Spain · Nov 5–15 · Blake, Mark & Sara

Nights	Property & address	Check-in / out	Booked via / contact	Links	Status
Thu 5 → Fri 6 Nov · 1 night	Hotel Oriente Atiram La Rambla (Rambla dels Caputxins) 45, 08002 Barcelona	Check-in from 14:00 · check-out by 12:00 (hotel website)	Expedia (booked by Sara) · 2 twin rooms · pay at property · hotel +34 933 022 558, hoteloriente@atiramhotels.com · 24h reception	Map From Barcelona airport (T1)	✓ Address and times from the hotel's website. Booking per Jarvis/Sara's Expedia screenshot (dates assumed 5–6 Nov, so confirm with Sara).
Fri 6 → Tue 10 Nov · 4 nights	El Gastor Airbnb (entire home, 3 beds; host Andrés Fernández Rivera) El Gastor, 11687 Cádiz. Exact street address is in Sara's Airbnb app	Check-in/out times per Airbnb listing (TBC, see Sara's app)	Airbnb (booked & paid by Sara) · message the host in the Airbnb app	Map From Seville airport (car pickup)	⚠ Street address not in Blake's Gmail (Sara's booking). Pin is the village centre.
Tue 10 → Wed 11 Nov · 1 night	Airbnb “Ático en Catedral” (attic flat, terrace + free parking) Near Granada Cathedral, Granada centro. Exact street address is in Sara's Airbnb app	Check-in/out times per Airbnb listing (TBC)	Airbnb (Sara) · host via Airbnb app · confirm parking/access before arriving by car (centre has camera-controlled zones)	Map From El Gastor (via Ronda)	⚠ Street address not in Blake's Gmail. Pin is the Cathedral area, going by the listing name.
Wed 11 → Sat 14 Nov · 3 nights	Almuñécar Airbnb villa (private heated pool + jacuzzi, sea views) Almuñécar, 18690 Granada. Exact street address is in Sara's Airbnb app	Check-in/out times per Airbnb listing (TBC). Summit day means a late arrival, so warn the host	Airbnb (Sara) · host via Airbnb app	Map From Capileira / Sierra Nevada	⚠ Street address not in Blake's Gmail. Pin is the town centre.
Sat 14 → Sun 15 Nov · 1 night	Petit Palace Puerta del Sol Calle del Arenal 4, 28013 Madrid	Check-in from 14:00–15:00 · check-out by 12:00. Your QR148 leaves MAD 08:05 Sun 15, so leave the hotel ~05:45	Booked direct on petitpalace.com (Blake) · single rooms · hotel +34 91 521 05 42, puertadelsol@petitpalace.com · 24h reception	Map From Madrid Atocha (AVE arrival)	✓ Confirmed by Petit Palace confirmation emails (17 Sep) + hotel website.

Our selected hikes, one a day

The picks from the menu, with trailheads mapped (green numbers on the map), plus the La Mina stop in Ronda.

#1 · Sat 7 Nov · El Gastor base · 55 min drive

Caminito del Rey Moderate

7.7 km · 2.5–3 h · boardwalk · booked ~10:00 slot

📍 Trailhead: Northern access, Ardales (shuttle to start) · directions

The big-wow edge day. A metre-wide walkway bolted around 100 m up the sheer walls of the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, with the river roaring below. It isn't hard, but you'll feel the drop under your feet the whole way.

Edge: High exposure the whole way along the gorge walls. Safe, but properly airy.
Ancient: The original path was built 1901–05 for hydro-electric workers. King Alfonso XIII crossed it in 1921, which is where the name comes from. It was closed after deaths in 1999–2000 and reopened in 2015 (caminitodelrey.info, malaga.es).
Backup / notes: If wind closes it, your tickets can be exchanged (per the itinerary), so move to Sun 8 or the Tue 10 morning slot. On the day itself, go to El Torcal de Antequera (5 km · 2 h): Jurassic limestone ~150–200 million years old, now part of the UNESCO Antequera Dolmens site (Junta de Andalucía; UNESCO 2016).

Photo: Diego Delso, “Caminito del Rey, Málaga, España, 2023-05-18, DD 27”, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

#2 · Sun 8 Nov · El Gastor base · trailhead 25 min above Zahara

Garganta Verde Hard

6 km · 3–4 h · 400 m gorge descent · free permit

📍 Trailhead: Car park on CA-9104 Zahara–Grazalema road · directions

The wildest scenery of the trip. You drop into a narrow limestone canyon with griffon vultures wheeling at eye level, and at the bottom there's a huge cathedral-like cave. The climb back out is steep and scrambly.

