Travel Guide To Costa De La Luz

Swept by the Atlantic winds that once filled Columbus's sails, Spain's Costa de la Luz remains an undiscovered country for modern tourists. It is a remarkable place, with kilometre upon kilometre of unspoilt beaches and dunes. There are no high-rise hotels and even in the main ports of Huelva and Cádiz, tourism has yet to gain a proper foothold. It is also one of the coolest beach destinations in Europe, with surfing, hip hangouts and a laid-back attitude.

Where to stay in Costa de la Luz

CONIL DE LA FRONTERA

HOTEL FUERTE CONIL

Playa de la Fontanilla (00 34 956 443 344; fax: 442 300). Hotel Fuerte Conil, one of the best hotels in this part of the coast, is part of the chain that owns the redoubtable Hotel Fuerte in Marbella and looks like its sea-going sister, with spacious, comfortable rooms and suites overlooking gardens and sea, and an emphasis on service rather than on golf or business conventions. £

HUELVA

HOTEL MONTE CONQUERO

Avenida Pablo Rada 10 (00 34 959 285 500; hmqreservas@hotel). Huelva is an unabashedly industrial city that makes few concessions to tourism with only three decent hotels. The best of these is Hotel Monte Conquero, a prefab built around an atrium. It is at least comfortable, central and reasonably quiet.

ISLA CRISTINA

Isla Cristina is not, in fact, an island but a promontory linked to the mainland by a slender isthmus. Its few beach hotels are popular with visitors from Seville and Huelva and can be busy until late October. The town sprawls around the promontory, with a large dormitory area separating the pretty old quarter from the main beach.

HOTEL EL PARAISO

Avenida de la Playa (00 34 959 331 873; hparaiso@retemail.es). Next door, the Hotel El Paraíso has a pool and comfortable rooms, although the 'English spoken here' sign may deter some. £

HOTEL LOS GERANIOS

Avenida de la Playa (00 34 959 331 800; geraniosh@yahoo.com). Here, the two-star Hotel Los Geranios has simple rooms decorated in a rainbow of pastel shades. £

HOTEL OASIS ISLANTILLA and HOTEL CONFORTEL ISLANTILLA

Avenida Islantilla (00 34 913 728 939; 00 34 959 486 017; acruz.confortel@once.es). The other place to stay on the promontory is the new Islantilla resort, a soulless urbanización of tract housing and two vast hotels, Hotel Oasis Islantilla and Hotel Confortel Islantilla. The Confortel is less impersonal, with balconied rooms in ziggurats overlooking gardens and water features. Both are aimed squarely at the convention trade market, but do at least offer the facilities of four-star hotels: restaurants, gardens, pools and gyms, and the largest golf course in the region.

MAZAGON

PARADOR CRISTOBAL COLON DE MAZAGON

Carretera San Juan del Puerto-Matalascañas Km30 (00 34 959 536 300; mazagon@parador.es). Two kilometres beyond Mazagón, Parador Cristóbal Colón de Mazagón occupies a prime position inside the Coto Doñana National Park and surrounded by nothing but wild beach, tall dunes and pine forest. The parador is modern and functional, but it is set in exquisite gardens, and each room has a terrace with views. Given the state of Matalascañas, the official entry point to the park which exudes less charm than a half-finished housing estate, this is the best base, north of the River Guadalquivir, from which to visit the park. £

ON THE BEACH

BEACH HOTEL ARTE VIDA

Arte Vida CN340 Km.79.3 (00 34 956 685246; www.hotelartevida.com). On the beach, about 10 minutes' drive from town, Beach Hotel Arte Vida is a good place for twenty- and thirtysomething couples. It has 14 basic but stylish doubles opening onto a sea-facing veranda, seagrass blinds rolled up at the windows, bamboo chairs and tables spilling down to the wonderful Playa de los Lances, and a laid-back beach bar. The Miramar restaurant serves tasty food including grilled seafood and beef skewers.

