When visiting Spain, we always recommend stopping by small towns, as it´s where you can find the most authentic part of the country. In this case, very close to Cordoba and Granada, there is a small town known as Priego de Cordoba and it´s absolutely amazing. Of course, we understand that you can not spend 5 days in a tiny village, and in just one day is hard to decide what to see. Well, don´t worry, because we have prepared a list of 10 things to do in Priego de Cordoba that will make your trip much easier.
1) Try the best olive oil in the world
Here is the first surprise and the reason why you have to stop by Priego de Cordoba…They have the best olive oil in the world! You may have heard that Jaen, Granada or Extremadura have better oils, but the truth is that this small town have the achievement of being the most olive oil awarded place on earth.
We got he chance to try it, and in our opinion, it was absolutely amazing. You can use it for whichever dish you want, but as locals told us, the best way to try it is by pouring a little bit on the plate and dipping it with bread.
Oh! And don´t forget to bring one or two bottles to your house…If not you will be missing it a lot.
2) Visit the Olive grove and do a “tasting activity”
If you really want to get to know all the story behind “the best olive oil in the world”, then we advise you visiting the olive groves. There are many tours and activities in Priego de Cordoba where they take you to the mountains and they teach you about the different types of olives, how they pick it up and many other things.
Plus, all that natural area is very beautiful. You can admire thousands of olive trees and an impressive landscape.
Once you are done with your visit, you should also go to an oil press. There are quite a few in the area so you won´t have problems finding one. You will get to taste and smell the different types of oils.
3) Stand on potato chips
We know that “Stand on potato chips” sounds very weird but let us explain you about it.
As Priego de Cordoba has an incredible olive oil, they have been able to make some amazing potato chips with it. These chips are so delicious that have become popular all over the world, and now they have to export them by plane. The problem is that with the pressure and the long journey, the bags weren´t able to arrive to the different countries in good conditions.
Fortunately, they have come up with a great solution, which consisted of making very strong and powerful bags that are able to hold the weight of a person. Although it may seem unbelievable, Alfonso stood up in the bags for a few seconds and the bag did not break. There is not 100% guarantee, and the chips are very good, so if you don´t want them to break, don´t risk it.
4) Try the turrolate
We promise that it´s not all about food in Priego de Cordoba, but as you can see is one of the best gastronomic towns in Spain. Another of the things to do in Priego de Cordoba is trying their delicious turrolate, which is a very unique type of sweet.
Although the name is very tricky, the turrolate is not a mix of the famous “turron” and chocolate, instead is a special sweet that has its origins on the town and that tastes something similar to a mix of “polvorones” and soft turron. It´s delicious.
The turrolate has a very interesting story, and locals love to talk about it, so visit it any of their bakery shops and ask them.
5) Visit the “Barrio de la villa”
The best place to visit in Priego de Cordoba is by far the “Barrio de la Villa”, or also known in English as the “Villa neighborhood”.
White streets and geraniums on colorful pots is what makes this are so beautiful. It´s more or less the essence of all Cordoba, but the best of seeing it in this town is that you will have it all for yourself with no tourists at all.
Being more concrete, we advise you going to the “San Antonio square”. Is the most colorful and beautiful part.
6) Balcon del Adarve
The next place on our list of things to see in Priego de Cordoba is only 1 minute far from “Barrio de la Villa” and it´s the Adarve Balcony, or how it´s said in Spanish “El Balcón del Adarve”.
This popular site is a viewpoint from where you can admire an incredible landscape of the mountains, the olive trees and part of the town.
As we always say, GO THERE AT SUNRISE TIME! You won´t regret waking up early in the morning.
7) Priego de Cordoba castle
A must do activity in Priego de Cordoba that you have to add to your itinerary is visiting their castle. Once again, since the town is very small, you won´t have to walk long distances to get there.
The castle is an old Arabic fortress that has 7 towers (two of them are cylindric, and the rest are rectangular). It´s “Torre del Homenaje” is considered as a National historic and artistic monument, plus, it´s also an important cultural element for the country.
The castle is self is nice, but what we liked the most about it, where the views from the top.
8) Do a “Churches tour” in Priego de Cordoba
One of the things you can´t miss on your visit to Priego de Cordoba are the “Andalusian baroque style churches”. Everyone agrees that their baroque churches are the gem of the town (It´s true that people are very religious in this area)
The list of churches you have to visit is huge, but since you probably don´t have that much time, we are going to recommend you three of them.
“Iglesia de la Asunción” is the most famous one, and not especially because of the church itself (which is all right), but because of the sanctuary they have inside. The other two are “iglesia de San Francisco”, and “Iglesia de la Aurora”.
9) Fuente del Rey
Another must see place in Priego de Cordoba is the “Fuente del rey”, or “Fountain of the king”. It´s the oldest and best conserved monument of the town and the locals are very proud of it.
Being honest, we loved the fountain, and we think that if it was located in Madrid or Barcelona instead of Priego de Cordoba, it would be much more famous.
The monument has 3 different levels, in one of them there is a lion and a snake fighting each other, and in another level, you will see a statue of Neptune. There are 139 canyons all over the fountain…Impressive right?
10) See the “Hermanos de la aurora” singing
You won´t probably find this activity in any other Touristic guide of Priego de Cordoba, but for us, it was super authentic.
The “Hermanos de la Aurora” are a brotherhood that sing popular songs every single Saturday since 1696, and when we saw it, we literally felt like we went 300 years to the past.
It´s true that this exists I other places of Spain, but in Priego de Cordoba, is the only location where they still do it every Saturday, instead of just during festive days.
Enjoy all the things to see in Priego de Cordoba
That´s it! That´s the end of our “What to do in Priego de Cordoba” list, as you have seen there are quite a few activities and you won´t have time to be bored. We hope you get the chance to visit it, and if you do, and you have any other question or suggestion, please let us know.
