Great places that you can experience for free in Cádiz

A stay in the city doesn’t always have to be expensive. We were very surprised at what you can visit for free in Cádiz.

I don’t take it for granted that it is possible for a city to open up tourist highlights to visitors free of charge. So I was all the more surprised that we were not only able to walk free of charge in parks and on the ramparts. In Cádiz, it is also possible to visit museums or discover archaeological sites free of charge. The selection of offers was so large that it was difficult to visit them all in one day.

Walk along the fortress wall

Our free discovery tour of Cádiz begins on the city’s former fortress wall. Today, there is a beautiful path here that you can walk along and from which you can reach several other interesting places in the city.

We particularly enjoyed the evening walks here. It’s a fantastic view of the sea and when the sun goes down, it’s simply beautiful!

Jardines de Alameda Apodaca

Right between the sea, the fortress wall and the old town of Cádiz, there are now some beautiful parks that can be visited free of charge.

The Jardines de Alameda Apodaca have relatively recently been renamed Alameda Clara Campoamor. However, I have not heard anyone refer to this beautiful green area as such.

The gardens run parallel to the sea and the city wall from east to west. It begins at the walls of San Carlos and ends at the church of El Carmen. The Alameda is one of the gardens of cultural interest in Cádiz and has been included in the general catalog of Andalusia’s historical heritage since 2004.

There was already a promenade on this very spot in Cádiz in 1617, which was very popular with the locals. Over the years, it was redesigned several times until the first gardens were created in 1836.

In 1926/27, the architect Juan Talavera y Heredia redesigned the existing gardens in the Sevillian style. He used elements typical of the region in the design. Glazed ceramics and wrought-iron elements on benches and lanterns still give the park its characteristic appearance today.

I particularly like the small squares and, of course, the monument to the second Marquis of Comillas in the center. If you stroll along the paths, you will discover numerous other works of art by various artists. These depict personalities from former Spanish colonies, for example, but personalities from Cádiz can also be seen.

The vegetation is particularly beautiful. There are shady spots under large trees everywhere. The two most striking trees are definitely the Ficus macrophylla from Australia, planted at the beginning of the 20th century. They are simply huge!

Parque Genovés

The first park was created at the end of the 18th century on an area between the fortification wall by the sea and the barracks area in Cádiz. It must not have been particularly beautiful there. The grounds were unkempt and the promenade had no trees.

Around 1854, there was a cholera epidemic in Cádiz. In order to provide work for the people in need and to offer additional areas for recreation, the city decided not only to expand the site, but also to redesign it. Part of the barracks was demolished, deciduous trees were planted and the grounds began to be maintained. A few years later, a fountain, a waterfall with a lake, a concert hall and a café were built in the park. In addition, many different trees and shrubs were planted, some of which are very atypical for the region. A botanical garden was created.

In addition, various monuments and sculptures were erected during this period in honor of local celebrities such as the botanist and mathematician José Celestino Mutis, the writer José María Pemán and the explorer Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente.

At the end of the 19th century, people were particularly proud of a newly created theater. The metal construction was created by Gustav Eiffel. Unfortunately, the theater can no longer be seen today.

The Parque Genovés can be visited free of charge in Cádiz. The main entrance is at Plaza Rocío Jurado. From there we entered the trapezoidal park and the wide central avenue. A beautifully laid out path divided into three streets by a double row of symmetrical flowerbeds. There are also some very interesting-looking cypress trees, pruned in the English style. They reminded me a lot of corkscrews.

We then reached the most popular part of the park, a small lake where ducks and geese swim. Here there is an artificial grotto with a small waterfall and a bridge that you can walk over.

The open-air stage in the park is unfortunately closed. The planned renovation keeps getting postponed.

I really like it when residents of a city and, of course, vacationers are given the opportunity to visit a botanical garden free of charge. Experiencing the diversity of nature is simply wonderful.

Free of charge in Cádiz: museum visit to the city’s history

The museum of Cádiz is located in the old town on Plaza de Mina. Originally, the former Franciscan convent housed the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, which mainly displayed paintings and other objects from the secularized monasteries.

In 1887, a human-like sarcophagus was discovered and the decision was made to found the Museo de Cádiz. It now combines the archaeological collection on the first floor with art on the second floor and ethnography and contemporary art on the second floor.

We were there on a day when it was only possible to visit the first floor. Visiting the entire museum is always free of charge and “only” the archaeological collection was really comprehensive. It starts with the prehistory of the region and leads through the Roman period and the Middle Ages.

I was very impressed by the two Phoenician marble sarcophagi from the 5th century, which depict a man and a woman (Dama de Cádiz) lying down.

Castillo de Santa Catalina

We were very surprised that a visit to one of the most beautiful sights, the Castillo de Santa Catalina, is free of charge in Cádiz.

A small bridge leads to the fortress, which was built between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century according to the plans of the engineer Cristóbal de Rojas. He was commissioned by Philip II to build a defensive fortification for the city after Cádiz had been attacked several times.

