EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA is the obvious choice, a traditional family resort for both gaditanos (as inhabitants of Cadiz are known) and sevillanos - many of whom have built villas and chalets along the fine Playa Puntillo . This strand is a little way out from the town (a ten- to fifteen-minute walk or a local bus), a pleasant place to while away an afternoon; there are friendly beach bars where for ridiculously little you can nurse a litre of sangría (bring your own food). In the town itself the principal attraction is a series of sherry bodegas - long, whitewashed warehouses flanking the streets and the banks of the river.

Until the train was extended to Cadiz, all shipments of sherry from Jerez came through Santa María, and its port is still used to some extent. Many of the firms offer free tours and tastings to visitors (Mon-Fri from around 10am till noon), though this is not a regular process and you need to phone in advance or organize a visit through the turismo, either in Cádiz or Puerto de Santa María itself. The most worthwhile tours are offered by two of the town's major producers, Osborne y Cía, Calle Fernán Caballero 3 (Mon-Fri: visits at 10.30am in English, 11am & noon in Spanish; tel 956 855 211; ¬1.80), and Fernando de Terry, Calle Santísima trinidad 2 ( Mon-Fri: visits at 9.30am, 11am & 12.30pm; tel 956 857 700 ), situated in a beautiful, converted, seventeenth-century convent.

The ferry ( known locally as El Vapor , alluding to the earlier steamboats ) from Cadiz is quicker and cheaper than the bus at ¬1.70 one-way; the forty-minute trip across the bay departs from the Estación Marítima at 10am, noon, 2pm, 6.30pm and 8.30pm (summer only), returning to Cadiz at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3.30pm and 7.30pm with extra sailings in season according to demand (especially in the evening). A new catamaran service operated by the MareSur 2000 company (mobile: tel 670 697 905 ) leaves from the same quay 7 times daily between 7.25am and 5.30pm, and does the trip in half the time of the vapor ( 20 minutes ); tickets cost 2.25 Euros one-way or 4.20 return.

El Puerto's turismo is situated at Calle Luna 22 (daily 10am-2pm & 6-8pm; tel 956 542 413), near the Plaza de las Galeras Reales where the ferry drops you. Close by you'll also find some excellent seafood restaurants , including the justly famous and great fun Romerijo , Calle Ribera del Marisco, one of the most popular marisquerías in town, where you can buy your choice of shellfish in a cartucho (paper funnel) and eat on their terrace with a beer. Bus Num 2 from the Plaza de las Galeras Reales goes to the campsite at Playa Las Dunas ( tel 956 872 210; open all year ), near the beach with plenty of shade.

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