Spain

We flew to Madrid from Manchester, then travelled by train to Jerez, Puerto de Santa Maria and Cadiz

Places to visit

Madrid

Of course we visited the Prado and Thyssen Bornemisza Museums, they are both fantastic world class art museums, with very comprehensive collections.

Parque de El Retiro is a fabulous park to visit, where lots of local people hang out in the evening as the day cools. There are places to eat and drink here.

Close to El Retiro Parque is the Archaeological Museum, there's no cafe currently open, which is upsetting after a fairly long, hot walk, but we managed to find a cute cafe nearby called Santa Gloria on C. de Recoletos, the museum collection here is vast, and exceptionally well presented, in both Spanish and English, a new display which includes short videos that help explain factors. I particularly liked one about how stone age people were able to make fire. We saw from the Stone Age to Moorish Spain.

We visited the Royal Collections Gallery at the Royal Palace, as we had visited the Royal Palace during a previous visit, this collection is an eclectic mix of paintings, ceramics, Royal coaches, and tapestries. The first room is on floor -1, this is devoted to the Habsburgs and floor -2 is dedicated to the Bourbons, begins with the architectural drawings of the new Royal Palace. From floor -3 you can exit the building and walk into the Campo del Moro gardens, the floor also has a large immersive cube offering 360º video projections of the other Royal Sites.

Another must nearby is the Almudena Cathedral, it was only consecrated in 1993 and is an interesting mix of modern and traditional, with brightly coloured ceilings and windows.

We also visited the Railway Museum in Madrid, they have a range of heritage trains and carriages, an excellent exhibition about the maintenance of railways, and a model railway.

There are a few El Corte Ingles department stores in Madrid and we love them, a wide range of upmarket products, and always a great place to eat, often on the top floor with fabulous views.

We also loved the Cafe de Oriente, fabulous food, ambience and excellent service.

Cadiz

Cádiz is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Southern Europe, its fascinating history, beautiful beaches and traditional streets make it a fantastic place to visit, we stayed 9 nights and will definitely return.

The beaches and squares in Cadiz are beautiful places to relax and watch the Spanish at play. We particularly enjoyed Plaza de Mina and the food at the Bar Mediterraneo.

The Museo de Cadiz takes pride of place in this square, we loved the collection of items here, including stone tools used by Neanderthals that were around 600,000 years old and two decorative sarcophagus from around 450BC.

The Gadir Archaeological Site is another great visit, it is located nine metres below the Teatro del Títere. The remains found there have proved the presence of the Phoenicians in around the ninth century BC.

La Casa de Iberoamérica is an art gallery with a mix of contemporary paintings located along the coastal walk close to the Cadiz Cathedral. Also near here is the Teatro Romano, another example of the considerable history of this city,  defintely worth walking around and there is a small, well presented museum that accompanies the visit. (I did get told off for touching a wall, but it is old.)

The Castillo de Santa Catalina is a coastal fortress with excellent views over the sea and the Castillo de San Sebastian. There is a small museum explaining the 1947 explosion that killed 400 people were and over 5,000 injured when 2,500,000 pounds of explosives in the Cadiz Arsenal blew up on the outskirts of the city.

The Mercado is a great place to eat, with small restaurants around the perimeter that are very popular, we had very tasty Arroz Negro. Of course, the market also sells an extensive range of fish, we bought tuna, prawns and cuttlefish which were all delicious.

We also loved an authentic Flamenco performance at the Baluarte de la Candelaria.

Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria

From Cadiz we caught the train to Jerez one day, and another day Puerto de Santa Maria, they are both fabulous places to visit.  We particularly went to visit the Sherry Bodegas.

In Jerez we visited Gonzalez Byass, here we  took a tour of the Bodega and tasted a range of sherries at the end. It was very informative and we enjoyed the setting. Next door was the amazing 12th Century Alcazar, with a Hamman, Mosque, beautiful gardens and an oil mill. There is a Palacio on the site as well, worth looking around, and from the surrounding walls great views over Jerez. We also visited the Cathedral which is beautiful with a beautiful painting of the Virgin Mary by Francisco Zurbarán. Jerez is an attractive city and we would love to return.

Puerto de Santa Maria has a beautiful riverside, we walked along this from the train station to get to the Osborne Bodega. Here we learned about the history, the sherries and the 'Toro' bull advertising (very interesting.) Really informative and a contrast to the Gonzalez Byass visit. We enjoyed the tasting and particularly a Vermouth called Domingo which you can't get in England. (We have to go back.) We caught the ferry back to Cadiz, and this gave us another perspective on the city, you arrive back into the harbour where the big cruise ships dock.