Planning on going back to S.Spain this Winter. We have been a couple times before and looking for some new places to stay. We travel slowly and enoy staying in apartments and leisurely seeing an area. We plan to go to Sevilla, Cadiz, Malaga & Valencia. We've been to all but Cadiz in the past. I'm looking for ideas for a 5 day stay between Malaga and Valencia. We like casually exploring small towns, museums, eating good food and just soaking up the local vibes. We are not beach people. Also any ideas for day trips by car or public transport from Cadiz. Thanks for any ideas you have.

Good to see you posting again, yestravel! Shall we assume you've been to Cordoba and Granada already?

You might find some ideas in this recent thread:
A new destination in southern Spain ?

Thanks, kja -- been ages since I used this site for trip planning. I remember a few outstanding poster withSpain so figured I'd give it a try. Hope you are doing well.

That's a great thread you cited. not sure why it didnt come up in my search... Yes, been to Córdoba 3 times and Granda twice so will skip this trip. Unless we do a last minute day trip from Sevilla to Cordoba.

From Cadiz:


The Roman site at Bolonia, Baelo Claudia

Sanlucar de Barrameda

Vejer de la Frontera




MARCH 2023...(links to) Trip Report (food based) on JEREZ, VEJER DISTRICT, MADRID


https://www.hungryonion.org/t/vejer-de-la-frontera-cadiz-province-two-weeks-of-eating-2025/42900


Please, someone, help me to post links that are in blue and clickable. Above, I posted two links; one came out fine and the other is not in blue and requires and cutting and pasting (??)

Thanks so much! I was hoping you would see this.

For your days between Malaga and Valencia:
We visited the area roughly in a triangle north of Malaga and south of Cordoba end of winter 2024. Places like Osuna, Ecija, Estepa, Priego de Cordoba, Alhama de Granada. We really enjoyed visiting these lesser known places. Here's the TR:
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspo...cia-early.html
On a previous trip we visited Jaen, Baeza and Ubeda, which would also fit well on the way to Valencia.

Thank you! Some good ideas. We have also been to SEvilla and Malaga and other tourist spots. Some off the beaten track towns might be worth exploring.

Would you thik splitting a week between Cadiz and vejer-de-la-frontera? Do you recommend stayiing wher you stayed in Vejer-de-la-Frontera?
thanks!

Hola Yestravel,
We planned to visit Vejer this past January . We sadly had to cancel the highly recomended hotel Plaza 18 ( recomended by Maribel herself for it's exceptional charm)
We do plan to go once I've recovered.
You might look onto it.

https://plaza18vejer.com/

I spend 2-3 weeks outside Vejer de la Frontera in a small inn with only 6 rooms. It's in the countryside and a car is almost mandatory, except for people who come for a short stay and are ok with taking all their meals at the hotel. I would recommend looking IN the town of Vejer where there are now quite a few great-looking places (Amsdon mentioned one, above) and also there are apartments to rent that I imagine are really nice. I love Vejer because, despite the foreign tourists mostly from UK and Holland, I think, it's not on many, if any, bus tour routes and has remained its essence I think, despite the new restaurants and small hotels. There are so many scenic drives you cAn take from there: Medina Sidonia is only about a 20a-minute drive, as is the beach of Vejer, El Palmar, where I take walks, even in March.

The Atlantic Coast town of Barbate (30 minute easy drive, or less) is famous for its restaurants featuring tuna in every preparation you could imagine. There are small, ventas, typical Andalusian roadside inns, where one can eat well for little money, atmosphere free. (Venta Pinto, Venta del Toro, etc)

So this is a long way of saying that I think its is a great town where you could spend a week or more, taking day trips; a perfect combination with Cadiz, and maybe two days in Jerez de la Frontera, 45 minutes from Vejer if you drive at a normal speed. (one hour for me) There is a bus connecting Vejer to Cadiz,Jerez, etc, but i doubt if it runs very often, and some buses stop only below the town so you have to taxi up to the actual town. Taxi from Cadiz to Vejer cost me 80 euro in 2019.

I should say that the town of Vejer is hilly so you might have to cover some steep streets. But not too daunting.

I'm really glad to see you back here!

Since you've been to all but Cadiz, why not considering Cadiz -> Canarries? We did it in winter as well and we were very happy with this vacation. We used information we got from here https://www.ferryhopper.com/en/destinations/spain/cadiz and here https://happylittletraveler.com/best...m-cadiz-spain/

Thanks for all the info! I appreciate it. You always had the BEST restaurant recs.

Thank you! I will check it out. Hope you recover quickly.

How about spending a few days in Murcia and Cartagena. These are about halfway between Málaga and Valencia.

Thanks! We are going to stay in Cartegena a few days. any suggestion as to what to see there beyond whats in all the books?

Thanks again for all your great info. I did book for 3 nights in the hotel mentioned and look forward to our time there.
And glad you like seeing me back here. I dont come often and even have trouble navigating the site!

Cartagena is a great place for wandering and admiring the architecture.
For a day trip Calblanque nature reserve is an untouched area of coastal Spain.
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspo...-february.html