bjorgts
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- In Spain, France, Portugal, Germany since 2003
In April my husband and I walked Camino Mozarabe from Granada to Cordoba. Here comes some experiences: Malaga, Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla are all very interesting cities in this region. We used a day or two in each of them, and then we just had eight days left to walk, but the cities were worth it.
How to get a credential in Granada? We brought them with us. Our German guide says that you can get credentiales in Granada "Asiciación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Granada" every Wednesday 20:00-22:00 in "Calle Lavadoro de las Tablas 1". In other words: Not many posibilities!
You can get your firs stamp where the Camino start: "Real Monasterio de las Madres Comendadores de Santiago" where "Calle Santiago" cross "Calle Comendadores de Santiago". They too have some opening hours. I do not remember them.
The first day we walked from Granada to Pinos Puente. Walking all the way to Moclin is possible, but since the last part is a quite steep climbing up, that was a too hard starting day for us. In Pinos Puente we stayed at hotel Montserrat. OK. There is also some sort of Monasterio just before entering the town, but we did not know that then. I think it is the same organisation who has the albergue in Alcuescar.
There are some problems with the marking the first days. On our way from Pinos Punte to Olivares we were "out on our own among the olives" a couple of times, but we found our way. Some others walkers had the same problems, but you see Olivares and know where to end up.
Moclin is a nice place. Here and in the next two cities, wisit the castles! We stayed in Casa Rural La Brisa. OK. There are other posibilities. We saw a place when we came into the town and two other walkers were brought by car to a place near by.
From Granada to Cordoba you walk among millions of olive-trees and there are not much asphalt-walking. From Moclin to Alcalá la Real there was a very nice walk! The great problem on this part is the marking. Everybody we met on our walk (not many - 5-6 persons!) had been "lost among the olives" that day. When you reach N432, you walk some 200m along this road, and then you go up left by a destroyed house. Then the problems start, but none of us could say exactly where. So if you will be sure to reach Eremita Nueva, may be you should follow N432 for some kilometers.
In Alcalá la Real we stayed at Hostal Rio de Oro. OK. Notice that the castles has opening hours! We came there too late. (I think they close at 18:00, and dont let people in later than 17:30) But since this castle was one of the places I realy wanted to see, we waited untill they opened next day. It was worth it!
From Alcalá la Real to Alcaudete are there olives, olives olives. Nice! There are a small place in the middle (Ventas de Carrizal), and I have read somewhere that there are no open bars there. There is! Just walk a bit further up in the street with the closed one, and there are two - one with english-speaking owner. In Alcaudete we stayed at Hostal Hidalgo. OK. This casle is also worth a visit.
More olives from Alcaudete to Baena. Laguna del Salobral on the way was beautiful. Baena is centre for olive-oil-production. They have å olive-oil-museeum. Really worth a visit. There were many signs that told us that there had been much raining in this part of Spain this winter/spring. The yellow arrows along the Laguna went out into the water. Some places the road were just gone, and other places it was damaged. A couple of times we had to wade, but no serious problems.
Be sure to carry enough water on Camino Mozarabe. Some of the days there were no pueblos and no water. From Beana to Castro del Rio there are nothing - except olives! This day you walk quite a long stretch on asphalt, but it is a very quiet road. In Castro del Rio there may be some problems finding the hostales, but we found people very helpful. The are two hostales at the other outskirt, but the Camino goes there. Casa Antonio and hostal La Sole is there. We stayed at La Sole and it was OK. There also is a casa rural in the center (Casa Rural La Villa).
For some of us, almost 40 km to Cordoba is too much. Then you can do this: Walk from Castro del Rio to Santa Cruz off the Camino. There is a sign telling you were to leave. Next day you take another road back to the Camino. Santa Cruz has two hostales (different prices). They told us that they had walkers staying there almost every day in April.
Then Cordoba... no more walking this time.
How to get a credential in Granada? We brought them with us. Our German guide says that you can get credentiales in Granada "Asiciación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Granada" every Wednesday 20:00-22:00 in "Calle Lavadoro de las Tablas 1". In other words: Not many posibilities!
You can get your firs stamp where the Camino start: "Real Monasterio de las Madres Comendadores de Santiago" where "Calle Santiago" cross "Calle Comendadores de Santiago". They too have some opening hours. I do not remember them.
The first day we walked from Granada to Pinos Puente. Walking all the way to Moclin is possible, but since the last part is a quite steep climbing up, that was a too hard starting day for us. In Pinos Puente we stayed at hotel Montserrat. OK. There is also some sort of Monasterio just before entering the town, but we did not know that then. I think it is the same organisation who has the albergue in Alcuescar.
There are some problems with the marking the first days. On our way from Pinos Punte to Olivares we were "out on our own among the olives" a couple of times, but we found our way. Some others walkers had the same problems, but you see Olivares and know where to end up.
Moclin is a nice place. Here and in the next two cities, wisit the castles! We stayed in Casa Rural La Brisa. OK. There are other posibilities. We saw a place when we came into the town and two other walkers were brought by car to a place near by.
From Granada to Cordoba you walk among millions of olive-trees and there are not much asphalt-walking. From Moclin to Alcalá la Real there was a very nice walk! The great problem on this part is the marking. Everybody we met on our walk (not many - 5-6 persons!) had been "lost among the olives" that day. When you reach N432, you walk some 200m along this road, and then you go up left by a destroyed house. Then the problems start, but none of us could say exactly where. So if you will be sure to reach Eremita Nueva, may be you should follow N432 for some kilometers.
In Alcalá la Real we stayed at Hostal Rio de Oro. OK. Notice that the castles has opening hours! We came there too late. (I think they close at 18:00, and dont let people in later than 17:30) But since this castle was one of the places I realy wanted to see, we waited untill they opened next day. It was worth it!
From Alcalá la Real to Alcaudete are there olives, olives olives. Nice! There are a small place in the middle (Ventas de Carrizal), and I have read somewhere that there are no open bars there. There is! Just walk a bit further up in the street with the closed one, and there are two - one with english-speaking owner. In Alcaudete we stayed at Hostal Hidalgo. OK. This casle is also worth a visit.
More olives from Alcaudete to Baena. Laguna del Salobral on the way was beautiful. Baena is centre for olive-oil-production. They have å olive-oil-museeum. Really worth a visit. There were many signs that told us that there had been much raining in this part of Spain this winter/spring. The yellow arrows along the Laguna went out into the water. Some places the road were just gone, and other places it was damaged. A couple of times we had to wade, but no serious problems.
Be sure to carry enough water on Camino Mozarabe. Some of the days there were no pueblos and no water. From Beana to Castro del Rio there are nothing - except olives! This day you walk quite a long stretch on asphalt, but it is a very quiet road. In Castro del Rio there may be some problems finding the hostales, but we found people very helpful. The are two hostales at the other outskirt, but the Camino goes there. Casa Antonio and hostal La Sole is there. We stayed at La Sole and it was OK. There also is a casa rural in the center (Casa Rural La Villa).
For some of us, almost 40 km to Cordoba is too much. Then you can do this: Walk from Castro del Rio to Santa Cruz off the Camino. There is a sign telling you were to leave. Next day you take another road back to the Camino. Santa Cruz has two hostales (different prices). They told us that they had walkers staying there almost every day in April.
Then Cordoba... no more walking this time.
