Welcome to Hooked on Walking Holidays and our walking holiday in a apart of Andalusia called Grazalema which is not far from the famous white town of Ronda. This walking holiday is available as a seven night self guided walking tour.
Six days hiking through spectacular scenery between the provinces of Malaga and Cadiz, covering rugged mountains and forests unique in Europe, while the sun shines down like God’s fingers through magical broken cloud. Not in vain might Grazalema mean "farmstead of peace". On this journey you will discover a hidden corner of our world, home to silence and serenity. You will see the famous "Pinsapo" (Spanish Fir tree) forests, covering the hills or clinging to mountainsides - a species unique to this area, descendent of the central European pines that arrived here in the glacial era. That is not all. You will also see Holm oak, cork, blackthorn, gall-oak and carob and depending on the season, gorse, thyme, lavender, salvia, peony, mountain clove or "Grazalema poppy" (unique to this reserve) in flower. Walking on varied trails you will get to know the names of the mountains that make up the Grazalema range (like Zafalgar, El Pinar, Endrinal, Líbar), visiting peaks and caves, home to underground rivers that are the life-blood of these limestone formations.
From your very first steps you will envy the inhabitants of villages like Grazalema, Benaocaz, Montejaque or Villaluenga del Rosario with their long history and welcoming Moorish architecture. As the vultures circle above, you will discover their secret, which is no more than the knowledge of how to live a different kind of existence.

Available daily March to November ( Level 2-3 self guided tour )

Day 1 arrival Grazalema (830 m).
By bus you can arrive from Málaga to Grazalema (daily 2 direct buses) or to Ronda from where you can take a taxi to Grazalema.

Day 2 Grazalema
Today you can do a circular hike in the countryside nearby Grazalema. There is a short (2,5-3 hours) and a longer (4 hours) option. This day can be swapped with day 3 if the permit for the Pinsapo could not be obtained for day 3.
This route takes you to the heart of the nearby Sierra del Endrinal. The remains of shepherds’ refuges (huts and corrals) tell you about the importance that stockbreeding has had (and still has) in this region, an activity that stands out in the cheese made of the milk obtained from the local payoya sheep breed.
Short:   6 km, 2,5 – 3 hours, 350m ascent
Longer: 9,5 km, 3,5 – 4 hours, 500m ascent

Day 3 Grazalema-El Pinsapar
Today you explore the famous Spanish Fir Forest of Grazalema. It is a specially protected area, requiring a permit from the park. You follow the ancient trail that connects Benamahoma and Grazalema, beneath towering trees, more than 40 metres high. You climb to the Cumbres Mountains, with spectacular views of Grazalema and Ronda, with mountains as distant backdrop. From Benamahoma you travel by taxi to Grazalema again (taxi to be arranged by the hotel). Walking time 6 hours, 14 km, 650m ascent, 850m descent.

Day 4  Grazalema-Villaluenga del Rosario (872 m)
The route takes us along the famous “Salto del Cabrero” (Goatherd’s Jump); a narrow gorge with massive vertical walls only 50 metres apart, constantly watched over by soaring vultures. The Salto del Cabrero is one of the most outstanding typographic forms of these mountains: a fault where appear two peaks that are almost twins, with impressive vertical walls that exceed 80 m in height and are separated by a gorge of no more than 50 m wide. You also may see some big birds with wide wings and a short, square tail circulating high. Without any doubt it is a griffon vulture that takes advantage of the cornice and the cracks of the cliffs that the Salto del Cabrero offers for nesting.
At the end of the route you catch a bus from Benaocaz back to Villaluenga del Rosario (which only takes 10 minutes). 5 hours, 12 km and 500m ascent/descent.

Day 5  Villaluenga del Rosario (872m)-Montejaque (689 m).
You continue walking through impressive limestone rock formations, following the white and red signs of the GR7 (it forms a part of the European hiking trail E-4, which begins in Greece and runs through the Balkans, Central Europe, the Alps, the Pyrenees and then crosses Spain to end in Gibraltar). Today you will walk towards the Sima del Republicano and the Puerto de Correos Pass. In this beautiful landscape of Holm oaks, you may even see the Iberian pig, a race you only find in Spain,  looking for acorns under the holm oaks! You get to the Líbar plains, hiking gently over this deserted landscape to Montejaque. Walking time 6 hours, 19 km, 250m ascent, 430m descent.

Day 6 Montejaque, circular route.
Today you can make a circular route in the environments of Montejaque. You first head down to the station of Benaoján from where you take a train to Jimera de Líbar (10 minutes), from where you return in 3 hours easy walking along the river Guadiaro, with a beautiful vegetation. You are walking over the very old „Cañada Real del Campo de Gibraltar“. At the end you can connect in half an hour to the impressive Cueva del Gatobefore walking back to Montejaque. Walking time 4 hours, 300 m ascent/descent 17km

Day 7 Montejaque-Ronda.
You hike gently along the ancient Ronda trail. This trail links these two places, to then continue towards Gibraltar. The landscape here is a mixture of wild and tame, with big, old trees (like Carobs and Cork), arable land, wild flowers to finally come out at the bottom of Ronda’s gorge and climb to the towns new bridge. Walking time 3-4 hours, 11 km, 300m ascent/descent

Day 8 Ronda visit.
This is probably the town that best conserves the romantic heritage described in the journals and drawings of so many 18th Century travelers. Not to be missed are her Moorish and classical architecture, palaces and monuments, her bridges, bullring, her tapas bars, Moorish baths, etc. From here you return by bus to the airport of Málaga.

Difficulty: Moderate. Day-walks of 4,5 to 6 hours during which you climb and descend an average of 500 m (maximum 650 m). Basic knowledge of maps and orientation required

Accommodation: Family run hotels

During June - September due to drought a compulsory guide must be used on the Pinsapo hike , this cost is around 25 Euro per person
If you holiday finishes on a Spanish National Holiday in Ronda then the holiday has one less day in Grazalema and an extra night in Ronda as a free day this is because we need to book 2 nights minimum in Ronda.

2008 Prices

How to get there
By Plane to Malaga or to Granada . Check out Easyjet , FlyGlobespan
Then by bus to Ronda and Grazalema
Private transfers 2-3 persons
Ronda to Malaga    £116 one way
Ideal Holiday Extensions Ronda
To view other walking holidays in Spain Picos12 , Picos8 , Catalonia , Sierra de Gredos , Majorca , St James Way, Tenerife , White Villages of Andalusia , Guided tour in Andalusia , Costa Blanca , Pearl of the Balearic , Ordesa , Green coast of Asturias

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Cycling Holidays in Spain

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