A few weeks ago, I jumped into a plane destination Jerez to what was about to be one of the most memorable weekend trips in months (which is a lot to say, given the amount of travel I’ve been doing lately): I was headed to Chipiona at the Atlantic Andalusian coast. I came back so amazed that I decided to let the feeling cool down, but it hasn’t gone away. This wasn’t a summer love, it’s here to stay.

For many Spaniards, Chipiona is one of those charming Andalusian towns perfect for the summer, with plenty of “chiringuitos” and a slow living vibe. For many others, Chipiona is were Rocío Jurado, the singer, was born. But there is a lot more to see and do in Chipiona than that. On top of a bicycle, we rode through the white streets and by the beautiful beaches, enjoyed the endless sunsets and the fun chiringuitos, proving that Chipiona is not only a destination for the Summer sun.

So, now that the Virgin of Regla festivities are almost over and tourists will start to vanish heading to their office cubicles, it is the best timing to enjoy its landscapes. Here are some of the plans you shouldn’t miss, just beware, you could be falling in love with Chipiona too.

1. Enjoy the Andalusian slow living by foot walking through the center of Chipiona

We arrived to Chipiona by bus from Xerez (Jerez) Airport and went to the hotel by foot. Small houses, white walls, and almost no traffic lead us through the streets (we were lucky enough to have everybody run away to the near by Rocío village.)

Walking through Isaac Peral, with its bars and shops, Cruz de Mar and the promenade, the church Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la O… I couldn’t help but feeling tempted to have an ice cream, test the scargot or take a picture of every single geranium flower-pot. It was the start of our weekend in Chipiona and our first walk through the city center didn’t want to let us down.

Truth is that here everything is around the corner, so while everybody else was checking in, I went to the top of our hotel La Española, where they have a solarium that overlooks the church, the castle and the beaches of Chipiona.

2. Feel amazed at the Sanctuary of the Lady of Regla (and the museum)

There is no Chipiona without the lighthouse or the Sanctuary of Regla. Literally. What today is one of the most important pilgrimage points in the South of Spain, was once a fortified castle owned by the Ponce de León family, who donated it to the Agustinian monks in 1399. So, what am I telling you this? Because it is worth to take a deeper look at the building.

It was at this same place where Chipiona, which once belonged to Rota, became a village. There is history inside this walls and under them: the doors belonged to the old castle, the vaults underneath the cloister were there in the XIII Century, you can still find the coat of arms of the Ponce de León family there.

As I was telling you, the Augustinians’ monks lived here until 1835, when they had to leave the Sanctuary. Later, in 1851 the Infants of Orleans visited Chipiona and felt shocked by the story and miracles of the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Regla), so they started to restore the temple and return the image from the Parroquia church to the Sanctuary. Once restored, the building was given to Padre Lerchundi (a Franciscan priest) who set here a missionary school that would send hundreds of Franciscans to Morocco and the Holy Land.

That’s why the convent has plenty of windows looking over to the Atlantic Ocean (so they could see the ships that would take them away) and why the museum has plenty of interesting objects from Morocco and every other part of the world (plus all the religious items from the Sanctuary, including capes, coats and all sort of garments from the image.)

The temple was restored (almost rebuilt) with a neo-Gothic style. It is today the home to the same Franciscan community, with 15 friars, who now guide visitors through the secrets of the Museum of the Sanctuary of Regla. One of them if friar Juanjo, in the picture above, who told us about many of the Sanctuary and Chipiona’s secrets.

For example, that the Virgin is so wonderful that they had to build a silver armor so they wouldn’t tear the figure apart. Or that a grant from the Pope allows to have the Immaculate church every Saturday (at 7:30AM) and that they have a piece from the Holy Cross that they show at mass on Holy Friday. And that the smell of Chipiona is that of nards and incense of roses, which is how they decorate the Sanctuary.

By the way, you can visit the museum every Friday evening during summer, but also book a visit by phone calling +34 956 370 189. The Sanctuary church can be visited for free when the church is open.

And while you are in the area, don’t forget to visit the Humilladero (the small temple built over the well where the locals hid the Virgin statue during the muslim occupation.) Or the buildings that doctor Tolosa Latour built as a health therapy centre for kids (because of the the good weather and the high concentration of iodine fo the beaches of Chipiona) with Neo Mudejar style.

3. Riding through the green routes towards the pine grove of Pinar de Chipiona

My friend Teresa didn’t want us to go to just the “touristic” places, but also to the hidden gems that most miss when they travel here. So we took our bikes and rode through the green routes around Chipiona.

There is a long green (biking) route that connects Chipiona with Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Rota and Puerto de Santa María through what once was a train railroad. The route, which goes through pine groves and farm fields, took us to the area known as Pinar de Chipiona (Pinar de la Villa on the map.)

Here, with over 300 years of history, the stone pines grow in “pagos”, small groves that used to belong to the families of the area, who used to pick the pine nuts and wood for a living. Today this is not a profitable work and they have transformed the area into a great spot to walk and do some birdwatching. You can see here wood pigeons, long-eared owls, hoopoes, turtle doves… And the many birds that take advantage of the short distance to Doñana Natural Park and Costa Ballena lakes, such as kingfishers and mockingbirds among others.

Also a great spot to see mammals like dormouses, muskrats, hedgehogs… And oscillated lizards, although we didn’t see any (wrong timing as we visited in the evening.)