Edge: Steep, scrambly descent and climb into a deep slot canyon. It's the most raw and least managed walk on the list.
Ancient: The cave at the bottom is called the Cueva de la Ermita (the “hermitage”) because its dome looks like a temple. An important colony of griffon vultures lives in the gorge (Cádiz tourism board). Zahara's castle is on the drive in.
Backup / notes: Needs the free Junta de Andalucía permit, which is quota-limited. The walk-in to the Ermita is only authorised 16 Oct–31 May, so November is fine. In heavy rain (Grazalema is Spain's wettest range), do El Torcal instead. For a softer day, do the Zahara sunrise mirador plus the Roman theatre at Acinipo.

Photo: Luis Daniel Carbia Cabeza, “Garganta Verde (9359644728)”, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

#3 · Mon 9 Nov · El Gastor base · Grazalema 25 min

Pinsapar de Grazalema Hard

14 km · 5–6 h · +900 m · Hard

📍 Trailhead: CA-9104 Puerto de las Palomas side, near Grazalema · directions

The most ancient-feeling place on the trip: a misty mountainside covered in Spanish fir (pinsapo), a relict tree that survived the ice ages in a few southern Spanish mountains. It suits Monday because the Caminito is closed Mondays from Nov to Mar.

Edge: Low to medium. This is a long, quiet, beautiful hill day rather than an adrenaline one.
Ancient: Abies pinsapo is treated as a relict of a much wider past range that sheltered in mountain refuges through glacial cycles (Farjon via conifers.org; Springer 2021 charcoal study). In the Sierra del Pinar, ~80% of sampled trees were 150+ years old and ~40% were near or over 200 (CSIC tree-ring study).
Backup / notes: This trail also needs a free Junta permit, which the itinerary doesn't mention. Book it with the Garganta Verde permit. In fog or rain, do El Torcal. If you'd rather have adrenaline, the swap is a tandem paraglide at Algodonales (45 min drive, 20–30 min flight).

Photo: Ángel Regatero, “Bosque de Abies pinsapo – Parque Natural de la Sierra de Grazalema”, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

#4 · Tue 10 Nov · En route El Gastor → Granada (~2h30 total)

Ronda & the Tajo gorge Easy

Town + gorge walk · 30 min from base · Easy

📍 Trailhead: Puente Nuevo, Ronda · directions

It's on the way to Granada and it's the most dramatic town in Andalusia: the Puente Nuevo spans a 120 m gorge, and the old town sits right on the cliff edge. The walk down to the gorge floor shows you the whole drop.

Edge: Medium. Miradors look straight down 120 m, and the gorge-floor path gives you the scale. Easy legs before the drive.
Ancient: Ronda's Arab baths at the bottom of the canyon date from the 13th or 14th century and are among the best preserved in Spain (Junta de Andalucía). The Roman theatre at Acinipo is a short detour.
Backup / notes: If Saturday's Caminito got blown out, use the Tue 10 morning slot (per the itinerary) and skip Ronda. Check the Arab baths' opening hours the week before.

Photo: Christopher Down, “Ronda Puente Nuevo and El Tajo gorge”, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

#5 · Wed 11 Nov · Sierra Nevada · Capileira, 1h20 from Granada

Mulhacén summit Hard (alpine)

~16 km · 7–8 h · 3,479 m · Hard, Nov snow

📍 Trailhead: Capileira → park shuttle to Alto del Chorrillo · directions

The summit of the trip. It's the highest point in peninsular Spain, with the Siete Lagunas approach and views to Morocco on a clear day. In November it's a genuine alpine day, which is about as adrenaline as hiking gets on this trip.

Edge: Very high. Snow above ~2,800 m, microspikes, wind chill down to −10 °C, and a hard 13:30 turnaround. Call it off if the wind is over 40 km/h, cloud sits below the summit or there's fresh ice.
Ancient: The mountain is named after Muley Hacén (Abu'l-Hasan Ali), the second-last Nasrid king of Granada, who died in 1485. Legend says he was buried on the summit, but nobody has ever found the grave (Wikipedia; Granada Hoy).
Backup / notes: Alpujarras villages, 8 km · 3 h (Pampaneira–Bubión–Capileira): Moorish whitewashed villages on the edges of the barrancos, with Berber irrigation channels. Make the call the week before.

