Around Jerez

Visitors to Jerez will discover its prime location between sea and mountains, between the capitals Cadiz and Seville. Jerez lies just off the A-4 tollway, making it a brief 20 minute drive south to Cadiz, or a 50 minute drive to Seville. The nearest beaches are about 9 km away. And now with the completion of the Jerez-Los Barrios highway, in under an hour one can visit such places as Gibraltar, Algeciras or Tarifa. Or perhaps you may be interested in visiting the Sierra de Cadiz, a beautiful mountain range containing a number of pleasant villages, also known in Spanish as the Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos.

El Puerto de Santa Maria- A lovely beach resort town famous for its sherry, its bullring, and as the best place to go for pescao frito, fried fish, or marisco, shellfish. In summer the place gets packed with vacationers from other points of Spain and beyond, outside the high season the city is a refreshingly quiet and laid-back town. A very pleasant day trip would include a visit of the town of Puerto, then taking the vapor, which leaves from the main dock in the old part of town, shipping you across the bay to Cadiz where you get off right in the center of the "casco antiguo" or old town.. Not a bad option considering the dire parking situation in Cadiz. The boat has hourly departures between Cadiz and Puerto during daylight hours. Good beaches to head for are La Muralla in Puerto Sherry or El Manantial, on the way towards Rota.

Rota and Chipiona are also decent places to head for if you are looking for beaches. Rota has a distinct feel from other villages in the area due to the presence of an American naval base. Chipiona has a lovely boardwalk with good places for seafood and an evening stroll. Look for Playa la Costilla, Punta Candor, and Costa Ballena in the former and Playa de la Regla and Cruz del Mar in the latter.

Sanlucar de Barrameda is a special town, set at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. It is also the departure point for excursions to Parque Doñana, a famed national park which has the most important gathering of migrating birds in Europe. Visits on boat leave from Bajo de Guia in Sanlucar at 10 a.m. from November to February. March, April, May and October, at 10 a.m. and at 4 p.m., and from June to September at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The tour takes 3 and a half hours and reservations are recommended. Tel. 956 363 813. In addition to visiting the park, Sanlucar is a wonderful town to wander along its boardwalk, or take in seafood in the Bajo de Guia. Its king sized prawns (langostinos) are famous throughout Spain, as is Manzanilla, a pale fortified white wine produced in Sanlucar's environs. If you are walking around the centre don't miss Casa Balbino, an institution in Sanlucar and an excellent place, albeit crowded, for tapas. During the days leading up to the Pentecost (Whitsunday), hundreds of thousands of people converge on Sanlucar to cross the  river into the park, as they make their way to El Rocio, the site of a holy shrine to Nuestra Señora del Rocio (Our Lady of the Dew). This festive pilgrimage is by far Spain's most popular "romeria" and very dear in the hearts of many Andalusians, who make the pilgrimage on horseback, horse drawn carriage, or on foot. Aside from its religious pretensions it is a wild drinking, hard partying event with lots of flamenco and sevillanas.

Going south from Jerez, you come to the capital of the province and the oldest continually inhabited city in Europe, Cadiz. The feel in Cadiz is much different than Jerez. Jerez has always been more traditional, Cadiz more progressive. The first Spanish constitution was signed here in 1812. The old center of Cadiz with its high buildings is a wonderful place to explore, with a number of monuments also significant to the conquest of the Americas. The Torre de Tavira is an excellent place to begin an introduction to the city's history. Like Jerez's camara oscura, they give a similar presentation and much interesting information on Cadiz and its maritime importance, not to mention spectacular views from the terrace. Also of interest is the Cadiz Cathedral, rebuilt after a fire in 1596 and added to over the centuries, it's gold gilted dome is easily recognised from afar and is a symbol of the city. Noted composer Manuel de Falla is buried here as well as writer Jose Maria Peman. The Parque Genoves has some wonderful botanical gardens including trees that were brought centuries ago by returning conquistadores from the Americas. Along the waterfront there are nice views across the bay to Puerto and Rota. Don't leave without visiting the popular neighbourhood La Viña, with many good places for seafood. Afterwards and close by is a pleasant walk out to Castillo San Sebastian, near the only beach in the old town, La Caleta.

Further down from Cadiz are some excellent beach towns, including Conil de la Frontera, Los Caños de Meca, Zahara de los Atunes, and Tarifa. Though they are far from being the well kept secrets they once were only a few years ago, they are still wonderfully relaxing places with a laid back atmosphere. Tarifa also has a very convenient half hour ferry that will take you to Tangier (Morocco). A bit inland is Vejer de la Frontera, near Caños de Meca, a hilltop village commanding wonderful views of the countryside and tranquil and timeless streets. A particular feature of Vejer's history is the fact that up to as recently as 40 odd years ago, the womenfolk wore a long black robe similar in fashion to an Iranian chador, which they used to cover themselves from head to foot in the fashion of their muslim predecessors forced from the land centuries before. This is in evidence in a small museum dedicated to the local customs and crafts of Vejer in its fortified Islamic castle (10th-11th century). The small town celebrates Easter Sunday with a rambunctious toro embolao, or bull with its horns taped, that they run loose through the streets of the town San Fermin style, not as crazy as the Pamplona celebration but interesting if nothing else to witness outlandish displays of country Andalucian male bravado.

Going east from Jerez, the most important of the pueblos blancos (white villages) is Arcos de la Frontera, a dramatically positioned hill town with wonderful views out to the Cadiz mountain range. Beyond Arcos there are two different routes, one going in the direction of Ronda, or the other towards Grazalema. The road going towards Ronda will take you to Zara de la Sierra, Olvera and Setenil de las Bodegas, among others. These villages are particularly beautiful around Corpus Christi, where townsfolk cover the ground and the walls with tree branch cuttings and other greenery. If you are heading all the way to Ronda don't miss La Cueva de la Pileta, a huge cavern, only partially explored, discovered by the ancestors of the Andalusian family that now gives guided tours by lamplight. Follow the road signs to a parking lot from where you hike up a few minutes to the cave's entrance. The town just before the Cueva is Benaojan, where you can pick up a very pleasant hiking trail in the direction of Cortes de la Frontera. The trail follows a river and there are various small villages along the way where you can rest or catch a train back to Benaojan.

Towards Grazalema there is El Bosque, Benaocaz, Villaluenga del Rosario and Grazalema itself, a very charming mountain village with excellent hiking possibilities. In Benaocaz  you can pick up a hiking trail down to the town of Ubrique, a center for leather production, on an old road dating back to Roman times. All these villages are popular in winter, and there are many possibilities for renting furnished houses for short stays.

If you are staying at the Riad we can recommend some good itineraries for pleasant day trips, depending on whether you have a car rental or use the extensive train/bus system.