Peniscola is a town of about 7,500 on the Castellon coast, halfway between Valencia and the Ebro delta, and it is built on and around a rock that was once an island. Sand joined the rock to the shore, which is why the place looks the way it does: a fortified crag of whitewashed houses rising straight out of the Mediterranean with a five kilometre beach running up to its foot. Spanish calls it la ciudad en el mar, the city in the sea.
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ON TOP OF THE ROCK IS A CASTLE WHERE A POPE ONCE RULED. The Knights Templar built it between 1294 and 1307 on the Arab fortress that preceded them, and a century later Pedro de Luna, Benedict XIII, moved in. He was the Avignon claimant to the papacy, which is why history files him as an antipope and Spain calls him Papa Luna, and when the Council of Constance deposed him he simply did not accept it. He ruled his shrinking obedience from this rock from 1411 until he died here in 1423, still insisting he was pope. The castle carries his name.
Below it the old town is a walled knot of steep whitewashed lanes, ramps and steps inside sixteenth century bastions, and it is small: you can cross the whole of it in fifteen minutes and get lost in it for two hours. One corner holds the Bufador, a crevice in the rock that booms when the swell runs into it from below.
It is also a film set. El Cid was shot here with Charlton Heston in 1961, and more recently the old town stood in for Meereen in Game of Thrones, which brings a steady stream of visitors looking for specific corners.
What you pack is set by two things: a steep stone town, and wind on an exposed headland.
The Castle, the Walled Town and the Beaches
A Templar fortress, a town of ramps and steps, and five kilometres of sand.
The castle is a straightforward climb up through the old town and takes an hour or two inside. It is a Templar building rather than a palace, so what you get is bare vaulted halls, the basilica, Papa Luna's study and a parade ground on the roof with the sea on three sides and the whole coast in view. The approach is uphill on stone the whole way and the roof is utterly exposed.
The old town below it is the pleasure of the place. Enter through the Portal Fosc or the Santa Maria gate, climb whichever lane looks interesting, and come out somewhere unexpected. The Ermitana church sits beside the castle, the Parque de la Artilleria looks out over the sea from the walls, and the lanes are lined with the usual shops plus a few serious restaurants. Go in the early morning or the evening: between eleven and five in summer the old town is extremely busy with day visitors.
The beaches are either side of the rock. Playa Norte is the long one, five kilometres of wide sand curving north with a palm promenade, the hotels and the beach bars behind it, lifeguarded in season and shallow enough for children. Playa Sur, south of the rock, is smaller and rockier. North and south of the developed strip there are coves and the water is clear.
The Sierra de Irta is the thing most visitors miss and the reason to bring shoes. It is a coastal natural park starting immediately south of town: a range of scrub-covered limestone hills meeting the sea with no development at all on a long stretch of wild coast, with walking and cycling tracks, hidden coves and the Torre Badum watchtower on the cliff. It is a complete contrast to the resort a kilometre away.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Morella, the Ebro Delta and the Coast North
A walled hill town inland, a river delta of rice and flamingos, and prawns worth driving for.
Morella is the big inland day trip, about an hour and fifteen minutes up into the Maestrat: a completely walled medieval town on a hill under a castle, with an aqueduct, a basilica and a serious winter. It is one of the best-preserved walled towns in Spain and the drive up through the hills is part of it.
North, the Delta de l'Ebre is about an hour: a vast flat river delta of rice paddies, lagoons, salt flats and flamingos, which looks and feels nothing like the rest of this coast. Between here and there, Benicarlo and Vinaros are working towns rather than resorts, and Vinaros prawns, the langostino, are a genuine delicacy that Spanish food travellers drive for.
South, Castellon is an hour with its own long beach and port, Valencia is about an hour and a half with the airport, the Ciudad de las Artes and the paella heartland of the Albufera. Inland from Benicassim, the Desert de les Palmes is a scrubby mountain park with a monastery and views back to the coast.
