As you head through Spain along the stunning Costa de la Luz towards Portugal, with the Atlantic Ocean on your left and rolling hills to your right, the very last town you will see before your cross into Portugal is Ayamonte.

Due to its location on the border with Portugal it is easy to see the slightly different architecture to the rest of Spain, having some major Portuguese influences sitting alongside the traditional Spanish architecture.

Ayamonte is a fishing town sitting on both the estuary and the Atlantic Ocean. Much of its income is from the fishermen who spend hours out at sea in hope of bringing to shore a great selection of fresh fish an seafood, including tuna, a speciality to of much of the Costa de la Luz.

Ayamonte is located within the province of Huelva and is a popular holiday destination as it is a great base to explore both Spain and the Algarve.

More recently it has become a popular place for property buyers with many new developments springing up across the town.

There is a great hotel on top of a hill overlooking Ayamonte to one side and out to Portugal on the other. It is one of the ‘state’ owned Parador hotels, all of which are in strategic locations for the best views and some of which are in converted old or important buildings of the town.

There are of course other hotels in Ayamonte but the Parador is one of the best viewpoints and highly recommended.

Getting to Ayamonte is relatively straightforward. From Seville you simply take the Huelva road and head all the way along until you essentially come to the last town before the bridge which takes you over into Portugal.

It is roughly an hour / 90 minutes from Seville, although in the summer traffic can be very heavy due to the increase in tourists on the road.

There are a few places of interest in Ayamonte well worth a visit including the Casa Grande which was built in 1745. The building is quite magnificent and was originally built for for Manuel Rivero González and his wife.

Another place worth a visit is the recently refurbished Eco Museum in Ayamonte. It is deemed as one of the most important tidal mills in the area.