Marisol Peña

Five nights across Andalusia

5 nights · March, or late October · Medium pace · Mid range

Seville, Córdoba and Granada, by train, two buildings a day. The Alhambra slot decides the whole itinerary so book that first and build backwards.

1. Day 1

   The Alcázar at opening

   • Alcázar of Seville · Morning · Sight

     First slot. Go straight past the ticket crowd to the Patio de las Doncellas and sit down for twenty minutes before you photograph anything.

   • La Giralda · Afternoon · Sight

     A minaret with a belfry put on top of it. The ramp inside was built for a man on horseback.

   • El Rinconcillo · Evening · Meal

     Spinach with chickpeas, standing at the bar, bill chalked on the wood.

     • Seen in Time Out Sevilla. Listed by Time Out Sevilla as a city classic, open since 1670

2. Day 2

   Courtyards and kilns

   • Casa de Pilatos · Morning · Museum

     The best private courtyard in the city. Take the upstairs ticket as well, it is worth the extra.

   • Centro Cerámica Triana · Afternoon · Museum

     Across the bridge, built over the old kilns. After two days of tiles you will want to know how they were made.

   • ConTenedor · Evening · Meal

     In the Macarena. Book a table, the room is small.

     • Seen in Time Out Sevilla. Listed in Time Out Sevilla's restaurant guide as a local and seasonal produce kitchen

3. Day 3

   Córdoba

   • Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba · Morning · Journey stop

     Ticketed and run by the cathedral chapter. There are free early-morning slots and they fill fast. Go in the dark end first, before your eyes adjust.

   • Historic Centre of Cordoba · Afternoon · Walk

     The listed centre. Walk the lanes north of the mosque and look through every open door you pass.

4. Day 4

   Medina Azahara

   • Caliphate City of Medina Azahara · Morning · Sight

     A whole caliphal city built and abandoned inside seventy years. Bus from the visitor centre, and there is no shade on the terraces.

   • Calleja de las Flores · Evening · Walk

     Yes it is the photograph everyone takes. Go at eight in the evening in May and you will see why.

5. Day 5

   Granada

   • Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada · Morning · Journey stop

     Timed entry and the Nasrid Palaces slot sells out weeks ahead. Official site only. Give the Generalife the afternoon and do not try to do both at speed.

   • Mirador de San Nicolás · Evening · Walk

     Up in the Albaicín, looking back at what you spent the day inside. Crowded, and still the right way to end.

• Seen in Time Out Sevilla. Time Out Sevilla's guide to the fifteen best tapas bars in the city

Four nights of Istanbul stone

4 nights · April, or October · Medium pace · Mid range

Two buildings a day and a long lunch between them. Working mosques all have prayer times and a dress code, so I plan around them rather than turning up and hoping.

1. Day 1

   Sultanahmet

   • Blue Mosque · Morning · Journey stop

     A working mosque. Visitors use a separate door, outside prayer times, with shoulders, knees and hair covered. Twenty thousand tiles and most people look for four minutes.

   • Hagia Sophia · Afternoon · Sight

     Its status and its visitor rules have changed more than once in recent years. Check the current arrangement the week you go.

   • beyti lokanta · Evening · Meal

     Out in Florya, and a long taxi. Grilled meat done one way since 1945.

     • Seen in Time Out Istanbul. Listed on Time Out Istanbul's EAT List

2. Day 2

   Sinan, and the tiles above the market

   • Süleymaniye Mosque · Morning · Journey stop

     A working mosque, so outside prayer times with shoulders, knees and hair covered. Sinan's best interior and the calmest courtyard in the city.

   • Rüstem Paşa Camii · Afternoon · Sight

     Up a staircase you will walk past twice before you find it. The İznik tiles here are the finest in Istanbul.

   • Grand Bazaar · Evening · Market

     Look up at the vaulting and go out through one of the side hans. That is where the building is still honest.

     • Seen in Lonely Planet. The subject of Lonely Planet's dedicated guide to the Grand Bazaar

3. Day 3

   The palace, slowly

   • Topkapı Palace · Morning · Museum

     Buy the harem ticket as well, that is where the tilework is. Four hours, and take the third courtyard first.

   • Nuruosmaniye Mosque · Afternoon · Sight

     Ottoman baroque, at the bazaar gate. Completely different eye, and a useful corrective after three days of Sinan.

   • Neolokal · Evening · Meal

     Ask for a window. The view is of everything you walked yesterday.

     • Seen in Lonely Planet. Named among the restaurants redefining the modern Turkish kitchen

4. Day 4

   Up the Horn, and across the water

   • Eyüp Sultan Mosque · Morning · Journey stop

     Very heavy weekend and Ramadan traffic and prayer times govern access. Go on a weekday morning. People come here to pray, not to be photographed.

   • Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque · Afternoon · Sight

     Another Sinan, small, restored beautifully, down at Tophane. Ten minutes inside is plenty and the ten minutes are lovely.

   • Ismet Baba · Evening · Meal

     Fish on the water at Kuzguncuk, on the Asian side. Take the ferry over and the ferry back in the dark.

     • Seen in Lonely Planet. Named among Istanbul's classic fish restaurants, in Kuzguncuk

• Seen in Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet's overview of where to eat and drink in Istanbul

Samarkand and Bukhara in five nights

5 nights · April to May, or September to October · Medium pace · Mid range

Blue tile on brick, by the fast train between the two cities. Check your government's current travel advice for Uzbekistan before booking. Neither city is catalogued on TravelDay yet, so this trip carries the listed-property rows and a lot of stops marked for the catalogue.

1. Day 1

   The Registan

   • The Registan · Afternoon · Journey stop

     Ticketed, inside the listed property. Three madrasas facing one square, built two hundred years apart. Come back after dark as well, the lighting is worth it.

   • Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures · Evening · Sight

     The whole listed property. Read the boards at the edge of the square before you go any further into the city.

2. Day 2

   The street of tombs

   • Shah-i-Zinda · Morning · Journey stop

     Ticketed. A narrow lane of tiled tomb facades, each one different. Go at opening, the lane is too tight for two tour groups.

   • Bibi-Khanym Mosque · Afternoon · Journey stop

     Ticketed. Built too big and too fast and it started falling down almost at once. Much of what stands is twentieth century rebuilding.

3. Day 3

   Shakhrisabz

   • Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz · Morning · Sight

     Over the pass, about two hours by car. The town around the monuments was heavily cleared in the 2010s and the listing has been on the danger register since.

   • Ak-Saray · Afternoon · Sight

     Two fragments of a gateway, fifty metres high, and nothing else left of the palace. It tells you what the scale of the rest was.

4. Day 4

   Bukhara

   • Po-i-Kalyan · Morning · Journey stop

     Ticketed. The madrasa is a working seminary and is not open to visitors. The minaret is twelfth century and survived what the rest of the square did not.

   • Historic Centre of Bukhara · Afternoon · Walk

     The whole listed centre, and small enough to walk end to end. Do it in the last hour of light.

5. Day 5

   Out of town, and the citadel

   • Bahouddin Naqshbandi Complex · Morning · Journey stop

     Twelve kilometres out, with a museum on site. Check current opening hours on the national tourism page. People come here to pray, so keep to the edges.

   • Ark of Bukhara · Afternoon · Sight

     The citadel, mostly rubble inside and a magnificent ramp outside. Twenty minutes and then the shade of the pool square.