Hiking in Andalusia - Sierra de Grazalema

Travel to Andalusia's famous white villages, Pueblos Blancos, and arrive at the charming whitewashed village of Grazalema. The village sits at 830 metres altitude and becomes your home for the next two nights. If you arrive early, you can take the opportunity to do a short hike up to the top of Peñon Grande, or enjoy tapas at a local bar and start getting into the exotic Andalusian atmosphere.

Accommodation in Grazalema

Discover the limestone plateau Endrinal just south of Grazalema, where red earth tones meet lush vegetation in beautiful contrasts. During the hike, the air fills with the scent of Mediterranean plants, and you get to admire the traditional building techniques with stone walls and snow wells. In the afternoon there is time to stroll around the small shops in the village and settle down with a glass of refreshing sangria.

Accommodation in Grazalema

A longer but relatively easy hike takes you from hotel to hotel today. The route goes through open pastures and dehesas with holm oak and cork oak on gentle slopes. Towards the afternoon you reach the genuine village of Villaluenga del Rosario – Andalusia's highest-lying village, with a Moorish past, Roman heritage and a unique square bullfighting arena. Here you check in to a cosy posada and enjoy dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

Accommodation in Villaluenga

Today you hike along the old Roman road all the way down from Villaluenga del Rosario to the lively village of Ubrique. Here you can settle down for a genuine Spanish lunch before being taken back by taxi to your posada in Villaluenga.

Accommodation in Villaluenga

Time to leave the friendly village of Villaluenga and head towards the plains of Llanos del Republicano. Here a hidden valley landscape awaits, where a river disappears down into a deep limestone cave. The route runs between Sierra de Libar and Sierra del Palo through greyish-white limestone mountains and dramatic karst formations, until you reach one of Serranía de Ronda's most beautiful villages – Montejaque, the trip's final pueblo blanco. The hike is long, but two-thirds takes place on wide gravel roads that make the stretch easier to walk.

Accommodation in Montejaque

Today you can choose between two different hikes:

• The El Hacho loop: A beautiful loop via the summit of El Hacho, where the route follows wide gravel roads through the Campobuche valley and continues on small paths between olive groves.  8 km · 3–3.5 hrs · 325 m up · 325 m down.
• Cueva de la Pileta: A trip to the famous cave with prehistoric paintings. The hike first follows a short stretch along a road, then goes through a peaceful forest and ends with a steep climb. After the visit, you can turn back the same way, order a taxi from the cave, or continue on down to Benaoján Estación for a wonderful Spanish lunch at Restaurante Molino del Santo. 6–13 km · 2.5–5 hrs · 325–625 m up · 325–625 m down.
  
  Accommodation in Montejaque

Hike through atmospheric landscapes, where the first stretch follows an old cobbled path. You pass fields that fill with poppies in spring and walk by small family farms on the way to Ronda. Here awaits the town's great attraction – the impressive bridge Puente Nuevo, which dramatically spans the deep ravine and divides the town in two. In the evening you can stroll around the narrow alleys of the historic Moorish quarter, settle down at a tapas bar and toast to an unforgettable hiking week in Al-Andalus.

Accommodation in Ronda

The trip ends after breakfast.