Things to do
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Cape Trafalgar
A low sandy spit runs out to a white lighthouse between the beaches of Zahora and Los Caños de Meca. Wooden boardwalks cross the dunes, and the walk to the lighthouse from the end of the road takes about half an hour. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought off this point. On a levante day, the sand blows hard across the spit.
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Castle of Vejer
A small Moorish castle at the top of the old town, entered through a horseshoe arch into two courtyards and a cistern. The battlements look over the rooftops to the fields and the sea. Opening hours have been short and mostly limited to weekends, so the tourist office is the place to check first; the walk around its outside walls is free at any hour.
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Church of the Divino Salvador
The parish church stands at the high point of the old town, on the site of the mosque it replaced. Inside, the oldest part of the nave is Gothic and Mudéjar, with a later front added on the square. Behind the church, a lane leads down to the Arco de la Segur, one of the old town gates.
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Convent of the Concepcionistas
The plain walls of this convent line Calle Judería, high in the old town. Beside it, the Arco de las Monjas, a run of brick buttress arches built after an eighteenth-century earthquake, spans the lane and frames a strip of white houses. It is the most photographed corner of the town, quietest early in the morning.
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La Breña y Marismas del Barbate Natural Park
A pine forest on top of high sea cliffs between Barbate and Los Caños de Meca, with a marked path along the edge. The cliff path climbs to the Torre del Tajo, a sixteenth-century watchtower with a lookout over the Strait, and a shorter trail reaches the tower from a car park on the Caños road. The drops are sheer, and the path runs close to the edge in places.
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Medina-Sidonia
A white hilltop town inland, crowned by the church of Santa María la Coronada and the ruins of a castle, with views over the plain to the coast. Roman drains and streets survive under the old town and can be visited. The town is also known for its almond pastries, sold by the nuns of the convent. It is about half an hour's drive north.
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Mercado de San Francisco
The old town market on the edge of the walls has been turned into a food hall of small stalls with shared tables. Local bluefin tuna, cured meats and sherry stand beside sushi, crêpes and vegetarian dishes. It suits a light lunch between sights or a casual supper, and it is busiest on summer evenings.
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Mirador de la Cobijada
A bronze statue of a woman in the cobijada, the black cloak that once covered the women of Vejer except for one eye, stands at a lookout below the castle. The dress survived into the twentieth century and is now worn only at the town fair. The lookout gives a wide view over the white houses to the countryside beyond.
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NMAC Foundation
A contemporary art foundation spread through a pine wood south-east of town, with more than forty works made for the site and old army barracks turned into galleries. Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson and James Turrell are among the artists. Turrell's Second Wind, an underground chamber open to the sky, is the work most visitors come for, and the wood is cooler than the coast in summer.
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Playa de El Palmar
Several kilometres of open Atlantic sand run below a strip of low houses, surf schools and beach bars. The waves are steady enough for beginners, and the beach faces west, so the bars fill at sunset. It is the nearest long beach to Vejer, about twenty minutes by car. In August parking along the road fills by late morning.
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Playa de la Hierbabuena
A sheltered beach of pale sand at the foot of the Breña cliffs, at the western end of Barbate's harbour. The water is calmer than on the open beaches to the west, and pines run down to the sand. The cliff path to the Torre del Tajo starts from the car park behind it, so a walk and a swim fit one morning.
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Plaza de España
The main square sits just below the walls, with palm trees around a fountain of Seville tiles where four ceramic frogs spout water. The town hall faces it, and café and restaurant terraces fill the edges. The square is liveliest in the evening, when families come out after the heat of the day. An underground car park lies beneath it.
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Walls of Vejer de la Frontera
Much of the medieval wall still rings the old town, with four gates leading in: the Arco de la Villa off the Plaza de España, the Arco de Sancho IV, the Arco de la Segur and the Puerta Cerrada. Walking from one gate to the next is the easiest way to see the whole hilltop. The lanes are steep, and the cobbles are slippery in smooth soles.
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Watermills of Santa Lucía
In the hamlet of Santa Lucía, in the valley just north of town, a stream from the La Muela spring once drove seven watermills. A shaded path follows the ruins and an old aqueduct carried on arches along the valley. Walkers start from beside the church, and in summer the natural pools along the stream draw local families on hot afternoons.
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Windmills of Vejer
A row of restored flour windmills stands on the ridge at the southern edge of town, along the lane to the Ermita de la Oliva. The white towers with their conical caps are the outline that identifies Vejer from the motorway. The ridge is a short walk from the old town and catches the evening light over the plain.
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Zahara de los Atunes
Fishing boats and white houses sit behind a long, wide beach in this village, known across Spain for its bluefin tuna. From April to June the tuna are caught with fixed nets offshore in the old almadraba method, and in May the bars and restaurants run a tuna tapa route for several days. The tables fill soon after two.