Getting around: the old town is walkable and entirely pedestrian in practice, and the beach promenade runs from the rock along Playa Norte. CARS ARE A PROBLEM IN THE OLD TOWN and the sensible approach is to park in the signed car parks at the foot of the rock or along the promenade and walk up; the lanes inside are narrow, steep and often stepped. Buses connect Peniscola with Benicarlo and Vinaros, where the nearest railway station is, with regional trains to Valencia and Barcelona. A car is wanted for Morella, the delta and the Sierra de Irta. Valencia and Reus airports are each about ninety minutes away.
When to Go
May, June, September and October, with a crowded August and a quiet, windy winter.
This is the Castellon coast: daytime highs from about 16C in January to 30C in August, mild nights in summer, and a sea that is swimmable from June into October.
May, June, September and October are the best months. The old town is navigable rather than packed, the sea is warm by June and still warm in October, and the Sierra de Irta walking is comfortable.
July and August bring the full Spanish holiday season. Playa Norte is busy, the old town is shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the day, and accommodation prices roughly double. The Moors and Christians festival and the Virgen de la Ermitana celebrations fall in early September and are worth planning around deliberately.
Winter is mild, bright and very quiet, with the resort largely shut and the old town belonging to residents again. The castle is open year round and is the better visit without crowds. Note that Morella inland is a different climate altogether and can be cold with snow.
TWO WEATHER CAVEATS SPECIFIC TO THIS COAST. The gota fria, the cold drop, brings short violent storms between September and November where months of rain can fall in a day and streets and dry riverbeds flood fast. And THE WIND ON THE ROCK IS CONSTANT AND UNDERRATED: an exposed headland with sea on three sides is breezy in August and genuinely cold in January, several degrees colder in feel than the beach a few hundred metres away.
Is Peniscola Safe for Women Travelers
Peniscola is a small, family-dominated Spanish resort town and very easy to travel alone.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Spain, and the country is one of the most straightforward in the world to travel in. Its safety and security page concentrates on petty theft, which is the realistic risk, and on the fact that Spanish police require you to report a theft in person to get the denuncia your insurer will ask for.
Spain's theft advice applies in the normal resort form: the beach in summer, where the standard mistake is a bag left on the sand during a swim, and the crowded old town lanes in the middle of a July day, which are the one genuinely pickpocketable environment here. A theft needs an in-person report at a comisaria or Guardia Civil post for the denuncia an insurer requires.
Day to day this is gentle and unremarkable. The promenade and the old town are busy with families into the late evening, eating alone is completely unremarkable, and the whole place is small and well lit. Out of season it is very quiet indeed, which some travellers love and others find bleak. English is reasonably common in the resort and less so in the surrounding working towns.
Spain is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free, it does not cover repatriation or a private clinic, and on the islands and the costas many clinics aimed at visitors are private and will bill you, so check before you are treated. Spanish public hospitals are good and a farmacia handles minor problems without an appointment. Tap water is drinkable across the mainland and the Balearics. Heat is the realistic summer health risk rather than anything exotic.
The real hazards are the stone and the water. The old town is steep ramps and steps on stone polished by visitors and often wet from washing, the castle approach climbs the whole way, and the castle roof and the wall walks are high and exposed with the wind pushing at you. Playa Norte is lifeguarded in season within flagged zones but the coves north and south and everything in the Sierra de Irta are not, and the Mediterranean here can run a short sharp swell. The Bufador booms because the swell drives into the rock, which is a reminder that the base of the crag is not a place to scramble. The gota fria flooding above is the one event that closes roads. Nothing here is about other people.
The Peniscola Packing List
Base layers, for heat and headland wind
Merino here does two jobs. In summer it moves moisture and resists odour, so one top handles several days of climbing a stone town at 30C where cotton would be finished by lunch. On the castle roof and the wall walks, in any season, it is the layer that deals with wind off the sea. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron with no synthetic blend. A long sleeve merino wool base layer for women covers both, and the long sleeve is useful sun cover on an unshaded rock.
Shoes with grip
Walking shoes with grip. The old town is ramps, steps and stone worn smooth, wet from morning washing and slick in rain, and the climb to the castle is on that surface the whole way. The Sierra de Irta tracks are loose limestone. Smooth-soled sandals are the wrong footwear for the old town specifically. Merino wool socks, which handle a hot climb without blistering.
