This Spanish Town With Castle Walls And Fountains Feels Like Stepping Into A Storybook

Andalusia is filled with picture-perfect hilltop towns. This stunning area of southern Spain is the home of the "pueblos blancos", the gorgeous whitewashed mountain villages scattered throughout the Sierra Nevadas, which combine remote charm and picturesque beauty and offer a fascinating blend of cultural influences. From Granada, Spain's most underrated city, to Jerez, home of sherry dessert wine, Andalusia is a paradise of rugged beauty, history, and excitement.

Tucked away on a sharp bend of the Barbate River, on a hill overlooking the road from Gibraltar to Cadiz, one of the oldest cities in Europe, Vejer de la Frontera is one of the most charming and delightful hilltop towns in Andalusia. This dreamy, fairytale spot is a tangle of historic fortifications, Moorish architecture, and ancient churches, surrounded by fragrant orange groves and with amazing views over the Straits of Gibraltar.

Although Vejer de la Frontera might feel secluded and far from civilization, getting there is pretty easy. Jerez Airport is 50 miles away, roughly an hour by car, and is served by routes from around Europe. Malaga Airport is further away, nearly two-and-a-half hours by car, but welcomes flights from many more international places, including New York. There is also a regional bus route from Malaga to Cadiz that stops at Vejer de la Frontera.

Your first steps in Vejer de la Frontera are like stepping into the pages of a storybook. Wandering along the narrow cobbled streets, through 10th-century Berber gates and past a medieval church built over the top of a mosque on Roman foundations, you can feel the weight of history draped luxuriously over the town. From the dramatic crenelated walls of the Castillo de Vejer looming over everything to ornate fountains hidden in breezy, picturesque plazas, it is a paradise for history lovers. The architecture is magnificent, a glorious blend of Roman, Moorish, and Spanish remnants that come together to create something new, unusual, and delightful.

Alongside historical attractions, Vejer de la Frontera is perfect for lovers of adventure and the outdoors. It sits on the edge of two wonderful natural parks, La Breña y Marismas del Barbate Natural Park and Los Alcornocales Natural Park. The mountainous beauty of Los Alcornocales, with its stunning pine forests, glittering lakes, and excellent hiking trails, is an amazing contrast to the more relaxed coastal paradise of Barbate, with its stunning juniper and cypress trees and towering cliffs overlooking the sea. It is also worth heading along the coast to El Palmar Beach, a marvelous stretch of golden sand perfect for lazy afternoons in the sun.

Vejer de la Frontera also boasts a rich cultural program, and depending on when you visit you'll encounter fabulous and unusual festivities. Holy Week around Easter can be somber and somewhat gloomy, but the Spring Carnival is fantastic, and the Verbena de San Juan is quite the spectacle, with effigies of important figures set on fire and carried through the streets. While not to everyone's taste, the annual Running of the Bulls is an important tradition and a unique event in the town.

Staying overnight in Vejer de la Frontera is a real treat, particularly if you can nab a spot at La Casa del Califa, the astounding passion project of Scotsman James Stuart. The hotel is just off the town's main square, decked out in glorious Moorish decor, with tapestries, tiles, and fabulous traditional architecture creating a superb ambiance. The food is worth writing home about, too, a wonderful feast of North African and Middle Eastern flavors, enjoyed in the central restaurant set around a pool.

In general, dining in Vejer de la Frontera is a special experience. Stuart and his wife own and run another five restaurants in and around the town, a combination of Moroccan and Andalusian traditional cuisines. Alongside these, fish is the highlight of the local traditional cooking, due to the proximity of Barbate, a historic fishing town and home of the 'almadraba' fishing process and some of the world's best tuna!

Yoko Barbate is a fantastic place to try the freshest catch, a wonderful fusion of Andalusian and Japanese styles. El Alferez, in Playa del Palmar, has a separate menu entirely dedicated to red almadraba tuna, while Castilleria, to the northwest of Vejer, is a great carnivorous option, with a charming, glass-fronted kitchen that gives you a great view of the action.