This is sure an amazing spot for Autumn so, write it down! We continued from here towards the SAAM – Club de Mar, to compensate the evening on a bike with a GinTonic at sunset with a view over Chipiona (more about sunsets below.)

4. Enjoy food (km zero, of course)

Eating in Chipiona is also a different deal. You know that in my commitment to sustainable travel, one of the key ideas is to eat local and Chipiona is an amazing place to eat.

We got some amazing recommendations that took us to 4 different places for dinner that we loved:

• Casa Juan, down town Chipiona. Best? Traditional recipes such as hake in moscatel sauce and “huevos de choco” (cuttlefish gonads). Less traditional: sea bass in low temperature with layer cake of “cañaíllas” (spiny dye-murex) and sauce of “ortiguillas” (sea anemones).
• El náutico (Casa Ricardo), at the promenade. We had shrimps (gambas and camarones) and some spectacular coquinas (clams) but if I had to choose, the “arroz señorito” (rice with fish) was one of the best I’ve tried lately. Bo felt like ordering Corvina, which was in season and he wasn’t wrong either. It is also a nice spot to try famous “tortillitas de camarones” (tiny shrimp fritters)
• Monterrey Costa, next to the lighthouse at the Monterrey Costa Hotel. Besides being a hotel restaurant, it is really worth going there for tapas (they won the best tapa award with a tempura fritter of cod with squid ink and boletus cream. For me, the best thing were the fritters and “carrillada” (pork cheeks) with moscatel wine sauce.
• La Manuela, at the Tres Piedras beach. A unique “chiringuito” located at a beautiful spot and great vibes. We had a mix of asian – Andalusian food that was amazing: nigiri of sardines and tartar of local tuna (from Cadiz almadrabas) among my favorites. My friends also recommended the place for more traditional things like tortillitas de camarones and such, but I had to flee to Jerez to catch my flight and couldn’t try these. Let me now if you do.

We also added to the mix some gintonics at the SAAM beach club, with a view to a beautiful sunset. And some drinks later at Trinity Irish Bar closer to the lighthouse and also by the sea.

5. Go inside the “little castle” of Chipiona and (re)discover the new world

The castle of Chipiona is a big question itself. The size is weird for a castle (the first version was even smaller) nobody really knows who had it built (some say Guzmán “El Bueno”, who received this land after the Reconquest, but some studies say it was built later on the XV Century) and it has been transformed so many times that it looks nothing like a real castle. But don’t get fooled by this, it has an important place in History.

King Alfonso X already fortified this place when they conquered Cadiz area and it has been a key spot to guard the coast from muslim, berebere and turkish pirates. Its location at Punta del Perro, which allows to control Guadalquivir’s river mouth and the sailing route to Seville, has also another important characteristic: ships have to wait here for tides to be favorable and unshipping is easier here. Plus, it was also useful to protect the “corrales” (see below.)

No matter when the castle of Chipiona was built, the area was so dangerous (due to pirate attacks) that until 1473 people would work the land but lived at the village of Sanlúcar. They even say Barbazul (la Barbe Bleue from Charles Perrault) and the vikings attacked the land.

The building has been the vicarage, Guardia Civil barracks, hotel (for over 100 years) but today you will find 2 things here:

• the Tourist office, where you can book your visits to the Corrales and the lighthouse (among other things)
• the Interpretation Center of “Cadiz and the New World” a small museum of travel and discoveries.

A highly recommended visit for anyone with a traveling soul that reviews the history of the region, the conquest of the Americas (and beyond), commerce with the new land and important people from the Cadiz region, such as Mutis or Cabeza de Vaca.

6. Learn to use the tides to your favour at Los Corrales

The “Corrales” are another big question of Chipiona. Nobody can truly date them: romans, Phoenicians or even earlier inhabitants created this way of fishing. We know they were here even before the lighthouse or the castle were here and there are little reference to a fishing method like this one (although it reminds many of the tuna fisheries “almadrabas” and the “camboas” of the monks that you can find in the Atlantic ocean.)

But first things first: what are the “Corrales”? They are artificial fences made of oyster stones (this sort of oysters are not eaten here) that allow the water in with high tide but let most of the water out when it’s low (thus leaving some fish inside.)

Fishing here is a restricted office, only the fishermen with a certain permit can fish here. The man on the picture above is the “cataor” (taster), the first person to go fishing there when the tide is low and also the one that keeps the Corral in good shape. Only when he has fished, the other fishermen can go in.

It is also a sustainable tradition: only the fish that are going to be eaten and is big enough is captured. This way, they know they will be able to keep fishing here in the future and the Corral will keep attracting bigger fish with small seafood and fish that they can feed from. We were lucky enough to see the cataor fish a cuttlefish, a crab and a “capitán” fish, after leaving many smaller fishes and seafood behind.

By the way, you can do a free tour on them through the Tourist office. You will be visiting with a fisherman that will show you how they use the different traditional fishing tools and how the Corrales work. Just remember to wear the proper shoes, the place is slippery and it is easy to cut yourself with the oyster blades.

You will need to book in advance, either at the tourist office at the castle or by phone 956 92 90 65.

7. FInd chameleon live and free

Back in the times, you could buy chameleon at Chipiona market. It was very easy to spot at Chipiona’s area and, although they don’t survive in captivity (Chamaeleo chamaeleon is a territorial species) tourists found it a funny souvenir to buy. Today this is forbidden, not only because it is harder to find, but also because it is a protected species with its own protected area in one of the most beautiful dune system in Cadiz.