Walking Andalucia

Itinerary. Starts in Capileira on day 1 - Ends in Granada, day 6 after breakfast

Price €340 or €435

• Pension option B&B 5 nights €340 per person sharing. Simple en-suite accommodation and continental breakfast in both Granada and Bubion.
• Hotel*** option B&B 5 nights, €435 per person sharing. This option gives an  ample buffet breakfast, larger rooms and hotel staff that speak English.

Public transport costs associated but not included:  €18 euros per person. Return bus and a taxi in Granada. Granada has direct international air links with Paris and Milan and good direct bus/rail links with Madrid and all Andalucian cities.

Granada and La Alpujarra make a fascinating combination. Granada is the European City most recently controlled by the Arabic inhabitants of Spain and when they were finally negotiated out of the city, the Alpujarra became designated a Muslim 'homeland'...... but not for long. Granada has a spectacular architectural legacy from that 15C period and many earlier remains. The 16C brought new rulers and new culture that gave the city its renaissance. The Sierra Nevada looms over Granada and its south face forms La Alpujarra. a spectacular region of deep gorges, high hills well watered by the melting snows above.

The Alpujarra. Days 1-3

Day 1 - Arrive from  Granada by bus. The journey takes about 2 hours, as the bus winds around difficult mountain roads.

The terrain  is mountainous and the walks are hilly but we can choose walks for you based on what you tell us of your experience.  They vary greatly in altitude and distance, giving walks for all seasons and capabilities. Capileira and Bubion  are well supplied with craft shops, varied restaurants, an exhibition centre and museums.The hotel option is in Capileira where your hotel has good facilities a pleasant environment, with a pool surrounded by gardens and terraces, English is spoken. The pension option is in the quieter, neighbouring village of Bubión, 10 minutes walk from capileira.

You will be provided with detailed information in the form of our notes and maps of circular walks of distances between 3 and 23kms. You may like to ask for an extended stay here as the walking is varied and plentiful.

Granada city - Days 4-5.  We provide you with details of 3 city walks and information about how to visit the city in general. With 2 nights in the city, and the information we provide you have time to get a feel for the city as well as visiting the famous Alhambra palace.

Your hotel is within 15 minutes walk of the Alhambra Palace and centrally placed for walking to the other historic parts of the city as well as the modern centre.

 

Itinerary starts in Córdoba hotel on day 1 and ends in Zuheros after breakfast on day 6.

Price. €375 per person (2012)

• 5 nights B&B accommodation **Hotel
• walking information for town and country.

Associated public transport (not included):

• return bus Cordoba-Zuheros €12.
• Taxi between Cordoba bus station and Cordoba hotel €12.

Córdoba retains the feeling of importance it had in the early middle ages when it was the centre of the Islamic world, and the world centre of science and learning. La Mezquita encapsulates 700 years of history while the city in general provides opportunities for exploring tapas bars, restaurants, galleries and museums. The Sierra de la Subbética is about 90 minutes by bus from Cordoba city and is a pleasure to walk in. A mixture of stony paths which are quite difficult underfoot, green swards and oak-woods over a limestone terrain.

2 nights in cordoba city. Cordoba has direct bus links with all major cities and high speed train links with Seville and Madrid. We will supply full travel help.

In Cordoba you will spend two nights in a **Hotel in the same square as the Mezquita and will have a full day and  more to visit and explore. Our information will give plenty of ideas about what what to visit and where you can relax.

 

3 nights in Zuheros – Sierra de La Subbetica.

On day 3 at midday you would take the local bus from Cordoba to Zuheros a journey of about 90 minutes.

The hotel will have your information ready and waiting for you

The ** hotel in the centre of the village, is family run, very friendly and has a justly earned reputation for good food. There is a choice of walks available, from 3 to 20kms in length and you spend 3 nights here.

On day 6 of this unit you would take the local bus back to Cordoba for onward travel there is a choice of buses from 8am onwards.

Itinerary. Starts in Ronda hotel day 1 - Ends in Cortes de la Frontera station on day 6 after breakfast.

Price.

• €680 per person (2012)

includes

• 5 nights B&B accommodation
• walking information for town and country.

Associated public transport (not included) Train to Ronda day 6 €4.10, or train to Granada day 6 €19.85.

1 night in Ronda town with information to enable you to find the interesting sites without wasting time. You stay in a Medieval Merchant House now converted into a ****hotel. Ronda is built across a dramatic gorge and crossed by a series of bridges from distinct ages, from Roman onwards.

 

Days 2-6 – Sierra de Grazalema.

