Barbate or Zahara for a holiday rental?

It depends what you are after. Barbate is a town that lives all year, with more services, gentler prices and everything on foot. Zahara is smaller and more of a resort, with the more famous beach. They are little more than ten minutes apart by car.

Which villages are near Barbate?

Zahara de los Atunes and Los Caños de Meca belong to the municipality itself. Vejer de la Frontera, Conil, Tarifa and Bolonia are all a short drive away, with the city of Cádiz somewhat further.

Can you walk to the beach from the centre?

Yes. Playa del Carmen runs off the promenade and much of the town is under ten minutes on foot from the sand.

Is Barbate worth it outside summer?

That is when it is most itself. In spring and autumn the pine forest and the cliffs walk well, the food is just as good and there is room everywhere.

Fishing town · Cádiz

Barbate

The south as it has always been.

Barbate is the largest town on this stretch of coast and where our office is: a working fishing port, with its market, its almadraba and a promenade that still belongs to the town. On one side, the Breña and Barbate Marshes Natural Park; on the other, long beaches and prices more reasonable than in Zahara. It is the natural base for seeing the whole area.

The beaches

Playa del Carmen starts at the promenade itself: you can walk down from almost any house in the centre. West of it, Playa de Hierbabuena sits at the foot of the cliffs and is the most sheltered when the levante blows. The cliff path starts there, climbing into the pine forest and running as far as the Torre del Tajo.

The table

Here the fish does not travel: it comes off the market in the port. Almadraba bluefin in spring, but also frigate mackerel, mackerel, urta, cuttlefish and local tinned fish that travels half the world. Prices are those of a town rather than a resort, and it shows on the bill. The morning market is worth a visit even if you are not cooking.

What to do

The Breña and Barbate Marshes Natural Park is on the doorstep: pine forest above cliffs, waymarked paths and viewpoints over the Atlantic. On foot or by bike you can reach Los Caños de Meca along the top. And if the trade interests you, the almadraba and the tuna museum explain where everything you have eaten comes from.

Getting here

Barbate is well connected by road to Vejer and the motorway, and it has the best bus service of the three. The reference airports are Jerez and Gibraltar. From here, Zahara and Los Caños are a good quarter of an hour by car.

Houses in Barbate

Escapada marinera junto al Paseo Marítimo

Barbate

Casa con terraza junto al Paseo Marítimo

Barbate

Casa María Luisa: patio y encanto gaditano

Barbate

Casa El Lance: Patio junto al Paseo Marítimo

Barbate

Casa Marinero: Patio andaluz en pleno Barbate

Barbate

Casa Maria Luisa II: Terraza Soleada con Vistas

Barbate

See houses in Barbate

Questions about Barbate

Barbate or Zahara for a holiday rental?: It depends what you are after. Barbate is a town that lives all year, with more services, gentler prices and everything on foot. Zahara is smaller and more of a resort, with the more famous beach. They are little more than ten minutes apart by car.
Which villages are near Barbate?: Zahara de los Atunes and Los Caños de Meca belong to the municipality itself. Vejer de la Frontera, Conil, Tarifa and Bolonia are all a short drive away, with the city of Cádiz somewhat further.
Can you walk to the beach from the centre?: Yes. Playa del Carmen runs off the promenade and much of the town is under ten minutes on foot from the sand.
Is Barbate worth it outside summer?: That is when it is most itself. In spring and autumn the pine forest and the cliffs walk well, the food is just as good and there is room everywhere.

The other two destinations

A quarter of an hour apart by car, and nothing alike.

Zahara de los Atunes

Los Caños de Meca