EL AGUILON

(CN340, km69; 00 34 637 424251; www.elaguilon.com). El Aguilon is set back from the road near the turning to Bolonia beach and the Baelo Claudio Roman ruins, and it is ideal if you're looking for a quiet retreat. Built along the lines of a traditional cortijo (ranch), this former family home of Michael Whaley (one of three British brothers who own the classic Tarifa beach hotel The Hurricane) has seven spacious rooms and suites. Four more are set around a central wooden staircase dripping with fat candles; one overlooks a cobalt-blue plunge pool; two open onto leafy gardens. Breakfast is served at wrought-iron tables in front of rolling fields, lunch at an enormous wooden table in the kitchen, and dinner anywhere you want. It's a great place for lazing on a pool lounger or riding out from the on-site stables. But it's definitely suited to an older crowd, and so are the prices, although all drinks are included.

SANLUCAR DE BARRAMEDA

HOTEL TARTANEROS

Calle Tartaneros 8 (00 34 956 362 044; fax: 385 394). If you're looking for atmosphere try Hotel Tartaneros, a restored mansion in the historic centre with antique furnishings and all mod cons. £

LA POSADA DE PALACIO

Calle Caballeros II (00 34 956 365 060; www.posadadepalacio.com). This antique palace of creaking floorboards, heavy wooden doors, grandfather clocks, rocking chairs and original oil paintings was built in the 18th century, and opened as a hotel
in 1986, but recently changed hands, and now has 30 rooms (of varying appeal) including two family rooms and seven suites. Number 21 has a sky-high ceiling and a bed big enough for five; 14 has a bed with a wonderful old wooden headboard. Another eight rooms are due to open in a 14th-century building where Christopher Columbus lived before embarking on his third voyage to the Americas in 1498.

TARIFA

CASA AMARILLA

Calle Sancho IV/El Bravo (00 34 956 681 993; fax: 027 130). A striking fin-de-siècle hotel with each apartment decorated in a different style and colour, the Amarilla is the best place to stay in town. There are quiet apartments at the back, but be warned: Tarifa is a party town.

DAR CILLA

Calle Cilla 7 (00 34 653 467025; www.darcilla.com). Another well-priced guesthouse, also with mini-kitchens, this is run by expat Zoë Ouwehand. Opened in 2002, the restored ruin has seven apartments decorated with carefully chosen furniture and textiles from Morocco, and a terrace looking across the Strait of Gibraltar. £

HOTEL DOS MARES

Carretera Cádiz-Málaga Km79.5 (00 34 956 684 035; dosmares@cherryhotel.com). The mock-Arabic Hotel Dos Mares has roomy private bungalows and its beach is wide and fine.

HOTEL HURRICANE

Carretera Cádiz-Málaga Km78 (00 34 956 684 919; info@hotelhurricane.com). The Hurricane's beach is tiny and its rooms good but plain; the attraction here is the pan-global cuisine served in its excellent restaurant, the riot of subtropical gardens around the large pool and the range of sport and health facilities. Its shiny glass-and-metal gym overlooks another pool and the beach, there's a full complement of water sports and exercise classes, and there's even a yurt in the garden offering alternative therapies and meditation techniques.

LA SACRISTÍA

Calle San Donato 8; 00 34 956 681759; www.lasacristia.net). This is a beautifully restored, 17th-century inn with 10 elegant, all-white rooms set around an arcaded central patio. Owners Bosco Herrero and Miguel Arregui (who used to design for Oberoi resorts in India) have retained many of the original features (stone tiles, studded wooden doors), adding an idiosyncratic mix of antiques and objets d’art from Morocco (wrought-iron pendant lamps), Vietnam (lacquerware) and Bali (silk lampshades). The rich-boho vibe attracts a mature (30-55), globe-trotting crowd. £