Walking directly from Ronda, your luggage will be transferred hotel to hotel for you, just carry what you need for the day. The Grazalema Park, one of the most important botanical areas in Spain, having more than 1500 species including the endangered Pinsapo fir. On the Europe-Africa bird migratory route, it is an area of abundant, changing bird life. Weathered limestone has created dramatic rock formations and soft green valleys provide the setting for 11 of the famous white villages of Andalucia. The area has great underground water reserves which feed springs and rivulets, keeping the area green when other areas of Andalucia are parched.

The trek from Ronda passes through the villages of

• Montejaque, ***Hotel
• Grazalema, Guest house
• Villaluenga,  **H
• Estacion Cortes (de la Frontera). **H

Your luggage will be moved on for you. See more detail of the walk below.

At the end of the walk a transfer is included to the local station enabling onward travel via Ronda or Granada, an ideal way to link to the Granada module.

More detail of walking the itinerary.

Walk 1: Ronda to Montejaque: 14km/5hrs

Montejaque clings to the side of a mountain in the Sierra de Libar range and  during the last century, was sinking into a decline as the young sought jobs elsewhere. Fortunately, tourism has given the village a new lease of life, with many formerly crumbling village houses converted to guesthouses and small hotels. There are several shops selling local crafts, including leather ware, and the local market takes place on Thursdays.

H *** set in the village square, with an attractive, 17th-century façade, was formerly the residence of a local nobleman. Now an eight-room hotel with bright, comfortable rooms, welcoming communal areas and a small swimming-pool, the Palacete is family-run and serves good, Andalucian food in the pleasantly rustic dining-room.

Walk 2: Montejaque to Grazalema: 17km/6hrs

Grazalema lies in the centre of the Grazalema Natural Park and is one of the prettiest of the White Villages. It has the dubious distinction of having the highest rainfall of any town in Spain, thanks to its position between the two peaks of Reloj (1561m) and San Cristobal (1525m). It is also renowned for its handmade wool blankets, and the festival of Lunes de Toro is celebrated around the middle of July with the exciting spectacle of bull-running every day for a week.

The guest-house which has been delightfully restored by its proud owners,  has a spacious sitting room, terraces and pretty gardens, surrounding a pool. Breakfasts here are generous and include local fare. The excellent hosts and will be pleased to help and advise you during your stay.

Walk 3: Grazalema to Villaluenga: 15km/5hrs 30mins

Villaluenga del Rosario is a sleepy mountain village set at the very foot of a limestone ridge, and is the smallest village in the province of Cádiz. The village is famous for its gourmet cheeses which normally are sold exclusively to specialist shops, but you can treat yourself and buy direct from the factory as you leave the village on your next day's walk.

Hotel **, an inn which has been recently renovated, set amongst the narrow streets of the village. It is small and friendly, with snug rooms with shuttered windows looking out over the roof-tops of the village to the mountain ridges beyond.

Walk 4: Villaluenga to Cortes de la Frontera: 12km/4hrs 30mins

Cortes de la Frontera supports a large working mountain community, whose income is derived mainly from the cork industry.

The Hotel * is in the satellite village Estacion de Cortes, a lovely hotel and rustic village meson.

End of itinerary

Return to Ronda or travel on to Granada: travel on by train on the historic line built by the British at the end of the 19th century, which follows the gorge of the River Guadiaro.

Itinerary. starts and ends in Ronda. 3 nights in Ronda.

Price €295 per person (2012)

• 3 nights B&B accommodation
• Walking information for town and country.

3 nights in Ronda town with information to enable you to find the interesting sites without wasting time. You stay in a Medieval Merchant House now converted into a ****hotel. Ronda is built across a dramatic gorge and crossed by a series of bridges from distinct ages, from Roman onwards.

 

Day 1  You will have details of a circular Ronda  Valley walk.  Just right to stretch the legs in the afternoon after arriving.

Day 2.  Explore Ronda or take a walk in the Grazalema park. We suggest a guided visit  to the Pileta Caves, famous for their pre-historic Neolithic and Palaeolithic paintings, from where you walk down a secluded valley to Benaoján for lunch at a wayside tapas bar.  You then take the train (35 minutes) back to Ronda from there. Full information provided.

Day 3. Ronda. Explore Ronda or go walking. We suggest taking the train out to Benaoján (25minutes) & walking over the hills, past farmsteads with threshing floors and along a pretty hidden stream valley back to Ronda. Full information provided.

Day 4. Departure by train to Córdoba or Granada links with our other modules or for onward travel.