,91€ for cash transactions. The accommodations and some daily purchases made on cards were entered at the converted cost charged.

**** Since this is my living situation, I don’t go to top-rated restaurants or paid entry to tourist attractions too much. I do eat out a lot, but nothing too special; to some extent, it’s somewhat more cost-effective this way… at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I try to be cost-conscious, eating as a local would… maybe you could say like a broke college guy that is LOL! I try to note any differences to this above.

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