The Gr7 (E4) is an ambitious long-distance, way marked footpath passing through all of Andalucia and Spain, then on to Greece. We can vouch for the Alpujarran stretch being very well chosen but even so we vary it to suit the season and the walker.
The terrain is mountainous, but the route, based on the old mule trails, is always reasonably graded to make the hiking achievable for the averagely fit person.
The trek we recommend is of 5 stages with 2 nights at 2 of the locations giving a chance to rest midway and/or recover from travelling on arrival.
From each of the villages in which you stay there are circular walks which we have detailed for you to follow in the same way as the trek so in this way if you prefer you can lengthen your stay or we can arrange that you move on less often.
The basic route is from East to west starting in Yegen although it is possible to start 2 days further to the east. See the area in a little detail by clicking the map in the gallery to the right.
On arriving at the start point you are met by walkalpujarra and receive advice and the walk notes and maps included in this self-guided walking holiday. These walking notes are constantly updated and include information about cultural and historic sights, town and village plans and step by step route instructions. It's also possible to hire a GPS device for the duration of your holiday.
Day 1 - Travel to Andalucia in Spain - Arrival in Yégen. Public transport is possible from airports and private transfers are offered as an extra.
Travelling from the UK the most likely airports are Malaga or perhaps Almeria, both have possible bus links to the start point of the walk. If arriving by Rail Granada is the best target and all the alpujarra villages are linked to Granada by bus.
En-suite accommodation at the village inn.
Day 2 - You have information for 2 circular walks based around the 1st of the villages. There is time to do both walks with lunch at the village bar at midday. The village is famous as the 1920's home of hispanophile English writer, Gerald Brennan and it is possible to visit his "museum".
En-suite accommodation at the village inn.
Day 3 - 14km. walk, (five or six hours) of varied self-guided walking through an ever-changing landscape to your second village. You walk through chestnut woods and across a gorge and a bar lunch possible along the way.
En-suite accommodation Hotel**.
Day 4 - Descending into Guadalfeo Valley through a larger market town and various tiny white villages. The walk also takes you past the site of a 10th century Muslim castle. At the end of the walk you arrive in the highest village in Spain, famous for its air-cured hams. There are various route options varying from 10 to 24 kms.
En-suite accommodation Hotel* with option to upgrade.
Day 5 - Following the GR7 trail you'll be walking through a good variety of landscape, with great views of the valley as it passes through open areas and shady oak woods. A 5 hour route.
En-suite accommodation Guest house.
Day 6 - Today's walking route goes through various tiny white villages. You can enjoy a bar lunch en-route as you come out of the Trevelez valley and into Andalucia's famous and more visited Poqueira valley. Some splendid views of the river gorge and you can see the peaks of Spain's Sierra Nevada along the way. There are various options for extending the basic 4 hour route.
En-suite accommodation pension. Option for upgrade to hotel**
Day 7 - The last village where you stay is busier than the others you have walked through en-route. There is some 'life' and interest for the evenings, a good variety of places to eat, shops to browse and a museum to visit. Today there is a variety of circular walks. You can choose to either go walking higher into the mountains or go on a walk that's based more locally around the village.
Day 8 - Departure by public transport to airports is possible with an early start and afternoon flight times. Alternatively private transfers are offered to suit your timetable.
Customer Feedback (5)
William L.
Having never seriously hiked before we feel incredibly lucky to have found Jeremy and WalkAlpujarra. He met us on arrival in a small town in the hills and took us through very patiently all we needed to know. Considering the price the accommodation was great and the detail of the walk information impressive. I would highly recommend this small company with a personal touch.
J. Geddes
Jeremy, walkAlpujarra.
Anonymous
Your trip notes were great. We learned an important lesson on the first walk - of how it's easy to make landmarks and points on a map 'fit' what you are seeing.... resulting in us going way off route. As a result, we dedicated an hour or so each evening to going through the notes in detail and noting key points on the map so that we paid close attention during the next day's hike. Sometimes it felt like a giant treasure hunt, which was fun. And we thoroughly enjoyed being taken through so many villages and took advantage of many of the bars!
We also really enjoyed the places we stayed in. The one disappointment was our final accommodation in Bubion, which was such a huge contrast to the wonderful Casa Sonia where we'd stayed the night before. We were in a very small room, at the top of the stairs, with very little space even to put our luggage. I did ask if we could be moved to a bigger room but that wasn't possible. I assumed, at the time that this was because the other rooms were booked, but there was actually only one other couple staying there. As we couldn't speak Spanish and our hosts no English, it may have been that none of the rooms were any bigger or better. Breakfast too was poor in comparison to all the other places - just coffee and white toast whereas everywhere else had also offered fresh fruit, yoghurt, fruit juice and sometimes cheese. It would have been fine for one night along the way but not a great end for two nights.
Having said that, we enjoyed our explorations of the area on our full day there and had a couple of excellent evening meals in the restaurants you'd recommended.
Casa Sonia was definitely the highlight in terms of accommodation. Sonia herself was a wonderful host and cooked a fabulous evening meal which was superb value with the wine she included. Our room was enormous and beautifully renovated and was off a wonderful, large terrace with comfortable chairs and great views to the mountains. Staying there was a real joy and we were very tempted to phone you and see if we could spend 2 nights instead of one!
We also thoroughly enjoyed Granada and our visit there was greatly enhanced by the walking notes you provided. They were excellent, informative and really got us exploring areas we otherwise wouldn't have found. Needless to say we still managed to get a bit lost in some of the back streets of the Albacin, but that was all part of the adventure. The hotel was very comfortable and the receptionist incredibly helpful with information about getting buses, to airports, places to eat etc.
So... definitely a trip I'll be recommending to others. Thanks again to both of you for your excellent organisation and support.
Best wishes ..........Sarah
walkAlpujarra - Jeremy