Cadiz: Five Fabulous Things

Summer begins with a trip to Cadiz!

This year my boyfriend and I waited two whole days after work ended before absconding to the coast of Spain. We landed in Cadiz, an Andalusian town famous for it’s Teatro Falla Opera house, its Roman Catholic Cathedral and its parador hotel.

Right. That stuff is awesome. We didn’t do any of it. Here is the insiders list.

Five Fabulous Things to Do In Cadiz

1. Eat molletes. Different parts of Spain are famous for different breads and pastries. In Valencia it’s fartons, in Cadiz it’s molletes. Mollete is apparently Spanish for gigantic, delicious English muffin. It’s most typical to eat as many as possible one for breakfast with tomate or mermelada. (Insider tip-go for the marmelada-a lot of the tomate in Cadiz comes prepackaged in little ration tins instead of fresh.)

2. Stay on the beach. I have been to Cadiz and stayed in town. It’s great if you want to do the cathedral, opera house, etc. (Seriously all that stuff is beautiful). If you want to to flop out the door of your hotel and get your toes in the sand, look for a spot on Playa Victoria. It’s very well-connected to the town: 40-60 minutes walking along a beautiful coastal street, 10 minute cab. Lots of restaurants (see #4 below) and there’s probably nightclubs there too? But I tend to fall asleep before they would be open.

I’ve stayed at Hotel Spa and Tryp and loved both.

3. Go surfing. Cadiz is on the Atlantic, a bit sheltered by Portugal which makes for small, easy waves. Think ‘both surfing and stand-up paddle boarding are possible’ type waves. There are rental places spaced out along the boardwalk, but most people seem to surf towards the far southern end of the beach. I rented from a place called Offshore and got a board and wetsuit hourlong rental for 10 euro.

4. Go to chiringuitos. The chiringuitos in Cadiz opérate sort of like upscale snack stands. They serve food, drinks and usually have a load of comfortable beach chairs available for 5 euro rental outside. (By ‘chairs’ I mean little paradise islands complete with umbrellas and thick cushions. See photo.). They are all wonderful and basically the most wonderful one is the one closest to your hotel. (The one below was less than ten steps from our hotel lobby. They served me virgin pina coladas and played the World Cup soccer games for my boyfriend.)

5. Go to town. The town of Cadiz really is stunning (I just get a little overexcited about summer beach vacations). In the city, there are lots of wonderful restaurants and sunset views. Go to the Cadiz market for a quick aperitivo, then walk along the water to La Caleta beach and El Faro for dinner afterwards (the bar for a fun, lively scene, the back dining room for something more quiet.) Try the tortillas de camarones (shrimp-and-egg pancakes–very typical of the region) and a fino (sherry from Jerez).

Views from Cadiz below!

 

(Cadiz water walk, 2018)

(Cadiz Cathedral 2018)

(Sunset from La Caleta, 2018)

For other coastal adventure ideas, click here to learn about Malaga!

Banner Photo Credit: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen