Fortaleza de la Mota in Alcalá la Real

Very nice place worthy to visit while you go from Granada to Cordoba.In your way will find this beautiful castle, spend 1 hour explore it before you continue to cordoba

Impressive fortress on top of a hill. Seems like a hidden gem as there were almost no tourists on a weekday in November. The audio guide is really good and makes you feel the atmosphere of the past. Make sure to have comfortable shoes as there are many rocks and stairs to climb. Also for kids a good place as there are always new things to discover around every corner.

Well what a surprise! This is a fortress, abbey and medieval town in remarkable condition. Each area is very well labelled in order to understand the history of this citadel on the frontier between Christian Castilla and Muslim Granada. Worth a drive to visit. Heres a tip, free entry after 3pm on Tuesdays.

Really worth a visit. Very interesting.

I have been 5 times now and love it. The film played in the church is powerful. You now need a smart phone for the audio. The price is excellent value

Great day out with lots of Alcala history staff was fantastic thank you all

What a great place to see... Do not miss the Hidden City walk through, it is so amazing how things were almost 700 years ago...

Really enjoyable visit, not too overcrowded and plenty to see. Entry is free on Tuesday evenings

Very interesting place with a lot of history (and wind)

Amazing visit to the fortress and castle in Alcala la Real. So much to see and its only 6 euros each 😀

Absolutely amazing place. Well worth the visit and the entrance fee. We spent 2 hours there. Steeped in history and there are lots of information points around the rooms and grounds. One word of advice, if you are not fit go by car or taxi. Very steep climb up the streets.

Great stop on the way to Granda - Cordoba.

Great. Were glad we stopped here just seeing the fort from the road on the way from Cordóba to Granada. It turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip to Spain. We arrived earlyish (around 10:30amwhen the site was almost empty. It was much bigger and interesting than we expected.

Beside the castle and the church, the remains of the medieval city are really worth the visit.

Brilliant visit to this impressive castle. Spend time to absorb the atmosphere of thy castle - we were there for just under two hours. Worth a second visit.

Huge, absolutely huge. I greatly underestimated the size of the castle, which also includes the ruins of a town.

One of the better preserved fortress Ive seen, quiet big and impressive, seats in a great position, really comprehensive audio guide, and nice exhibitions inside

Awesome viewpoints, a castle built in the 15th century.

Outstanding experience, well worth the visit (and the 6€).

Fabulous Fabulous FabulousA must see place for everyone!So interesting, amazing views, steeped in history as you find out from the video in the catacombs Lovely staff. Only €6 and its cheaper for oaps. Cant ask for more value

Fantastic history to the place, so much to see you could spend a day there. Plus, the toilets are amazingly clean.

Incredible place, loved every minute. The audio visual that starts at 13.30 is incredible in the church. Covered in goosebumps the whole time. The Mota is a wonderful preserved piece of history. Loved everything about it. Make sure you take a hat and water in Summer as you need them to spend time to see everything.

One the most beautiful place in Andaluacia amazing town

Beautifully restored, well managed.

This isnt "just" a castle its a small walled city with unbeatable views. There is ongoing sensitive restoration so everytime I go theres more to see. Its easy to miss parts so I followed the map/ plan today. Favourite parts are the Barrio Bahondillo, the trebuchet, bodegas and the ice house. You can close your eyes and just feel the past.Friendly helpful staff in the reception and Oscar spoke great English. Very reasonable entrance fee for whats on offer too.In England there would be an enormous gift shop but theres only a tiny one here!

Fantastic castle in a stunning setting with 360 degree views of mountains. Only 6 euros including an audioguide. Deserves to have many more visitors. On the road from Cordoba to Granada.

Its history is amazing. Not everybody knows how important was this place in the history of Spain. Its audiovisual is breathtaking (also in English.Its very interesting to walk around it, and see all the fortress, and the recently opened underground galleries.

Nice place and well worth the money. For 5,00 euros you get entrance and an electronic guide. We liked the atmosphere here and the fact that there were very less visitors.

Ok you have to like ruined castles to make the journey to this remote spot worth while. However if you are within an hours drive it is well worth the trip. A huge hilltop fortress, partly ruined. Almost entirely empty of tourists the day that I visited. Not much in the way of internal furnishing, largely just the structure and a couple of explanatory displays.Cheap to get in to. Some slight hills to walk up to get in but easy access. On site toilets.Signage was reasonable and some translation into English. Audio tour available.Expect a visit to last between an hour and two hours depending on how quickly you cover the ground.

