Cádiz

Torre Tavira, sunset at La Caleta and the boat to El Puerto

Two days suit Cádiz. Walk the old town on the first, from Torre Tavira and the Mercado Central to the Museo de Cádiz and a sunset at La Caleta, and give the second to the sea, on Playa de la Victoria or on a catamaran across the bay to El Puerto de Santa María.

Spend the first morning on foot in the old town. Climb Torre Tavira for the camera obscura, walk to the Mercado Central for fried fish, then cross to Plaza de Mina for the Museo de Cádiz and its Phoenician sarcophagi. Duck into the Oratorio de la Santa Cueva to see the Goyas before it closes in the early afternoon. Finish at La Caleta for sunset, then eat in La Viña.

Give the second day to the sea. Take bus 1 or 7 to Playa de la Victoria and claim a patch of sand, or ride a catamaran across the bay to El Puerto de Santa María for a sherry bodega visit and seafood by the river. Back in town, walk through El Pópulo's arches and end with a fino near the cathedral.

Carnival chirigotas, the levante wind and the best months for Cádiz

Carnival in February is the time Cádiz is most itself, with more than a week of street singing by chirigotas and comparsas, though rooms and tickets are scarce. For calmer weather, the Atlantic keeps summers fresher than inland Seville, the sea is warmest in August and September, and winters are mild but often windy.

Carnival defines the city's year. It takes over the streets for more than a week in February, and its heart is music, sung by street groups. Groups called chirigotas sing comic, often biting songs about politics and local scandal, while comparsas take a more lyrical, polished line. The best of them compete for weeks beforehand in the official contest at the Gran Teatro Falla, broadcast across Andalusia, and tickets for the final are very hard to get. Out on the street, unofficial groups known as ilegales perform wherever they can draw a crowd, and most people turn up in costume.

Wind is the thing to watch. The Levante, a hot, dry easterly funnelled through the Strait of Gibraltar, can blow for days on end, whipping sand across Victoria beach and turning a swim into an ordeal. The Poniente from the west is cooler and damper. Locals check which wind is forecast before they plan a beach day, and visitors should do the same; on a Levante day, the museums and the covered market are the better bet.

Fried fish, tortillitas de camarones and sherry in Cádiz

Order fried fish and the tortillita de camarones, a lacy fritter of tiny shrimp in chickpea batter that is the city's signature. Freidurías sell paper cones of puntillitas, boquerones and cazón en adobo to eat standing up, and a cold manzanilla or fino suits them better than beer.

Cádiz cooks its seafood simply and fries a lot of it. The freidurías, fried-fish shops, sell paper cones of pescaíto frito: puntillitas (baby squid), boquerones (anchovies) and cazón en adobo, dogfish steeped in a cumin-and-vinegar marinade before it hits the oil. Eat them standing up or carry them to a bench on the Plaza de las Flores nearby. The local signature is the tortillita de camarones, a lacy fritter of tiny shrimp in chickpea batter, thin enough to see through.

The Mercado Central is the place to see what came in that morning, with stalls around the edge that cook and serve. Around the cathedral and in the old fishermen's quarter of La Viña, boiled shellfish is sold by weight and the grilled fish of the day is usually dorada or lubina. In late spring, atún rojo from the almadraba trap fisheries further down the coast appears on menus, and in winter some bars put sea urchins on the counter.

For cheaper meals, try Calle Zorrilla north of Plaza de Mina or Calle Virgen de la Palma, a block back from La Caleta. Drink cold manzanilla from Sanlúcar or fino from El Puerto; both suit fried fish better than beer.