Photo: Nilsf at German Wikipedia, “Mulhacen Winter” (Mulhacén from the west, Dec 2004), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

#6 · Thu 12 Nov · Almuñécar / Nerja · from Nerja 10 min

Río Chillar gorge Moderate

8 km · 4 h · wading, knee-deep · early start

📍 Trailhead: Nerja, behind the cement works off Calle Mirto · directions

It's a hike that's half river. You wade up the riverbed until the walls close in at Los Cahorros, narrow water-carved slots in the marble where you can almost touch both sides. It's fun and a bit wild, and a good change after the mountain days.

Edge: Medium. Wet, slippery and narrow. The real danger is flash floods, so only go after 2–3 dry days.
Ancient: Not much history here. The appeal is the deep time in the rock: the Cahorros are carved into dolomitic marble (Gran Senda de Málaga).
Backup / notes: If it has rained, swap it with Friday or do Frigiliana's Moorish lanes. For more adrenaline, guided canyoning in Río Verde, but only if an operator confirms they run in November.

Photo: Raguadom, “Cahorros del Río Chíllar”, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

#7 · Fri 13 Nov · Almuñécar / Nerja · 15 min

Maro–Cerro Gordo cliffs (+ Cueva de Nerja) Moderate

7 km · 3 h · clifftop · Moderate

📍 Trailhead: Maro village / Cueva de Nerja car park · directions

Cliff edges above turquoise coves, an old pirate watchtower and a 40 m-high aqueduct. Then finish with the Cueva de Nerja just up the road, which has cave art more than 16,000 years old. It's the best mix of scenery and ancient history on the coast.

Edge: Medium. Clifftop path with real drops to the sea. For more, add the guided kayak into the Cerro Gordo coves if the sea is calm.
Ancient: Torre de Maro is a 16th-century watchtower built against Barbary pirate raids (Wikipedia). The Cueva de Nerja paintings date from ~25,000–16,000 years ago, and people used the cave from ~41,000 years ago (cuevadenerja.es; Scientific Reports 2023). Correction: the aqueduct isn't Roman as the itinerary says. The Acueducto del Águila was built in 1879–80. There is a stretch of Roman road near it at La Coladilla (Axarquía tourism).
Backup / notes: In rain, do the Cueva de Nerja on its own (it's indoors). If Thursday was wet, move Río Chillar to today after the dry run and walk the cliffs Thursday.

Photo: UnrealMadrid, “Maro Cerro Gordo”, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

⭐ New add · Ronda · Tue 10 Nov (en route to Granada) or a free El Gastor day 7–9 Nov · ~35 min from El Gastor

La Mina — Casa del Rey Moro Easy legs, steep stairs

≈1–1.5 h · ~200–231 rock-cut steps down ~60 m to the Guadalevín river at the bottom of the Tajo · €10 adults

📍 Calle Cuesta de Santo Domingo 9, Ronda · directions · casadelreymoro.org

The "secret mine" from the rutaideal Facebook reel. A 14th-century Moorish water mine cut into a hidden crack in the gorge wall, where slaves once hauled water up for the besieged city. The stairway drops through damp, dim chambers to a little platform on the river right under the cliffs. It's the most dramatic way to see the Tajo from below. Pair it with the Puente Nuevo and the Arab baths.

Hours: Open daily. In Oct–Apr it's 10:00–20:00 per Ronda tourism and Ronda Today; the official monuments sheet (1 Oct 2026) lists 10:00–21:00. Arrive by mid-afternoon for daylight in the gorge (sunset ~18:20).
Tickets: €10 adult / €3 under-12, online or at the gate. The house itself is under restoration, but the gardens and mine are open.
Notes: The steps are steep and can be wet, so wear grippy shoes. The climb back up is the workout. Sources: Turismo de Ronda, monument hours PDF, Ronda Today.

The route

Where we're sleeping

The map

Day by day

✈️ Arrival day, step by step

Barcelona touchdown

Fly south, pick up the car

El Gastor — the Andalusia base

Granada

Mulhacén decision day → coast

Almuñécar — sea-view days

Málaga, then AVE to Madrid

Madrid & homeward

⚠️ Heads up for your dates (checked Oct 2026)