Staying over night in Vejer de la Fontera
Summary
Vejer de la Fontera, with its bright white houses perched on its hill-top with views looking all across the surrounding mountains and beaches of Adalucia, is the most beautiful town in the most beautiful part of Spain. To quote the Lonely Planet, “the jaw drops, the eyes blink, the eloquent adjectives dry up . . . this serene, compact white town is something very special”. As you wander through the narrow, winding streets, occasionally stopping for a look out across the views or finding a hidden church or restaurant, its hard not to be left with a bit of a magical feeling
Top tip #1 – stay overnight and / or stay for dinner in the evening – the vast majority of tourists visit on day trips from the likes of Seville, Malaga, Cadiz etc. which can make it a little busy through the day. Instead, give yourself the early evening to stroll through the streets when the vast majority of fellow tourists have left and have dinner in restaurants only half full, but not lacking any of that oh-so-wonderful charming experience you’re looking for
Tip #2 – stay at La Casa Califa / Hotel Plaza 18 – all the same place. Its hard to describe this hotel as it seems to be reside on something like 10 different levels dug into the hillside and going all the way back to the 10th century. The effect though is magnificent, with a feeling of mystique as you meander your way through the corridors and emerge to one of the levels for sensational views. Be sure as well to try the El Jardin del Califa restaurant for superb Moroccan food
Top Tip #3 – Restaurant tips. In addition to El Jardin, Corredera 55 was wonderful and with great views out towards the mountains. Also worth trying is the San Francisco Gastronomic Market – 10 or so small restaurants in an arcade serving gorgeous food to be eaten in the small hall
Top Tip #4 – use Vejer de la Fontera as a base for exploring southern Andalucia. It’s within an hours drive from the likes of Cadiz (see extra tips here – Cadiz), Jerez de la Fontera and Tarifa (The beaches of Tarifa), and only 2 hours from Seville (Historic Seville), the Malaga area (Malaga) and the sensational drive through the white towns of the mountains (Driving through the White Towns of Parque Natural Sierra Grazalema). Far nicer option
highlights
#1 Wandering through the picture perfect, cobbled white-walled streets
#2 The simply gorgeous balconies all around Vejer where you can enjoy the views whilst having a drink
#3 Evening meals under the stars in one of the many hidden courtyards . . . would in particular recommend El Jardin del Califa
#4 Getting lost in amongst the narrow lanes and then suddenly emerging through a series of arches to find a view emerging before you
#5 The elaborate Plaza de Espana with pretty restaurants all around the outside and surrounded by the narrow streets
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Gorgeous Villages / Towns
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone