The port city of Cádiz is in the Andalusian region of Spain. Andalusia was the attraction for our excursion from the port city. We spent some time on a bus traveling to Arcos de la Frontera, Jerez de la Frontera, and other places.
On our bus tour, a string of charming white villages, known as Pueblos Blancos, dot the hillsides. These picturesque towns, with their whitewashed houses and treelined streets, offer a glimpse into traditional Andalusian life. Unfortunately, the cloudy day didn’t show off the best of the beautiful white buildings.
Our tour guide for this excursion wasn’t all that young, but she was a walker, probably having walked this route many times in her job as a tour guide. Though our party of four wasn’t having too much trouble keeping up, some of the people on our bus had all they could do to maintain the fast-paced walk. At one point, we became concerned that one elderly gentleman might have a health episode. Our party of four caught up with the tour guide and let her know that there were people in her party who couldn’t keep up with the pace she was keeping. She slowed down for a time and to her credit she walked back to check on the person who was struggling.
During the holy week (Semana Santa), an annual procession of the faithful takes this same walk to the Basilica at the top of the city. Along the way, there are statues of significance to Holy Week. I attempted to find specific details about this one, but an Internet search referenced many others, just not this one, even though there are plenty of images of this work.
One written guide referenced our destination, a historic church at the city’s top. “Stepping into the church is like stepping through time. Its origins date back to the 13th century, when it was built on the foundations of a Moorish mosque. The Mudéjar style, a unique fusion of Muslim and Christian influences, dominates the interior.” In only a moment, we would walk around the corner and see the main entrance to the church.
It was anti-climactic. We rounded the corner to see the main entrance. No one mentioned that the church was not open for visitors as it appeared to be in the middle of a major restoration.
The walk to the top wasn’t without reward, though. Across the plaza from the church, spectacular views of the valley below gave our tour group plenty of opportunity to capture the scenery.
After lots of time for a restroom break and photographs from the top of Arcos de la Frontera, we walked back to the bus. It was a much easier walk going down the steep and narrow roadways.
Our next stop was a visit to Jerez de la Frontera. There we walked by the 11th century fortress, Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera. No, we didn’t get to go inside, yet another disappointment. From the guide: “Its story stretches back to the 11th century when a Taifa kingdom first built a fortification on this strategic site. Later, in the 12th century, the Almohads, a powerful North African dynasty, transformed it into a formidable fortress and palatial residence.”
Our last stop in Jerez and the last stop on the tour was at the Gonzales Byass Winery. Founded in 1835 in Jerez, Spain, González Byass is a family-run winery now in its fifth generation. The winery gained early fame for its Tío Pepe Fino Sherry, named after the founder’s uncle. Today, they produce a vast range of Sherries and wines from across Spain, from Rioja to Rueda. I am not a wine drinker, but Lynn enjoyed her sampling of sherries from the local vineyard.
All in all, we have been on many cruise excursions that were much better than this tour of Andalusia, but we’ve been on much worse tours as well. My major disappointment was not being able to see the interiors of the fortress and the basilica. Such is the dice roll of cruise ship excursions. We did learn a lot about the history of the area and I took many more photos than I had room to share here. Speaking of which, as always, you can view the 2K HD versions of these images in the gallery on my Flickr site here.
John Steiner
Flare Legend Adventures
Sadly, when we went to Cádiz, which may count as my favourite Spanish city, we didn’t have the time or the opportunity then to explore the area round it more widely. You’ve whetted my appetite for another visit.
We enjoyed our trip to the countryside, but it was a longer bus ride than I prefer. 🙂
You haven’t really mentioned Cadiz itself, John? Did you see much of the city? I’ve been to Jerez but we had a few days and really enjoyed it. We have never cruised because I like to see places at my own pace, but it does give you the opportunity to see lots of places.
We didn’t see Cadiz, except on a drive through town via a bus window.
I sometimes am frustrated with how cruising truly limits visits to the places they stop. We get to see a tiny view of big places, but we see lots of different places. 🙂
So disappointing! I’m hoping to go there for Carnival next year. It should be a good one 🤗🩵
Thanks for the tip!
Traditionally, buses would pick up visitors right at the harbor here in Cadiz and drive them to neighbouring towns, which used to be considered more interesting. A pity, really, considering that Cadiz has jewels such as an ancient Roman theatre. Things are beginning to change, though, and more tourists are being allowed to step off the cruise and explore Cadiz.
Sorry for the long delay in my response. I found your comment in the spam folder. Not sure why. It’s certainly an interesting point.
We didn’t see much of the city, our tour was of the countryside. Maybe next time we stop there, we can explore the city.
Lovely pictures full of history.
We enjoy cruising but sometimes the excursions can be a bit goofy.
We always say… it gives us an idea if we want to go back on our own.
Thanks for sharing!
And someday, we may do just that… visit specific places we cruised to, though we haven’t yet. >grin<
Yes… same here. We did do a trans-Atlantic to Europe then stayed 10 days longer in England.
That was a fun trip!
We always used to fly in the day before the cruise started in case of flight delays. Since Covid, we learned that flying in two days early not only gives us extra insurance, it allows for a full day’s exploration of the departure city. We also plan on two days upon arrival if it’s a port that interests us. Our best extra days were spent on a transatlantic from Rio de Janeiro to Barcelona. We hired a private tour company at both ends and had some great experiences on both ends of the Atlantic.
Sounds fabulous!
A shame this tour didn’t live up to expectations. It’s a poor guide who doesn’t monitor how well everyone is doing and accommodate any difficulties they may be having. And you should have been warned in advance about those closures!
Indeed, we’ve been on many tours with much better tour guides. Not related to cruising, we toured a fort at a National Park near St. Augustine, Florida.
We saw the tour three times, each with different family members along for their first tour. One guide was excellent, told fascinating stories, and was really wrapped up in his job. One was about average, told the story as he knew it, and that was it. The last guide we had barely knew the story and my questions to elicit information about the place I learned from our other visit failed. Obviously, the guide was new at the job and hadn’t really done the research.
And don’t you always remember the best guides, many years later?!
Indeed!
You are right, ship tours are like rolling the dice. I’ve been on great and not so great tours. The one good thing about ship tours is that they won’t leave without you! Your photos are beautiful.
Thanks, Anne.
😊
The church looks magnificent from the outside.
Indeed! I can only imagine the inside will be beautiful after the remodel.