Southern Spain help with best hiking areas
Replies: 12 - Last Post: Jan 25, 2013 4:11 PM Last Post By: tony_b
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Southern Spain help with best hiking areas
Hello fellow traveler's, my husband and I are off to our first Spain visit late April for 23 days.We fly in to Barcelona and fly out from Madrid , we are very active , love trekking, love architecture (being an architect ) ,love good food and wine , love special little villages mixing with the locals ,but also ,love trendy areas , love national parks, nature... we try to stay away from the touristy areas in big cities but want to see the important Landmarks...we like to stay in apartments, B&B or special lodgings , don't like hotels.
We have a $150 and less budget per night.(Canadian currency)
We mostly would want to know of the best area for day hiking , where should we base ourselves for nice day hikes and good restaurant and village at night. We love hikes that offer spectacular views ,and we are very much in shape .
Please critic our tentative itinerary;
5 days in Barcelona fly to Granada
2 days in Granada for Alhambra etc.
Rent a car
Alpujarras find a Yurt or apartment , hike part of GR7 how many days ?
1 day Jaen stay in Jaen at the Parador?
visit Baeza
Ronda any hiking around there?
3 days in Seville day trip to Cordoba, Donana national Park
2 days Aracena Natural Park
1 day at Trujillo stay at the Parador
1 day in Toledo
3 days in Madrid
Doe's it all make sense ?
Should we favor some natural parks more then other's?
1
Ronda any hiking around there?I live in a white village/pueblo blanco very close to Ronda. Yes, there is plenty of really excellent hiking around here.
To get an idea of what the area is like, take a look at the photos on this website.
www.rondamountains.com/
If you want to know more, just post again.
3
We have a $150 and less budget per night.(Canadian currency)
most of us have no idea what the value of the Canadian rupee is. Can you pls convert to Euros?thanks!
5
150.00 CAD = €110.If that is your maximum budget, you need to tell us what that is supposed to cover. "Per night" might mean just a room, or maybe room + meals. If it is the former, you will have no problems finding a good quality room for €110. If it is the latter, you may struggle.
Overall, your itinerary looks terribly rushed. Just as an example, "3 days in Seville day trip to Cordoba, Donana national Park". That means just one day in Seville, one of the most captivating cities in Spain.
You also need to factor in your travel time. From Ronda to Seville, for example, takes a minimum of 1 hr 30 min, plus time to find your hotel. Let´s say a half-day from start to finish, including checking in, unpacking and so on. So where is that half-day going to be taken from? From your "whole" day in Seville is the only option. If that means just a half-day for visiting Seville, you might as well not go there at all.
7
Hi liv!Welcome to TT!
I think you should think once again your itinerary taking into account the time it takes to go from one destination to the next one, find your accomodation, unpack... How many time will you have in all those locations where you only plan to stay one day? What will you be able to visit/make in that time? Will it be enough time as to make/visit all what you want to make/visit there?
9
A bit rushed as noted above. You are not taking actual travel time into account when counting your days. That is a common mistake.For planning I suggest using the 'Rule of 3s' as a base. That says, never spend less than 3 full days/4 nights in a place unless it is just an overnight stop between A and B. Note the 'less than', it is a minimum and note the 3/4 which allows for a travel day between places.
If your 23 days does not include your arrival and departure day which are basically a write off, then the rule would tell you to plan for no more than 5-6 stops. You seem to plan at least 10.
The common phrase we see here all the time is something like, 'we want to see/do as much as possible'. An understandable wish but the word 'much' is not synonymous with the word 'many'. That is the commonn mistake. If you give it a little thought, the way to see as MUCH as possible is to spend time IN places, not in BETWEEN places. So move less, see/do more.
For some more unique accomodation I would suggest having a look at: http://www.sawdays.co.uk/special-places/spain#maptypeid=roadmap&zoom=4&lng=-2.9220000000000254&lat=51.5&hide=pub
I have used them several times and never been disappointed. Click on Explore: Map to the right. I find it easier to search that way.
10
Sorry don't want to upset anybody, and especially don't want to rush ...went through the Michelin map and travel time so... here is take #223 full days not including arrival and departure days , budget of 110 Euro per night for lodging only.
5 nights in Barcelona
4 or 5 nights in Granada (from there we could day hike in the Sierra Nevada (this is where we need advice , for best hikes ),and we could day trip to Jaen .
2 or 3 nights in Ronda (need advice for day hikes)
5 nights in Seville (from there we could day visit Mezquita in Cordoba )
then we drive back to Madrid with one night stop to Aracena,Trujillo ( maybe 2 nights) , Toledo
2 or 3 nights Madrid
Now we need to find out the difference between the hiking in Sierra Nevada versus the Grazalema area ?
Back to work !!
The Sawday link look's great , thank you
11
Starting to sound like a better plan. Can't help with specific hikes from personal experience but I hear this guy knows what he is writing about.http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2011/04/01/walking-in-the-ronda-mountains-book-launch/
