# A night in Zafra and Jerez de los Caballeros, an hour and a half from Seville Saturday in Zafra, with its two squares, Santa Clara and an afternoon at a spa; a night in the Feria palace and Sunday in the Templar town of Jerez de los Caballeros. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/extremadura/zafra/itineraries/night-in-zafra-and-jerez-de-los-caballeros-from-seville Dónde: Zafra Zafra is about 140 km from Seville, a little over an hour and a half along the A-66, the Ruta de la Plata. It is the short getaway to southern Extremadura: a white town of arcaded squares and a ducal palace, a spa a quarter of an hour away and, forty minutes off, Jerez de los Caballeros, the Templar town. One night is enough; two, if you want to make more of the spa. ## Where to sleep? AccommodationWhereWho for Parador de ZafraIn the alcázar of the Dukes of FeriaFor sleeping in a 15th-century palace, with a seasonal pool and pets accepted Hotel Las PalmerasUnder the arcades of the Plaza GrandeA manor house on the square, with family rooms and pets accepted Hotel Balneario El RaposoIn the countryside, a quarter of an hour awayFour stars attached to the spa, for those who come to rest ## How to get there from Seville? Take the A-66 towards Mérida, exit Zafra. It is about 140 km and a good hour and three-quarters with the outbound traffic. On Sunday, from Jerez to Seville it is a little over two hours. ## And with children? Zafra is pedestrian and Santa Clara has ramps and a lift; Jerez has an alcazaba, a wall and a tower with a legend, and under-12s do not pay for the guided visit. The spa is for adults: with children, swap Saturday afternoon for the Candelaria collegiate church and the Zafra Única route. ## El plan ### Saturday · 10:45 · Plaza Grande and Plaza Chica Park in the Plaza de España and walk into the old town. Look for the measuring rod on a column in the Plaza Chica. ### Saturday · 11:30 · Santa Clara Museum The Poor Clares' enclosed convent, free. On Saturday it opens from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00. ### Saturday · 13:30 · Lunch at Acebuche A Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, with Extremaduran and Argentine cooking and half portions. Open Saturday at midday; book on 924 553 320. ### Saturday · 16:30 · Thermal circuit at El Raposo Heated pool at 32.8 °C, saunas and heated loungers. Passes with circuit from €55; book by phone. ### Saturday · 21:00 · Dinner and night at the Parador Dinner in the Feria alcázar, from 20:30 to 23:00, and a night in the palace. ### Sunday · 10:45 · Jerez de los Caballeros Forty minutes away. A guided visit with Tour Extremadura from the Plaza de España, through the Templar alcazaba, the wall and the churches of San Miguel and San Bartolomé, for €11. Book beforehand. ### Sunday · 12:30 · Museum of Sacred Art Jerez's Holy Week on display all year. On Sunday, until 14:00. ### Sunday · 14:00 · Lunch and the drive back At Restaurante Santa María, next to the alcazaba, open Sunday at midday. Leave for Seville at 16:30: you arrive around 18:45. ## Un consejo más If you go in July, check the dates of Jerez's Templar Festival: four days of medieval market and theatre in the castle. ## Cuándo no ir Doing it the other way round, with Zafra on Sunday: Acebuche and La Rebotica close that day. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Seville to Zafra? A little over an hour and a half by car, some 140 km along the A-66. ### Where to sleep in Zafra? At the Parador, in the Feria alcázar; at Hotel Las Palmeras, on the Plaza Grande; or at the El Raposo spa. ### Is Jerez de los Caballeros far from Zafra? About forty minutes by car. ### Do I need to book? Yes: lunch at Acebuche, the spa circuit and the guided visit in Jerez. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Parador de Zafra**: Nine battlemented towers on the Plaza Corazón de María The Parador occupies the palace of the Dukes of Feria, which began as an alcázar: the first Count of Feria built it between 1437 and 1443 and his descendants, by then dukes, turned it into a palatial residence. Hernán Cortés stayed in it. Behind the facade, the interior fits around the nine original battlemented towers, with coffered ceilings, chests, ironwork and banisters from the old palace, a marble patio and a terrace with a view of the town. Behind is a garden and a seasonal outdoor pool. It is right in the historic centre, at Plaza Corazón de María 7, about five minutes' walk from the Plaza Grande. Five types of room, with a suite under the golden ceiling Paradores offers standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites, one suite and accessible doubles. The suite is in the Sala Dorada, the palace room with a Mudéjar wooden ceiling. Facilities include air conditioning, lift, free wifi, minibar, kettle, laptop safe, television with Chromecast, room service, breakfast in the room, laundry and ironing. Rates can be checked by date on the Paradores website, for room only, with breakfast or on half board. Breakfast and meals, in the same palace Breakfast is from 7:30 to 11:00 and the café is open from 11:00 to midnight. The Parador restaurant serves lunch and dinner every day, with Badajoz dehesa cooking: shepherd's migas, lamb caldereta, grilled Iberian pork and sweets from the convent of the Poor Clares. The Parador itself advertises a free guided visit of the building; ask at reception for the time. The €25 pet supplement It is one of the Paradores that accept pets: one dog or cat per room, up to 25 kg, with a supplement of €25 per night. Bookings with an animal are made by phone, with the Parador or the central reservations line, because there is a limited number per night. Inside the building the animal must be on a lead, in your arms or in a carrier, may not be left alone in the room or enter the restaurant, and you must bring its health card. Dogs considered potentially dangerous are not accepted; guide dogs always are. 60 km from Mérida, with the old town on foot Zafra is 60 km from Mérida on the Ruta de la Plata, 73 km from Badajoz on the N-432 and 