MISIANA

Calle San Joaquin 2 (00 34 956 627083; www.misiana.com). Those who don't mind the noise of the bar below will like the 10-room Misiana where they can sleep in red, lilac or turquoise rooms decorated with strings of shells or beads, and eat a Spanish-style breakfast of toast spread with olive oil and tomato while sitting on red and white cubes in the Metamorfosis bar-café. The hotel is owned by Rafael Luque and his wife, Ana Toroja, who have just opened a second property. £

THE CASABLAN+CO

Calle Nuestra Señora de la Luz; 00 34 956 681515; www.casablan-co.com). Casablan+co is housed in a renovated, 19th-century property painted different shades of white. There are seven cleverly designed, minimalist 'suites': four are duplexes with futons on glass platforms over the bathrooms, the other three have tatami beds under soaring beamed ceilings. The decor (Philippe Starck bathroom fittings, Conran sofas) is quite austere, and the ladders up to the mezzanines are harsh on bare feet, but the simplicity is very stylish, and it's hard not to like the micro-kitchens - especially if you prefer making your own coffee. £

VEJER DE LA FRONTERA

EL ESCONDRIJO

Callejon Oscuro 3 (00 34 956 447438; www.escondrijo.com). The perfect micro boutique hotel, with just four spacious Moorish-contemporary suites set around a central patio and winding stairways. Room I is a mezzanine apartment with a hammock-chair and its own private terrace; Room III (the exotic 'Red Room') has a separate sitting room, voile curtains opening onto a dark-red, alcove-style bedroom and white stable doors leading to a black-tiled rain shower. The delicious breakfast of fruit, yogurt and honey, toast, eggs and coffee is served on the patio, drinks on the terrace at the top. Other facilities include units in each room with hobs and fridges stocked with wine, beer and fino and a vast collection of CDs, paperbacks and DVDs. If you don't arrive with a plan of action, Tenette and Nigel will help you put one together. £

HOTEL CONVENTO SAN FRANSISCO

La Plazuela (00 34 956 451 002; fax: 451 004). Hotel Convento San Francisco is a 17th-century convent restored with great sympathy for the original structure (even the beds echo the Andalucian vaulted arches). £

HOTEL LA CASA DEL CALIFA

Plaza de España 16 (00 34 956 447730; www.lacasadelcalifa.com). Hotel La Casa del Califa is owned by Scotsman James Stuart, who was brought up in Lebanon and Syria and has worked in Morocco as a guide, it takes its inspiration from the time when Vejer was part of a vast Arabic empire, and is decorated with Yemeni pots, Afghan kilims, Syrian carpets and a wonderful 18th-century Persian dowry chest inlaid with mother-of-pearl. It is a real labyrinth, with 18 rooms and a restaurant spread over six seamlessly connected buildings, the oldest dating back to the 11th century. £

Where to eat out in Costa de la Luz

ISLA CRISTINA

HERMANOS REYES Calle de Diego Pérez Pascual, 4. For excellent seafood, follow the locals to Hermanos Reyes, situated in town.

SANLUCAR DE BARRAMEDA

CASA BALBINO Plaza del Cabildo, 1 (00 34 956 360 513). Bulls' heads leer down at you from the walls of Casa Balbino (Plaza de Cabildo) in town, which is known for its delicious tortillita de camarones (shrimp omelette).

CASA BIGOTE Avenida de Bajo de Guai, S/N (00 34 956 362 696). On the beach in Bajo de Guía, Casa Bigote looks like something out of a Hemingway novel, and serves fresh seafood tapas.

TARIFA

BAR ANCA CURRO (Calle Morena de Mora). Head for tapas at this tiny bar plastered with photos of flamenco dancers and bulls.

LA SACRISTÍA Calle de San Donato, 8 (00 34 956 681 759). For more substantial fare, try the Mediterranean dishes here.

LOS MELLI C/ el Gúzman el Bueno. Good for montaditos de gambas (prawns on toast).

SOUK ZOCO C/ Mar Tirreno, 46 (00 34 956 627 065) Despite its out-of-the-way location, the Arab-style Souk is a local favourite, with a chaotic boutique, a café serving peppermint tea and sticky home-made tarts, and a romantic, candlelit restaurant.