Charles III converted the fortress into a prison in 1769 and prisoners were held there until the end of the 20th century. Some famous people, such as a Mexican independence leader (Mariano Abasolo), are said to have been among them.

Once we had entered the fortress, we were first drawn to the walls. From there you can look far out to sea. A wonderful view! Afterwards, we looked at the current exhibitions in some of the rooms. The art exhibition wasn’t quite to our taste, but we really enjoyed the historical exhibition.

Castillo de San Sebastian

At the end of La Caleta beach, a long path leads into the sea, at the end of which lies the Castillo de San Sebastian. Unfortunately, this is not open to the public, but the path to it is one of the most beautiful walks in the city.

The Castillo was built from 1706 and has an irregular layout. The northern flank of the town was defended from there. The lighthouse is striking. It stands on the base of a Muslim watchtower. The iron construction from 1908 is unique for Spain and was once the country’s second electronic beacon. The light shines up to 41 meters across the sea.

Teatro Romano de Cádiz

One of the most exciting places to visit for free in Cádiz is the Roman Theater. The site was discovered in 1980 during archaeological excavations that were actually looking for the Castillo de la Villa. Before the excavations, only a few stones from the inner galleries were visible, but until then it was not known what kind of building it was.

In the meantime, an information center has been set up where you can get excellent information about the theater. It is also possible to go to the theater gallery and then stand in the exposed area.

The entrance to the information center is located between two building entrances. A school box office entered the building before us, but first disappeared into a training room. This gave us enough time to visit the exhibition at our leisure. You shouldn’t just look at the walls and showcases here – a glance at the floor reveals several shafts in which you can see parts of the stage, the orchestra and the steps of the prohedrals.

During the tour, I learn a lot about the theater. For example, it is the oldest known theater on the peninsula and was abandoned in the 3rd century. The theater is the second largest theater in Roman Hispania, only the building in Córdoba is slightly larger.
Cádiz, still called Gades at this time, had around 50,000 inhabitants at the time. The theater had a capacity of about 10,000 people. It must have been quite well known; Cicero, for example, mentioned it in his works.

The theater was built as part of an urban development project driven by one of the city’s leading families. They wanted to endow Cádiz with important public buildings, as was the case in Rome.

After the theater was abandoned, it was built over several times. For example, the Muslims built a citadel on the ruins and later a medieval castle stood there.

Next, we were drawn through a corridor into the Roman Theater. On a small viewing platform, you have a very good opportunity to see the remains of the structure. You stand in the middle of the heavily weathered rows of seats and, with a little imagination, you can see the dimensions of the incompletely excavated theater. If this was about ¼ of the theater, the entire theater must have been very impressive.

Opening hours:

April 1 – September 30:
Monday – Saturday: 11 am – 5 pm
Sunday: 10 am – 2 pm

October 1 – March 31:
Monday – Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Yacimiento Arqueológico Gadir

Another archaeological site that you can visit for free in Cádiz is located under a theater in the old town. We only discovered the entrance and the registration desk at second glance. The excavation site can only be visited as part of a guided tour and the number of participants is limited. Guided tours are offered every hour and you should be there at least 15 minutes beforehand to register.

First, we were taken to a small screening room and shown a movie about the discovery of the finds and the resulting research. The movie was in Spanish, but had English subtitles. I quite liked the movie, Patrick found it too long.

In the first quarter of the first millennium BC, the first Phoenicians from Tyre came to the region and founded a colony. The city of Gadir, which was located here, is one of the oldest Phoenician settlements in the western world.

After the movie, a wall opens up and reveals the remains of the city behind it. You walk over glass walkways across the site. There are eight residential buildings and two paved streets to discover. All of these buildings were constructed using the so-called loam construction method, i.e. mainly from loam and clay. The streets are also paved with clay. If you look closely, you can even see the footprints of cattle that have walked on the road.

In addition to these Phoenician remains, you can also see the buildings of a Roman fish processing factory here. Even the basins for preserving fish in brine are still preserved.

Opening hours:

Tuesday – Saturday: 11 am – 2 pm and 5 pm – 8 pm
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Closed on Mondays

La Caleta

The most famous beach in Cádiz is La Caleta. This is where the Bond girl in the movie “Die Another Day” climbed out of the sea and met James Bond. Even though it is the smallest beach, the people of Cádiz love their city beach and even in November there was always something going on there.

The stretch of beach once formed the natural harbor where Phoenician, Carthaginian and Roman ships anchored next to the canal. This has been proven by numerous archaeological finds on the beach.

Playa de Santa María del Mar (Cádiz)

This beach is one of the larger beaches in the city and is located right next to the new town. Despite November, surfers were frolicking in the water and some brave swimmers went into the sea. In summer, the beaches of Cádiz are quite crowded. It is the ideal place to escape the heat.