Hello
Planning a trip to Spain in early December. It will be 2 days in Cordoba, 2 days ( cadiz/jerez) 3 days in Seville. My question is which will be a better base Jerez or Cadiz. Since its not beach season we just want to do sightseeing and then enjoy the nightlife. Which would be better to go see a flamenco show, restaurants and bars. It seems accommodations are cheaper in Jerez plus the train ride will be quicker from cordoba to jerez
Appreciate your ideas
I have not been to Cadiz, but we were underwhelmed by Jerez in the summer. We mainly went for the horsemanship show, not Sherry. It looked like it might be hard to get around without a car, but we had one. Don't overlook Madrid, I'm always happy to be there again.
I don't happen to be a big fan, but NY City Center (a midtown dance theater) has had an annual Flamenco Festival in Manhattan for over 15 years. This year's attractions were National Ballet of Spain, Olga Pericet, and a multi-artist Gala. If you prefer Iron Butterfly or Ozzy Osborne, fine, dude.
My vote would be for Cadiz, loads of small tapas bars, good restaurants, a market, several decent things to see. While it was busy in April, it was not packed with tourists, and the town has not been overrun with expats, so it really retains some sense of culture. I had the sense that most of their tourism comes from elsewhere in Spain, most from the US, skip it in favor of the Seville/Cordoba/Granada route.
Cádiz has a small city feel as is easy to walk around. Jerez de la Frontera has more of a large town feel with plenty of twisting streets.
Jerez is one of the flamenco capitals of Spain.
I spent three nights there last year and loved the city.....fantastic restaurants, tobaccos, for flamenco....just overall marvelous.
I spent 6 nights in Cadiz the year before and while it's lovely, I would recommend Jerez especially for those with an interest in flamenco. The food scene there is among the best in the South.
I'm going to agree with "ekscrunchy," above. I spent three or four nights in Jerez, Dec. 2019, and loved it -- it impressed me as being a real flamenco town. I liked the way I could walk around certain areas in the evening, just listen for flamenco, and then slip into whatever tabanco (sherry bar) it was coming from. I should point out that these were not the grand, night-club style performances you see on Mr. Steves' television shows; they were small but authentic performances in humble little tabancos, which are really what I was looking for. (The grand, night-club style performances may be available in Jerez, but I didn't seek them out; I contented myself with the humble tabancos.)
The best place to see flamenco is Sevilla, I liked Casa de Flamenco best.
I stayed in Jerez (February) for several days in a budget hotel about half-way between the historic center and the train station, walked to both. It made day trips easy. I took the bus to Arcos and I day tripped to Cadiz by train on the first Sunday of Carnival. It was very lively, one day sufficed to see the main sights and the festivities.
I liked Jerez, very much enjoyed a show at the Royal Equestrian School (taxi there and back). The Tio Pepe tour is fun even if you aren't a sherry drinker.