A must see. Great impression of the host of Spain and the way people lived in these times. Special because it wasnt "just" a castle but it was a complete fortified city.

A fantastic piece of history to walk around for €6. There is a video to watch to provide the history of the buildings and an audio guide. Very clean toilets are available and a small free carpark. Very interesting and worth a visit. Fantastic views from the top.

This place is an incredible find!! Nested on top of a hill surrounded by olive trees this fortress was fantastically renovated. I recommend watching the documentary that shows in the church — it’s very well done ! Only 6€, audioguide included, can easily spend 2 hours exploring this place!

This place we came to by accident as we were going to Alhambra, but were turned away as the place was full!So definitely a happy accident, peaceful, very interesting and a bonus was disabled parking right in the middle of the Fortress/Castle - loved it!

We saw this from the road on the way to our hotel and decided to retrace our route bc we were a bit awestruck by the way it sat on top of the hill in Ascala de Real. We were not disappointed. The audioguide took us through the day of a commander in 1200 or so. It described the various spots by the people who would have been there. Nothing corny...totally appropriate and historical. The specific gardens and wine urns and water system and the cathedral, the Abbots residence. Imagination is the key here to understanding how magnificently these walled cities were constructed and operated. Dont miss this!!!!

Amazing museum, lots of history, videos with English subtitles and signs with translations. Great views. Big, needs about 2 hours to explore completely.

Amazing place, so clean, reasonably priced €6 each, helpful and friendly staff, lovely day out

A beautiful castle with great history, and views.

This place is wonderful and highly underrated in my opinion. Its quite hard to find information about it unless you search in advance, but the place and surroundings are beautiful! The guided tour is amazing, and you can watch a great movie about Mota history in the church

Very good audio guide that let us imagine how life was in a medieval fortress.

The views are good and it is interesting but no more special than other castles in the area. 6 euros entrance

You will have this incredible place to yourself. We visited and there were only about 8 people there. You will get an amazing panoramic view, free parking, and the audioguide is included with a €6 ticket. I would visit this again.

Great experience. Unexpected: exhibits all had English and French translation. Be sure to watch the video in the church. Great footage.

This fortress is full of history. Alcalá la Real was a significant town in the times of Spain being a Muslim country. The rich history and inheritance abounds here and the visit to this castle in a great experience. The towers, cobble stone, church, lavanda field! Even better if you happen to be in town during the holidays in August when there is a medieval celebration to take you back in time.

You can see the buildings from far away as they are up a very steep hill. The view from here is amazing and the place is a nice spot in the middle of the trip from Cordoba to Granada.

One of the best restorations and expositions of Moorish castles and life in that time that I have seen . Their mediaeval festival is well worth a visit. Lots of activities, food and drink in a spectacular setting.

A real experience, one can feel the history and the views are amazing

Great visit and the views of Alcala La Real and the surrounding coutryside are stunning. Worth hanging around for the presentation in the church to get the history of the place.

Huge castle in the beautiful area. Takes at least one hour to walk through.

Absolutely fantastic place - I can honestly say I have never been to a more splendid ancient fortress. We spent 4 hours here and could have spent much longer - there are brochures in English, unlike a lot of places in Spain and an excellent guided walk. One word of warning - don’t even begin to think about it if you have any walking disabilities because there is a lot of stair climbing, but every step is worth it. Also there are ongoing excavations so new things being discovered. One really incredible place was the church which had a completely excavated floor showing what I can only assume are the scores of tombs - amazing. The views out over the countryside are mind blowing. You probably need to plan to spend most of a day here and the price is very reasonable at 6 Euros per person. There are other places to visit in the town as well - if you are travelling by car take the scenic route to here from Jaen - it’s almost alpine.

We just happened to find this fort driving from Córdoba to Grenada and I highly recommend stopping here. This may have been the best tour weve done in Andalusia. Your entry includes an audio guide which comes in many different languages and they really go in depth about each part of the fort you are in. Also, there was barely anyone there, which was a breath of relief coming from Córdoba and Sevilla.