Sun protection, and a hat that stays on
A wide brim sun hat and high factor sunscreen. The rock, the castle roof, the walls and the beach are all completely unshaded, and the white walls throw light back at you. A hat with a chin cord is the better choice here, because the headland wind takes hats off and over the parapet.
A light mid layer, and not only in winter
A fleece mid layer. The wind on the rock is the reason: an exposed headland with sea on three sides feels several degrees colder than the beach below it, in August as well as January.
A packable waterproof for autumn
A packable rain jacket for women. The gota fria between September and November is short, violent and floods streets, and the headland wind makes an umbrella useless anyway.
An insulated bottle
An insulated water bottle. Tap water is drinkable, and there is nothing to buy on the Sierra de Irta tracks or on the way up through the old town early in the morning.
The small things
Cash in euros for small bars and the beach, though cards are normal. A Spanish two-pin adapter. Swimwear and a towel. Shoulders covered for the basilica inside the castle. AND THE ONE THING THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS: timing the old town, which means going up early in the morning or after six in summer, because between eleven and five in July and August the lanes are shoulder to shoulder with day visitors and the climb is in full sun.
Essential Resources for Women in Peniscola
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
Non-emergency police: dial 112 for any emergency, 092 for the Policia Local in Peniscola and 062 for the Guardia Civil, who cover the coast and the countryside. A theft must be reported IN PERSON at a comisaria or Guardia Civil post to get the denuncia an insurer requires. English is reasonably common in the resort and less so in the working towns around it.
Main hospital or clinic: Peniscola has a health centre, the centro de salud, and the Hospital Comarcal de Vinaros, with a full emergency department, is about twenty minutes north. Dial 112 for an ambulance. A farmacia, marked with a green cross, posts the duty rota for nights and Sundays.
Official health authority: the Spanish Ministry of Health. Spain is in the EU, so a UK GHIC or EU EHIC gives you state-provided care on the same terms as a resident, largely free at the point of use, but not at private clinics and not for repatriation
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Madrid. Madrid, with a consulate in Valencia about an hour and a half south, which is the relevant one for the Castellon coast
Official tourism authority: Turespana, the national tourism board. With the Peniscola tourist office for castle opening hours, which shorten in winter, and for which beaches are lifeguarded, since the coves and the whole Sierra de Irta coast are not
The old town is steep stone: ramps and steps worn smooth, wet from morning washing and slick in rain, with the castle climb on that surface the whole way.
The wind on the rock is constant: an exposed headland with sea on three sides, breezy in August and genuinely cold in January. A hat needs a chin cord.
The gota fria, September to November, drops months of rain in a day on this coast and floods streets and dry riverbeds fast.
US State Department travel advisory: the Spain advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Solo women safety assessment: Peniscola is a small, family-dominated Spanish resort town and very easy to travel alone. The promenade and the old town stay busy with families into the late evening, eating alone is completely unremarkable, and the whole place is small and well lit; out of season it is very quiet, which suits some travellers and not others. Spain's theft advice applies in the ordinary resort shape, with two specific environments: a bag left on the sand during a swim, and the crowded old town lanes in the middle of a July day, which are the one genuinely pickpocketable place here. A theft needs the in-person denuncia from a comisaria or Guardia Civil post that an insurer requires. English is reasonably common in the resort and less so in the working towns around it. The real hazards are stone, wind and water rather than people. The old town is steep ramps and steps on stone polished by visitors and often wet, the castle approach climbs on that surface throughout, and the castle roof and wall walks are high, unfenced in places and exposed to a wind that takes hats off. Playa Norte is lifeguarded in season within flagged zones, but the coves either side and the entire Sierra de Irta coast are not, and this stretch of Mediterranean can run a short sharp swell; the Bufador booms precisely because the swell drives into the base of the rock, which is not a place to scramble. The gota fria between September and November is the one weather event here that floods streets and closes roads. Cars belong in the car parks at the foot of the rock rather than in the lanes above.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Spain travel guide for women. For why wool rather than cotton works in heat as well as wind, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
