Taster menu on a short walk in Caravaca de la Cruz for just 16 euros!
Enjoy the city centre as you discover some of the favourite snacks of Caravaca!
In 2025 the Town Hall of Caravaca de la Cruz has joined forces with local restaurants to launch a series of five easily affordable gastronomic routes in and around the city under the name of Sabores del Camino, enabling visitors (and locals!) to enjoy the local cuisine whether they are exploring for the first time or retracing familiar ground.
One of these routes is the “Camino de la Vera Cruz” (The Way of the True Cross), named after the holy relic housed in the basilica-sanctuary at the top of the castle hill in Caravaca and the main reason for the city having been awarded a Holy Jubilee Year every seven years. All of the 5 bars, cafeterias and restaurants featured on this route are within 100 yards, so a little to-ing and fro-ing is no inconvenience, and are located on either side of the Gran Vía which runs into the city centre from the south.
They are presented here in a suggested order, but of course you can pick and choose!
To start with, one of the favourite tapas in the Region of Murcia is the “marinera”, a round breadstick with a generous portion of Russian salad topped by an anchovy, and the recommendation on this route is to pop into El Eden and try one for 3 euros. A tasty way to sate the appetite and continue your short journey!
Next up is a quick “Fely-Peregrino” at Felymar, a small establishment with excellent service in the old indoor food market. The Fely-Peregrino is a tangy skewer uniting a chunk of red tuna with a chilli pepper, a pickled onion and accompanied by mayonnaise and leek, guaranteed to get the juices flowing, and it will set you back a mere 4 euros!
Now for the main courses (although only small ones!), and first we recommend a pork cheek crêpe at Arce Bar, a top-quality restaurant with popular meat and seafood dishes. Priced at only 3.50 euros, this snack certainly won’t leave you feeling you should have eaten more!
Next stop is the Cervecería Qué Giro, a typical high-end bar with a range of tapas, sandwiches and other snacks all made on the premises and a tranquil outdoor terrace. Here the recommendation is a “solomillo PX”, a slice of sirloin with Pedro Ximénez sauce on lightly toasted bread, coming in at the irresistible price of 2.50 euros!
And to round off your culinary tour of this little part of Caravaca, how about a gorgeous lemon tiramisú at the Cafetería Plaza for just 3 euros. Served with mascarpone cream, this is just the way to freshen up the taste buds and complete a memorable lunch in the historic city of Caravaca de la Cruz.
And the total cost for this gourmet taster menu is just 16 euros (drinks not included)!!!
Establishments featured
Cafetería Plaza, Avenida Gran Vía, 18 (click for map), telephone 676 924969, open daily 6.00 to 1.00.
Cafetería El Edén, Avenida Gran Vía, 15 (click for map), telephone 660 333663, Sunday to Thursday 8.30 to midnight, Friday and Saturday 8.30 to 0.200.
Arce Bar, Calle Salón Supremo (a pedestrian street, click for map), telephone 693 599209, open Sunday. Tuesday and Thursday 9.00 to 15.30, Thursday to Saturday 20.00 to 23.00.
Cervecería Qué Giro, Calle Salón Supremo (click for map), telephone 629 140231, open Wednesday to Monday 12.30 to 15.30 and Friday and Saturday evenings 20.00 to midnight.
Felymar, Plaza Tuzla, Interior Plaza Massima (click for map), telephone 666 065697, open Thursday to Sunday 13.30 to 15.30 and Friday and Saturday 20.30 to 22.30.
For more local events, news and visiting information contact the tourist office and information points or go to the home page of Caravaca Today.
Address
Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZTel: 968 702424 / 968 701003
Caravaca de la Cruz tourist office
More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.
Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.
The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.
The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.
Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.
Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.
Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.
The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and shares boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.
Tourist office opening times:
Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00
Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office