VEJER DE LA FRONTERA

EL JARDIN DEL CALIFA Plaza de España 12 (00 34 956 451706). In the courtyard garden of the Hotel La Casa del Califa (see Where to stay), El Jardin del Califa gets full marks for its romantic Thousand and One Nights atmosphere, but the Middle-Eastern mezze don't taste quite as good as they look.

LA BRASA DE SANCHO Calle Sancho IV El Bravo, 1 (00 34 956 455 189). The outdoor asador (grill) attached to the Restaurante La Vera Cruz in Calle Eduardo Shelly 1.

RESTAURANTE LA CASTILLERIA (00 34 956 451 497). Outside Vejer in the village of Santa Lucia. Owner Juan chops up meat on the charcoal grill while customers sit at rustic tables under a canopy of vines.

TRAFALGAR Plaza de España, 31 (00 34 956 447 638). You can sample seafood at the Trafalgar, which has a dazzling fountain.

Things to do in Costa de la Luz

BEACHES The Costa de la Luz could be said to be the longest beach in Europe. With kilometre upon kilometre of unspoilt, and in some cases inaccessible, beaches, dunes and wetlands, there is little or no tourism development in the vicinity whatsoever, making the beaches truly peaceful.

HUELVA La Rábida, the monastery from which Columbus set sail on his 1492 journey to America, is 8km outside the city and is now a low-key tourist attraction with life-size models of Columbus's ships, a landscaped nature reserve and a modern amphitheatre. Neighbouring Palos de la Frontera is a compact little village that has preserved the handsome stone church where the sailors celebrated Mass before departure. Further inland, Moguer is an elegant if decaying town where Columbus later spent a night in prayer at the beautiful Convento de Santa Clara, in thanks for his safe return.

COTO DONANA NATIONAL PARK In 1998, the Doñana hit the headlines when an industrial-waste reservoir burst its banks and spilled a cocktail of toxins into the park's waters. Embarrassed authorities went into overdrive to repair the ecosystem. They claim the park is now back to its pre-spill condition and have tightened the screws on visits. As well as the indigenous and migratory birds that use the park, rare Spanish lynxes and imperial eagles, deer, mongoose, wild boar and flocks of flamingos inhabit its dunes, forests and lagoons. This rough triangle of nearly 200,000 acres of marsh, dunes and forest is actually defined by scientists as a man-made environment: farmers, fishermen, hunters and others have been altering its landscape for hundreds of years. Visitor access is strictly limited and it is advisable to book ahead, especially if the park is a key part of your visit.

Tours from the Matalascañas side, via the Acebuche visitor centre, (00 34 956 430 432) consist of morning and afternoon four-hour safaris in all-terrain minibuses; what you see depends on luck and the time of year. Serious twitchers, who will probably find the half-day trip frustratingly short, should enquire at the centre about hides available on the fringes of the park. From the Sanlúcar side, you can take a boat ride up the Guadalquivir, followed by a short walk around a marked route on the edge of the park. These tours are organised by the Doñana visitor centre (00 34 956 44 24 74); alternatively, try the commercial agency Viajes Doñana (00 34 956 362 540) which also arranges all-terrain-vehicle trips.

SANLUCAR DE BARRAMEDA Sanlúcar is the centre of the production of Manzanilla sherry, and its bodegas all offer tours and tastings. In the second week of October, the town hosts a tapas festival along its central boulevard, Calzada de Ejército.

How to get to Costa de la Luz

AIRPORT Seville Airport is the closest to Costa de la Luz, and all towns are within driving distance. The airport at Jerez de la Frontera is less than 30km from Cádiz. Car hire in Spain is inexpensive and the best way to get around the coast. AIRLINES FROM THE UK British Airways (0844 493 0787; www.britishairways.com) and Iberia (www.iberia.com) fly direct from Heathrow to Seville.