El Puerto de Santa Maria (Spanish for “The port/harbour of Saint Mary”, the town is know locally known as El Puerto). The City is on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cadiz, the city has a population of over 82,000, located across the Bay Of Cadiz approx 10km north east of Cadiz itself. One of the best ways to get to the city from Cadiz is to take the El Vaporcito ferry which for the past 76 years has been transporting passengers across the bay. The town is seeped in history, museums and monuments. It is also within easy accessible reach of richly historical cities of Seville and Cadiz�

One of its most famous landmarks is its Bull Ring which dates back to 1880 where bull fighting is enjoyed during the Feria season which is in May known as the Feria de la Primavera, a Feria dedicated to sherry and during the four days of the festivities it is said that 1,800,000 half bottles are consumed. There is also a Feria during the month of August. Semana Santa: (Holy Week), the week that leads up to Easter Sunday is a wonderful time to enjoy the area with it�s street parades and long lines of penitents and big crowds. In El Puerto de Santa Maria there are daily parades from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

If Sherry and Brandy is your thing the city is a must for you, Famous names such as Osborne and Terry has Bodegas (wine cellars) located in the town. These along with many other bodegas can be visited by the public and here you will see them producing sherry using the traditional method called �solera�, a method that produces the pale dry Sherries to the sweet Muscatel sherry, Amontillados and the older Olorosos

Easting out in El Puerto is a wonderful experience with seafood being top of the list. You should head for the Rivera del Marisco where you can either eat at the tables or buy seafood in paper cones to take away and eat as you stroll along the seafront. You can also sample local tapas in one of the numerous eateries located in or around the town centre.

El Puerto has managed to escape the mass tourism that has enveloped many other parts of the Costa Del Sol, however during summer months the town bursts with life and the best part of the city to enjoy this is on the north bank of the Rio Guadelete, where bars and restaurants line the palm-covered streets and in Vistahermosa nothing gets started till very late and the partying goes on into the early hours.

El Puerto is located on the Costa de La Luz (coast of light) and therefore enjoys one of Spains best climates with winter temperatures rarely dropping below 20 degrees and has over 3000 hours in sunshine. It also is located in the centre of the Parque natural Bahia de Cadiz so you can either enjoy the fine sandy beaches and deep blue sea or wile away the hours in the tranquil most pine forest but rest assured which ever option appeals to you will have a rewarding holiday

This City has so many different attractions to appeal to the visitors to this great city including San Marcoss Castle with its towers and battlements, standing out against the sky of El Puerto, The Victoria Monastery, an impressive building dating from 1504 the Dona Blanca Archaeological Site and well a visit is the Municipal Museum which opened in 1982 and houses a Fine Arts and Archeology section.

Also In the area you will find two of Spains beautiful Natural parks, the Sierra de Grazalema and El Coto Dona, they are both within driving distance and well worth a visit during your stay in the City

You should also take your time to visit on of the other towns and cities in the area including the Flamenco capital of the world, Jerez de la Frontera , located 20 minutes by car from El Puerto, the city is of Jerez is also famous for famous for its equestrian events, dancing horses , its sumptuous sherry and for the more adventurous of the the city is famous for it�s motorcycle events the most famous being the World Motorcycling Championships which is held in the first week of May every year and is one of the biggest sporting events in Spain attracting round 150,000 spectators Jerez has loads of nice shops with spacious streets and beautiful old buildings and churches and is an interesting town to spend an enjoyable afternoon watching the world go by.

For details on these and other tourist Information the city itself has a very informative website available in Spanish English And German, It is well worth a visit if you are planning a trip to this great and historic city.