141 km from Seville, according to Paradores. The Parador's website does not mention its own parking: the car parks in the centre, on the Plaza de España, are a couple of minutes away. From the door, the whole old town can be covered on foot: the Zafra Única route starts at the alcázar itself. For day trips, Paradores suggests the Capricho de Cotrina, 5 km away, the castle of Feria, 15, or Jerez de los Caballeros, 38. - **Hotel Las Palmeras**: On the Plaza Grande itself Las Palmeras is a manor house restored in 1993 under the arcades of the Plaza Grande in Zafra, right in the old town. On one side is the 16th-century convent of Santa Catalina, and on a flank the hospital of Santiago, of Mudéjar architecture. Next door is the Plaza Chica, the old market and centre of the medieval town, with the measuring rod carved on one of its columns. From the rooms you can see the grand houses of the square, with their coats of arms and their flower-filled balconies. It is run by Vivere Stays. The rooms There are single rooms, doubles for one adult, double rooms with a double bed, twin rooms, triples and quadruples. The decor is rustic, with tiled floors and some rooms with vaulted ceilings. All have a private bathroom with shower or bath and toiletries, air conditioning and heating, flat-screen television, desk, wardrobe and free wifi. There is a lift to the upper floors. The quadruple, of 26 m², has two single beds and a large double bed and views of the town: it is the option for families or groups of four. The hotel presents it as a family room, spacious and comfortable. Services Breakfast is served in the house's patio, with traditional cooking and quality produce, according to the hotel. On the ground floor, a vaulted lounge opens onto the patio. The hotel advertises itself as pet friendly and accepts pets, and as bike friendly: it has a safe place to store bikes. The website does not publish fixed prices, check-in and check-out times or conditions for pets: ask when you book. Who it is for and how to get there For sleeping in the centre without taking the car: everything you come to see in Zafra is a few steps away. It suits couples and families looking for a room for four, and anyone travelling with a dog or by bike. Zafra is 45 minutes by car from Mérida, 30 km from Almendralejo and an hour from Seville, according to the hotel. The old town is pedestrianised, so the practical thing is to leave the car in the car parks in the centre of Zafra and walk. If you come by train, the Zafra station is on the outskirts. What is nearby You step out onto the Plaza Grande and the Plaza Chica from the door. A few minutes away are the Candelaria collegiate church and its Zurbaráns, the Santa Clara Museum and the alcázar of the Dukes of Feria. For dinner, La Rebotica is two minutes away. Bookings on 924 552 208, on 682 531 558 or at palmeras@viverestays.com. - **Hotel Huerta Honda**: A hotel beside the palace Huerta Honda is listed in the Turismo de Extremadura hotel register and in the Zafra town council's restaurant directory, on Calle López Asme, next to the alcázar of the Dukes of Feria, now a parador. From the door, the Plaza Grande is about five minutes' walk away. What to know It has its own restaurant, also open to non-guests. Its website did not let us check the rooms, prices or services: ask when you book, on 924 554 100 or at reservas@huertahonda.com. - **Hotel Balneario El Raposo**: A mud spa in the countryside Hotel El Raposo has four stars and is physically attached to the spa, in the hamlet of El Raposo, in the municipality of Puebla de Sancho Pérez, a quarter of an hour from Zafra. The complex is surrounded by some 30,000 m² of gardens. Its speciality is the natural mud that forms in the nearby stream: it is decanted into maturation tanks, covered with medicinal mineral water and exposed to the sun for five to eight months. The spa claims to be the only one in Extremadura with natural mud of this kind. The story begins in 1860, when, as the house tells it, a sow with sore joints recovered after spending a day lying in the mud of a pool in the stream. The news spread through the district, first animals bathed and then people, and in 1886 the first bathhouse was built. In 1925 a twenty-room hotel was built and in 1926 the spa was declared of public utility. The rooms Today the hotel has 100 rooms and 187 beds: 87 doubles, three of them adapted, and 13 singles. All have a full bathroom, heating and air conditioning, telephone, television, free wifi, a free safe, minibar and a pillow menu. There is room service from 11:00 to 22:30. What it offers The active heated pool, at 32.8 °C, and the thermal circuit with saunas, ice area, aromatic shower and heated loungers are the heart of the stay, along with the mud treatments, massages and hydromassages. There is also an outdoor and an indoor pool, by reservation, a medical service, a hairdresser, a reading and games room, a shop, event rooms and bicycle hire. Parking is free. For eating, the Matanegra restaurant has a set menu of the day with home-style dishes, a buffet and an à la carte menu, with a wine list focused on the DO Ribera del Guadiana. The café La Zaranda serves raciones and breakfasts, and in spring and summer its terrace opens in the pool gardens. To book a table: 924 570 410. Prices and breaks In its gift vouchers, the thermal circuit on its own costs €55, one night with circuit €125, and the one-night break with half board, circuit and massage, €309. There are also longer thermal-cure stays, with full board and spa treatments for five or ten days. Prices change according to the season: check them on its website before booking. Who it is for and what is nearby For a restful night at the end of a day in Zafra, for couples seeking a spa break and for those coming for a cure of several days. If you only want the circuit without staying overnight, see the thermal circuit at the El Raposo Spa listing. In Zafra, a quarter of an hour away, are the Plaza Grande and the Plaza Chica and the alcázar of the Dukes of Feria. Telephone: 924 570 410.