archaeological ensemble of baelo claudia

This amazing site is set spectacularly right on the beach. With breathtaking natural views all around this surprisingly large Roman City deserves some time to wander about.There is a small fee charged for foreign tourists, museum, gift shop and snack vending machines. Interpretive signs are in Spanish and English both in the museum and within the site.

We were driving from La Linea to Seville and looked for a side trip. And what a side trip! Apparently this is the best preserved and largest Roman site in Iberia. The work that has gone on to preservation and presentation has been tremendous. The information centre is modern and the explanatory material educational and entertaining. A must, if you get the chance.

Baelo Claudia is a great city that lived for 500 years. Fantastic location without newer buildings. A great place to visit. All information in both Spanish and English.

The welcome was friendly and admission good value (0 euros if you have an EU id). The site is large but with a route planned out with regularly placed notices and informative plaques. The excavations / remains are well worth seeing. Nice gift shop too.

I had one of the most beautiful afternoons & evenings of my life on our stop at Baelo Claudia.the beach was nice, the sand was great. and to sit in the chiringuito and watch te beautiful sunset in that nice environment was just heart warming.We had been there in September 2013. The exhibition was closed as we were there (If I remember correctly we arrived at 4 pm). But I loved the beach. That day is still so present in my memory as just beautiful, that I thought to write a review even 1,5 half years later.

Try to pick a warm day when you visit. The museum is fine, but the village is outside exposed to the ellements. It is a very moving experience walking around a village from 1st century AD. The remains are well preserved and restored. If you take ID then entrance is free to EU visitors.

One of the very best Roman sites we have ever visited. Visit museum first, then ruins, then beach. Post signing also in English. Very affordable entry fee. 3 euros, maybe? Very clean and well cared for site including restrooms. Easy to imagine life here in another time.

What a wonderful surprise to find such a beautiful "tiny" little Roman city just by the sea. And how incredibly beautiful this scenery is... Can you imagine a roman city so closed to the sea and with the sound of the ocean? Absolutely unique. The ruins are well preserved and some parts like the Forum and the main road are in such a good condition that is indeed a must to visit it twice, 3 times or more. The small temple of Isis, the small "cute" tiny Amphitheatre, everything is worth a visit. There is a museum nearby with all you need to understand the place. There is a fantastic snack-bar for short meals that serves delicious food and refreshments. After, you can always go to the beach or visit and play in the giant sand dune that is engulfing the pine trees around... What a holiday there!

A really well landscaped and informative site, and an example of how to present architectural remains in a mature and adult way. None of the irritating child-friendly and popularising additions that the UK's English Heritage and National Trust now feel is essential. The museum is adequate and could perhaps do with some updating; a history of the site's excavation in the 20th century would be interesting (if you visit the restaurant just on the other side of the beach-side fence it has photographs of the site before it was fully uncovered). It was worthwhile to do a virtual visit of the site with the aid of the leaflet and the model in the museum before actually walking the site itself. Note that Baelo Claudia is not signposted from the main Tarifa-Cadiz road; we missed it and drove miles in the wrong direction. You need to follow the sign to Bolonia from the main road.

The ruins are literally right next to the beach and in excellent condition. The museum is definitely worth visiting. However, for any Gibraltarians visiting (like myself), brace yourselves for the unprofessional woman at the ticket office who churns out 'Gibraltar Espanol' to your face.

A visit here was more than rewarding. Situated at one of the prettiest sandy beaches on the southern Atlantic Coast of Spanish. Beaches here are unlike the Mediterranean - golden sand, waves and cleaner water.The roman ruins are well presented and details are generally in English although some are not. In any case the pictures and the ruins make it easy to understand. the preservation has been extremely well done and the visitor is well catered for using raised paths at times to protect further damage.We spent a few hours there and then had a good meal at a restaurant on this magnificent beach. Continuing along the road from the Museum will take you up a steep slope where some magnificent views (including Africa on a nice day) can be viewed.There is also a sand hill at the end of the beach where there seemed to be sand hill riding but we didn;t walk down that farwe had booked in another town a few kilometers north and were sorry we hadn't stayed here - it is truly a beautiful place

Having visited Pompeii the bar has been set high for visiting archaeological attractions, but these ruins are a gem! very quiet when we were there (even with a Spanish school trip viewing at the same time as us). Good information, well laid out, notes in English as well as Spanish, we enjoyed a couple of hours on the site before spending the rest of the day on the nearby Playa de Bolonia.

This is one of the best finds on a long trip through Spain. The museum is small but provides superb detail and videos in Spanish and English. The real stuff is outside. Hopefully the weather will be good when you go. On a clear day, you should be able to see the African coastline. The site is well laid out with small but complete signage that explains what you are looking at. You can get very close to most things. If you are from the EU and have your passport, it's free. For the rest of you, it's really cheap, like 2 eur. It's fantastic and we highly recommend it.

I have visited several Roman sites in Greece and Turkey, but this one is better than most. The museum exhibit prepares the reader for what will be seen on the site. Baelo Claudia,located in Bolonia Bay is breathtaking. We made it into a whole day excursion by bringing our bathing suits, eating lunch in the local restaurants, and hiking up the Duna de Bolonia, a sand dune that offers fantastic views of the whole bay and surrounding pine forest. At this time, most of the museum is bilingual (Spanish/English) inside and out. The ocean swimming was fantastic as well, and probably enticing for families with small children. There is a 1.50 Euro fee applicable to non-EU residents.

It rained a bit, but it was very nice to seeing it for the first time.Easy parking, you need 2 hours to do it properly.