There’s no doubt that the culinary delights of a city provide one of main appeal for tourists to visit it.  Like many Spanish cities, Murcia inherits a rich culinary tradition that comes with its centuries-old history that has evolved to blend with modern cooking styles.

Murcia is the least known Spanish City but is well known around Spain for its tasty tapas dishes.  The many restaurants and hotels in the Murcia offers a wide assortment of traditional Murcian tapas and local delicacies prepared in the traditional way.  The coastal restaurants on the other hand, offer Mediterranean sea harvest of fish and seafood dishes that take advantage of its Mar Menor and Mar Mayor.

Some of the restaurant may require reservation for the night especially if it falls during special holidays of the year.  So it is best that the visitor make a call first and their numbers are often listed in the hotel’s directory of fine restaurants.  Again, just like visiting any of the tourist spots, getting a car hire, whether chauffeured or not, is a visitor’s best transport option in getting around Murcia with your family or friends.

To the Restaurants for fine Gastronomic Experience

Some of the best tapas dishes are served in Rincon de Pepe along Aposteles. Then there’s the Hispano along Arquitecto Cerdan which is a favourite watering hole among Murcianos for its traditional dishes served in a rustic cozy ambiance.

The Palacete Rural la Seda along the Vereda del Catalan in Santa Cruz is a good 10-minute ride from Murcia which serves modern Catalan cuisine using only the finest local ingredients and is considered one of the pricey restaurants in the city.  The restaurant itself is well worth the sight as it is a 17^th century edifice originally built as a wine cellar and then a silk factory.

The Monteagudo restaurant situated at Av. Constitucion in the Montequdo suburb is well worth the 3 mile drive from Murcia along its motorway.  You get to learn about the traditional local dishes served with a modern flair and ends with a generous serving of warm chocolate soufflé.

The Restaurante El Sordo along Alhorbona is situated in the Valley of Ricote, just a 15-minute drive from the city and should be no problem reaching with a rented car for an evening of fine dining experience.  It’s an enormous restaurant that’s quite popular and you will need to get yourself booked beforehand.  GP

Getting around a historic city can be most gratifying on foot if the local is small and the places of interests are clustered in an area like the Vatican.  But as you visit grottos and cathedrals, museums, art galleries and the public squares and markets scattered over 340 square miles, you better get a car hire to get you to the place you want to visit. So when in Murcia, it pays to hire your private care to afford you and your family the comfort and privacy you need while getting your way around the city.

• The Museums

Savoring the history of a nation and its people starts with a tour of any of its famous museums and if you rented a car, you could be on your way to all of them in a couple of days.  The Salzillo Museum at the Plaza de San Agustin is a good place to start. It holds the most important processional religious images by the noted wood carver Francisco Salzillo. The Museo de la Archicofradia de la Sangre holds a permanent exhibition of the works of the Most Precious Blood of Christ movement with sculptures from Nicolas de Bussy and Roque Lopez, to mention some.

A church turned into a museum is what the San Juan de Dios Church is.  It houses a permanent exhibition of 18^th to 18^th century religious images and wood carvings.  Then there’s the Las Claras Art Center which is built on the remains of 12^th to 13^th century Islamic houses.  The Fine Arts Museum showcases prestigious Spanish artworks from the 16^th to the 20^th century.

For a more modern approach to reliving the country’s past, the City Museum along the Plaza da las Agustines uses interactive technologies t showcase the city’s 2000-year history.

• The Festivities in Murcia

One of the many colorful sights of a city is its traditional festivities that really bring to life the cultural values of a nation.  In Murcia, the solemn Catholic commemoration of Holy Week is embodied in the Murcia Holy Week procession considered as among the most famous throughout all of Spain. Life size finely adorned religious sculptures by the noted sculptor Francisco Salzillo (17-7 – 1783) are taken out from cathedrals and museums and paraded on elaborately festooned floats adorned with flowers and in the evening, the parade glitters with candle lights stopping at various churches meant to re-enact the Calvary route of Christ before crucifixion.

But the most colorful festivity comes a week after the solemn Holy Week in the traditional Bando de la Huerta on the following Tuesday when the locals don the traditional Huertano get-up to celebrate the Huerta parade.  Then the following Saturday gets another colorful parade treat with the Entierro de la Sarina or Burial of the Sardine.

Then there’s the Three Cultures International Festival which occurs every May organized to overcome racism and foster understanding and reconciliation between Christians, Muslims and Jews who have contributed to enriching the traditions of the country for centuries.  The festival showcases the three great cultures in exhibitions, symposia, conferences, music and the performing arts. GP

With a semi-arid weather and a dash of Mediterranean breezes, the City of Murcia situated on the south eastern region of Spain quite near the coast facing the Mediterranean waters enjoys a semi Mediterranean clime that provides year-round opportunities for the visitor to explore its many historic and cosmopolitan sights, tastes and sounds.

For so long the city is known to the rest of Europe as the Huerta de Murcia or Europe’s orchard mainly due to its long tradition as a source for the continent’s fruits, vegetables and flowers.

The city stretches to cover 340.5 square miles and is Spain’s 7^th largest city and enjoys a varied terrain ranging from the mountainous southern Cordillera regions mountain ranges.

These two regions are known as the Field of Murcia and the Orchard of Murcia separated by the steel hilly Monteagudo range.  The historic central Murcia is about 1 square mile wide comprising the urbanized downtown proper. While taxis can be hailed easily, it is still best for the visitor to get a car hire to get around the city for faster transport access and privacy.

Most of the wonderful places to visit are scattered around its 340.5 mile land area and a private car or SUV is a fast and expedient way to get from place to another.

Main Places to See

• Starting with its splendid historic architectures in landmark buildings, Murcia offers a wide variety of sights that can charm the visitor.  Its cathedral is one such landmark.  Built between 1394 and 1465, the Cathedral of the Diocese of Cartagena is a majestic example of Castilian Gothic architecture that blends Renaissance with baroque styles with Rococo and Neoclassical influences.   In the same square where the Cathedral stands (Plaza Cardenal Belluga) is another noteworthy edifice, the 18^th century Bishop’s Palace.
• From the Cathedral, you can reach the Plaza de Santo Domingo, a bustling commercial town market centered around the Plateria and Traperia streets. These two streets got their names from their commercial roots with the Plateria noted for its commerce of silver (plata) and other rare metals while the Traperia is noted for its commerce in cloth, both by the city’s Jewish communities.
• Along the banks of the Segura River that crosses the country is the Glorieta, considered the traditional city center constructed in the 19^th century and is home to the ayuntamiento, or the city hall. Other places around Murcia worth visiting In the metropolitan area are the Noria de La Ñora water wheel and the Azud de la Contraparada reservoir.  Then visit the Malecón boulevard, the La Fuensanta sanctuary and adjacent El Valle regional park, the Almudi Palace, the Monteagudo Castle and the Los Jerónimos monastery.  Noted museums include the Salzillo Museum and the San Juan de Dios church-museum.  For traditional entertainment, there’s the Romea Theater.