What to do on a day visit??

Where is the best place to park, walk, eat? What should we try to see in about 6 hours?

Hi

You can´t "do" Cádiz in 6 hours; but I would suggest if coming by car to drive around the outside first. Then take a tour bus of the city to see and hear about the history.

Parking in the underground car parks is easiest and there are many bars and cafes to provide food and drink. With my visitors I usually climb the cathedral tower (3€) as the views from the top are magnificent; there are only 16 steps On a similar vein, there is a camara obscura that will give a similar view but with a different commentary.

Davexf

Thanks for that Dave. Cathedral sounds great. Is it fairly central? I would like to park up somewhere and explore on foot as well as taking the bus tour as you suggest. Should I head for the cathedral and park close to?

Torre Tavira is where the Cámara oscura is, I think. A few more than 16 steps, but fantastic views.

When you go to the cathedral make sure to go from there to the paseo marítimo - that's where you get the view of the cathedral and the coloured houses.

You can while away a few hours just wandering round the narrow streets and squares in the centre, or in 6 hours you'd have time to walk all around the outside of Cadiz. The parque Genovés is nice (and IIRC has dinosaurs.....) and the Plaza de España has a kind of eternal flame thing beside the monumento a las Cortes.

2012 is the 200th anniversary of the constitución which was signed in Cádiz so there might still be exhibitions going on which recognise this ( 'La Pepa' because it was signed on St Joseph's day)

as surely you can't "do" any of Spain's great city's.
we have the problem where coaches arrive in Granada at about 9-9.30, drop everyone off at the Alhambra, quick guided tour, go play for yourselves for 45mins then back to the coach for a quick poodle up the road to Cordoba.
Remember it is a typical Spanish dinner when we get back to the hotel at 8.

Then the GDY's and Japo's tick off another city in their European Experience and off to the next one.

Really does nothing for Spain, its history, its culture, just large coaches trundling around full of bored people. The city's don't really make much money out of it but have to put up with the wear and tear on the facilities.
Granada has said it must stop, but then the city built the large coach parks at the Alhambra where they stop. To stop it would mean nobody coming to Granada at all. Cleft stick time I'm afraid.



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You can see loads in 6 hours. I would just go straight to the old town. The railway station is on the right as you go in, park up there and then just walk. For me it is a fantastic city.

Thanks rachel - good info.

I totally agree that you can't 'do' a city in a few hours but you can't really get to know a place IMO in less than a few years - so a flying visit it will have to be.

I'm going to look in streetview at all the places mentioned so I've got some idea what to expect.

Everyone varies in what they like to see when exploring new places but I think Cadiz has something to appeal to everyone. It's also small enough to be able to explore its highlights in a short time. It is a city on the itinerary of the big cruise lines so the Tourist board has produced lots of guides in English which you can download here.

It is one of my favourite places to visit, I especially like the Parque Genoves with its ancient trees.

Whatever you see and do have a great time.
Yvonne

Hi Jimenato,

You haven´t said what you would like to see / do, or why you are visiting Cádiz; are you into shopping, architecture, organised entertainment?

As others have said, there is a wealth of interesting things in Cádiz. I should have explained that Cádiz is at the end of a long road - I always liken it to a lollipop (a stick with a ball at the top).

If you have Google Earth then you can get a fair idea and the internet is your friend.

Davexf

I'll never forget arriving "one day in Cadiz" on the ferry fron the Canaries.

Found a scruffy room in the town centre and went out for a walkabout.
The place was as dead as a graveyard apart from a couple of strange guys in funny hats.

Went to bed for a Siesta and woke up two hours later to one hell of a racket outside. The street was packed solid with people and the first of the Semana Santa processions was marching past.

So it went on for a whole week, by the end of which I took to sleeping in a kids toy cupboard behind the room to try and get a bit peace.

I'd totally forgotten all about Semana Santa, until it woke me up that day, but overall it was a fascinating experience and I had no idea that I'd booked into a room with a grandstand view with all its advantages and disadvantages.

There are loads of touristy bars and restaurants around the main squares in the old town but the food often isn't that great. Try Restaurant Rayuela, Calle Sopranis, it's about 2 mins walk from the railway station, which is the best place to park.

I have had some good food in Cadiz and good value with Groupon deals. The last one was a Russian restaurant/bar which would have been good but our meal seemed to be forgotten when our friends were served and when it arrived 20 mins later was cold.