A slow, budget-friendly loop through Andalusia’s quieter coast — with real prices for hostels, ferries, and the free tapas nobody warns you about.
It’s six in the morning, and I still haven’t figured out how a city this old fits into a place this small.
I didn’t plan to end up in Cádiz. I was meant to be in Seville, but the prices there made me pull up a map and start scrolling south. Somehow I landed on a peninsula so narrow, you can see water from almost every street.
Cádiz: Old Town Walks and Fried Fish by the Beach
I stayed in the old town, the Centro Histórico, because everything is walkable, and I like not spending money on transport just to feel like I’ve arrived somewhere. La Viña, the neighborhood near La Caleta beach, is full of tiny bars selling fried fish wrapped in paper for a few euros. Nobody looks at you twice for eating it standing up on the sidewalk.
El Puerto de Santa María: A Four-Euro Ferry to a Different Rhythm
I took the ferry across the bay to El Puerto de Santa María one afternoon, mostly because it was cheap and I had nothing else to do. Four euros, thirty minutes, and you’re in a completely different rhythm. Quieter. Fewer people. Rooms that cost noticeably less than what I was paying back in Cádiz.
I sat on the top deck the whole way and didn’t take a single photo. I don’t know why. The water just looked like water that day.
Almería: Free Tapas and a Fortress on the Hill
I don’t have a good reason for choosing this stretch of coast over the more obvious ones. Maybe it’s that nobody I know has been here, so there was nothing to compare it to.
In Almería, a few days later, I ordered one glass of wine at a bar near the market, and a plate of something I hadn’t asked for showed up next to it. Free, because that’s just what happens there when you order a drink. I ended up staying at that bar two hours longer than I meant to, eating my way through three more glasses’ worth of tapas I never had to pay for separately.
Quick Costs: Cádiz, El Puerto & Almería
If you’re thinking about it, here’s roughly what to expect:
- Hostel bed: €18–32/night, depending on the city (Almería tends to run a bit cheaper than Cádiz)
- Private room, low season: €45–70/night (closer to double that in August, which I’d avoid anyway)
- Ferry, Cádiz ↔ El Puerto de Santa María: about €4 one way, ~30 minutes
- Alcazaba fortress, Almería: free for EU citizens with ID, €1.50 for everyone else (though I’ve heard they rarely even check)
- Lunch menu (starter to dessert): €10–14 most places outside the tourist strip
None of it felt like it was trying to sell me anything, which might be the whole reason I stayed as long as I did.
More soon. Or not. We’ll see.
