jerez de la frontera, cadiz and seville in early to mid october

If you’ve never been to Casa de Pilatos in Sevilla, that is a gem.
My trips are not recent enough for restaurant recs, but in recent years I have discovered Repsol Sun rankings for restaurants and found it a useful guide. In Cadiz, I would definitely return to Casa Manteca to snack on sliced cured tuna.

I would not do the Ronda trip, that’s two hours each way by car. You could consider adding a day to Jerez and visit Arcos from there?

Hi Pamela, I was in those cities in February. I will link my trip report and also the previous year’s one. My husband & I went to the horse show in Jerez de la Frontera in 2024 when we were in Cadiz for five days, attending the Cadiz Carnaval. My favorite cities are Sevilla, Cadiz & Malaga. And little Estepona.

The hotel where I stayed in Jerez de la Frontera was spectacular.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/southern-spain-trip-feb-march-2026

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/a-widow-s-trip-southern-spain-february-trip-report

REad you reports already Jean. Thanks

i visited Jerez only once (but for four nights), and that was in December 2019, so I don't know how typical my experiences there were, or whether they're still to be had -- but Jerez was one of the highlights of my several Spain trips. And since you mentioned flamenco, I'll point out that that was one of the things I liked about the city -- for at least at that time, Jerez impressed me as being a real "flamenco town." i sometimes heard flamenco coming out of speakers on lampposts, or in cafes; and occasionally at sidewalk cafes, people in nearby tables would briefly break out into flamenco song. But what I enjoyed most was just wandering around certain streets in the evening, just listening for flamenco, and slipping into whatever humble tabanco (sherry bar) I heard it coming from. These were not the grand night-club style performances our forum sponsor has sometimes shown on his television shows (though perhaps such performances can be found in Jerez), and I for one am glad. The tabancos I visited were crowded, the performers were few (yet enthusiastic), but I found the experience, which impressed me as notably "untouristy," to be fascinating.

My info may be a bit dated. I was in Jerez in February 2013. I very much enjoyed the horse show. There's also a small museum and the grounds are lovely. I found out (too late) that it was possible to see the horses up close in the paddock before the show. I had been to a horse chose in Cordoba which was intimate and very enjoyable. The show in Jerez was much more of a production, big arena, but also well worth it. - if there's a show on one of your days there. The Tio Pepe bodega tour is fun. I also dropped in for a tour at Bodegas Fundador that was really interesting, and they were generous with tasting. They make Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry.

Ronda is too far for a day trip. For me the joy of visiting Ronda is as much the journey as the city. The hills all along the way are dotted with picturesque pueblos blancos and there are pullouts on the main roads with scenic vistas. A better option would be to take a night from Sevilla and add it to Jerez for a day trip by bus (about 45 minutes) to Arcos - well worth a half day at least.

I did a day trip to Cadiz for the first Sunday of Carnival and it was fun, but I felt that one day there was enough.

I was recently in Sevilla and Cadiz.

We went to the Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador, which I thought was fantastic. The crypt is a great history museum in itself. A bit to the north of the city, we also went to the Palacio de las Dueñas and Palacio Marqueses de la Algaba. They're both worth a visit and the later is free.

For tapas, I really liked Bodega Mateo Ruiz. It's a traditional bar with a small menu, but it's an extremely authentic family place. The fried cod is the star of the show and it's worth a stop in my book. Other places, Vinoteca Lama La Uva for wine, PANYPIU bakery, Lobo López for modern tapas, El Embarcadero for drinks with a beautiful view of the river and city, El Favorito for tapas near the main tourist zone.

Cadiz

In terms of sightseeing, I recommend the catamaran ferry to El Puerto de Santa Maria. I wouldn't plan to spend a ton of time there (the castle is nice, the city isn't the most interesting), however the boat trip is fun in terms of seeing the bay. The Roman theater is worth checking out and we had a nice time looking around the Museo de Cadiz. Cadiz is also one of those old cities where the biggest attraction is just wandering around the old city. Definitely walk out to the Castillo de San Sebastian for the views of the Atlantic and coast. I walked down the whole Playa de la Victoria south of the main tourist area which was really nice. Aplomo bistró Atlántico was a great restaurant in that area. I wanted to try Asador Puntaparrilla at the end of the beach but never got a chance.

Other restaurants in Cadiz: Mesón Cumbres Mayores was great, although on the expensive side for what it was. The house wine was good as well. Bar restaurante Ancá Lidia was a good seafood place next to the market. La Cruzada Rosado was my favorite taps bar in Cadiz by a long shot. Everything we ordered was excellent and it was an unpretentious place on a plaza.

I agree with valadelphia about visiting Casa di Pilatos in Sevilla. It's a hidden gem. Beautiful, and not crowded at all when we visited in 2017. I love Seville but it is busy and crowded so Casa di Pilatos is an oasis amongst all the crowds.

Did you visit Triana when you were in Seville? We loved walking around Triana and had lunch at the Mercado de Triana. We also had lunch and dinner at the Mercado Barranca.