Cadiz Travel Forum

Going to be in Spain from Feb 24-Mar 3 and want to experience carnival. I have a some questions:

1. Need help with deciding when to go. Some suggest the first weekend, while others suggest going on Feb 28th.
2. I'm staying in Marbella during my stay but am willing to get a room for the night. Do you think this option is worth it? Don't know how far Marbella is from Cadiz so driving might be dangerous or too far????
3. How much time should I allot for carnival? Start in the morning, afternoon or just come in evening?
4. Do I need a costume?
5. Other things I should plan or know in advance??

Thanks for your help!

1. Yes the best weekend is always debatable (i always forget), most spanish visitors come the second weekend, why not stay the week?

2.Marbella is pretty far away (2-3 hours) and the road is a bit dodgey, i would stay, but it is tricky to find accomodation that week. Many people just party all week and sleep on the beach (stash your sleeping bag somewhere or think up a particularily warm fancy dress outfit!), It is not too cold and you will DEFINETALY not want to drive!

3.The build up for carnival begins tomorrow i think (the anenomea party, then the little carnival, then the real carnival (2 weekends), then the after carnival carnival. Essentially it last almost 5 weeks, with the 2nd weekend (maybe the 28th) being the climax. It is always a bit vauge with the dates, cause they rarely need an excuse for a party in Cadiz.

4.Costume is advisable, but not strictly necessary, and think cheap and silly! originality goes further than cash spent. The main utility is: something to chat with people about, like what the are you meant to be!? keeping warm, for just before sunrise and preventing your clothes from getting filthy.

5. People are very friendly and like to joke, they are generally very interested in extranjeros, but often lack much english (or embarressed to speak). So some spanish and patience is useful. The main attraction, as such, are the 'singing groups', they are hilarious (but very gaditano)and difficult to understand, also it gets really busy. Have patience and wonder around the beautiful city and beach a bit, you will quickly meet fun people. It is practically 24 h, be prepared for some heavy partying (last year i requried 3 new kidneys, 4 livers and a lung transplant to recover...lol!)

Hope this helps, i am sure you will have a fun time. Come see us in 'La Viña' on the corner by merodio! Cheers Ed.

You can get a bus from Marbella to Cadiz. The bus operator based at Cadiz is called TRANSPORTES GENERALES COMES. They run green coloured buses. Web site is www.tgcomes.es
Think that the Marbella-Cadiz times are on this page http://www.tgcomes.es/horarios_3_english.htm
It's certainly possible to order and buy your ticket online if you need. Or get it once you are in Marbella? So you can check for timings etc. The fastest bus takes 4 hours and goes round the southern headland west of Algeciras. You can see Africa on a clear day !