What I Packed for Cádiz (And What Each Item Ended Up Teaching Me)
Updated: Sep 4
I pack the same way for most European trips. Cádiz rearranged my priorities within about a day. Here's what actually earned its spot in my bag — and why.
Comfortable, broken-in walking shoes. Non-negotiable. Cádiz is flat, which sounds easy, but the historic center is a maze of narrow cobblestone streets, and the whole point of the city is getting a little lost in them on purpose. My shoes worked harder here than almost anywhere else I've been — not because of hills, just sheer distance covered without noticing.
A water bottle I refilled constantly. Cádiz has a rhythm to it, and part of that rhythm involves entire stretches of the afternoon where the city basically shuts its doors. I didn't know that going in, and it changed how I planned every single day after I figured it out.
Cash — more of it than I expected to need. I assumed cards would cover everything, like most of Europe. Cádiz had other plans, especially at the small family-run spots that turned out to be the best meals of the trip. There's a specific type of place locals pointed me toward that you won't find with a sign out front, and cash was the only way in.
A hat and sunscreen, obviously — but also a genuine sense of curiosity. That last one isn't something you pack in a bag, but it mattered more than anything else on this list. Cádiz isn't a checklist city. There's a watchtower with a device inside it — one of the oldest of its kind in Europe — that only makes sense if you're willing to climb a lot of stairs and trust the payoff. I almost skipped it. It ended up being one of the best twenty minutes of the whole trip.
Something to write in. Cádiz got three words out of me by the end, and I don't think I could've landed on them without jotting things down as I went. I'll tell you what they were in the guide — but I'll say this: it surprised me how a city this quiet left such a specific impression.
One thing I didn't pack that I wish I had: a plan for how to say goodbye to a place I knew, even while I was there, I probably wouldn't rush back to. That one's a longer story — it's tied to a rating I gave Cádiz that doesn't match how much I actually loved being there.
Cádiz doesn't need much from you — just the right shoes, a little patience, and the willingness to slow down. I put the full breakdown (the food spots without signs, the watchtower, my honest ratings, and that "one and done" story) in the Cádiz Quick Guide.
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