One week in the South of Spain in Late October

[Jo Jo]

It looks like my wife can only take one week off work to walk this year, probably in late October (yes, caminos have become an annual thing). We are looking at the South of Spain, probably starting somewhere and seeing how far north we get. For those of you with experience, where would you start if you only had a week? If more information on us is helpful, we are experienced walkers (2 CFs, 1CP, plus 2 weeks in Italy and gobs of backpacking in the U.S.). We carry our gear and can cover 35km/day without too much bother. The only limit is the wife does not like narrow paths with sharp drop-offs (so the route from Almeria to Granda is out because there is apparently one bad day with scree and drop-offs). Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Momonne]

Fly into Sevilla, bus to Castilblanco de los arroyos, taxi to the entrance of the Berrocal park and walk from there towards Merida. Or from Gullena, skipping only the first day. The walk to Guillena is really walking the burbs. I would not miss the Berrocal park, it’s a very pretty walk.

 

[evanlow]

Camino Mozarabe.

1. The original is from Granada - Cordoba - Merida where it joins the Vdlp.
2. There is also an alternate one from Malaga - Cordoba - Merida.
3. There is an extended one from Almeria to Granada.

I have not tried the last one. If you have one week, then I think Granada to Cordoba is best. May take 8 eights but can skipped the last 2 days and just take a bus to Cordoba (a good place to stop and enjoy).

 

[Erik Anderson]

Almeria to Granada is a great walk (200km) and the reports of the scree slope on one small section give the wrong impression. That section out of Alboloduy can be avoided by simply taking the road out of the village (which I was told gives better views) as this puts you onto the Camino exactly after the "scree". I found the Camino to Granada very beautiful as it largely parallels the Sierra Nevada and views of such places as Castillo de la Calahorra, Guadix and its badlands, or the mountains around Quentar are most memorable. But I agree with the previous post about Granada to Córdoba (180km) being particularly good, especially if you have just a week. I can recommend Moclín for spectacular views from its elevated position, and Espejo affords a similar vantage of the lands of the Guadalquivir and beyond.

 

[Erik Anderson]

 

[Erik Anderson]

I posted these views as representative of some of the stages from Almeria to Cordoba. From the top: Approaching Espejo before the first views of the Guadalquivir; Leaving Moclín; Descending into Quentar; Sierra Nevada, Granada and Olivares looking back from Moclín; Guadalquivir from Espejo; Above the Quentar valley. There was hardly one place I preferred to another as there are fascinating views, culture and history all along the Mozárabe. I attach a link here to a Spanish site (Almeriajacobea.es) from which you can download their latest guide (Jan 2018) for the whole route Almería to Mérida and associated GPX or KLM route data. There is a guide in English too if you look on the right hand side of the homepage. Importantly, the latest guide has an up-to-date list of available accommodations with phone numbers and some good, scalable maps. I think these may be of use too.

http://www.almeriajacobea.es/
http://www.nickandangela.com/info-summary-camino-de-santiago-almeria-fisterra/
http://www.andalucia.com/walking/camino-mozarabe.htm
http://todosloscaminosdesantiago.com/caminos/camino-mozarabe/
https://www.gronze.com/camino-mozarabe