Granada City Add-On

We highly recommend this holiday, (Life in an Alpujarran Village) which can indeed be done without a car! The Alhambra was the obvious highlight and we recommend the two day add-on  in Granada rather than trying to do it in a day trip from Las Chimeneas (should you have a car)

We thoroughly enjoyed this glorious Spanish sampler. This was our first trip to Southern Spain but surely not our last. We combined visits to Seville and Granada with the Ronda/Grazalema walking trip. We fell in love with Seville -- the accommodations were ideally situated and the walking tour included in our travel documents allowed us to see the city's highlights thoroughly and at our own pace. Ronda was swarming with tourists but our hotel was quiet and we found opportunities to explore the gorgeous hiking trails outside of town, visiting a massive gorge and the Chapel of the Virgin de la Cabeza, which was carved out of rock in the 9th century by the Visigoths. Grazalema was quietly stunning with surprisingly good restaurants for such a small town, warm, friendly residents and breathtaking hiking and vistas. We finished off in Granada with a visit to the Alhambra and two glorious days of exploration. We recommend extra nights in Grazalema, because the hiking is so good, as well as in both Seville and Granada. Not enough time so we'll just have to go back!

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our short walking break Ronda and the Grazalema Sierra with our city add-ons in Seville and Granada

This is a beautiful area of Spain to explore. Some of the walks are fairly challenging due to the steepness of ascent and descent, but they were not busy and were all well worth it for the scenery and the delightful towns/villages we saw. The circular walk from Mecina Fondales was a particular delight, as it covered such varied and fertile ground. Another highlight for us was a truly superb meal on our first night in Capileira at the Michelin starred Corral del Castano, a very reasonably priced restaurant for the quality of the food. We were just sorry that it was closed on our second night there. It may be useful to note that our salad starter, which we ordered to share between two, could easily have fed four, so be aware of the portion sizes! Food was exceptional at the Hotel Los Bercheles too, so we were thankful that we’d opted for the longer walks!

Overall a fantastic trip, topped off by a couple of days in the beautiful city of Granada.

Inntravel note: These customers enjoyed our Valleys of Las Alpujarras wlaking holiday followed by a short stay in the Casa Morisca, in Granada.

We thoroughly enjoyed the beauty and peace of the National Park. The routes offered a range of distance and terrain, within the perameters of the park and the pathways were well-maintained and easily accessed. It was quiet at each location, given that we travelled pre-Easter but we found restaurants, etc, without problem and met some very friendly and helpful local people. (Given that we do not speak Spanish their willingness to persevere with communication was much appreciated). Lovely (albeit at times very windy) weather and stunning coastline.

The Alpujarrras is a very beautiful area. The view from our room was spectacular and we had several excellent walks a favourite being the one towards Valor. David and Emma, our hosts at Las Chimineas, were friendly, welcoming and always ready to give advice or help. We walked with Emma to their finca and returned alone the following day to sit and enjoy the scene. David took us to the local olive press and explained how it worked. He also gave a group of us a fascinating tour of Jubar church. These personal touches and David and Emma's extensive historical and local knowledge greatly enhanced our holiday. The food was excellent and we enjoyed meeting the whole team of cooks! A further highlight was being able to sit on our beautiful little terrace soaking up the sun and the beauty of the view!

We finished the holiday with two nights in Granada at the historic Casa Morisca with views of the Alhambra. The guided tour booked through Inntravel was excellent, and a great viewpoint to see the Alhambra against the backdrop of the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada is the square in front of the Mirador St Nicolas, which is just a short walk from the hotel.

Inntravel was fantastic. The website is very easy to negotiate and our whole dealings with them were easy and stress free. The holidays were very well organised and all accommodation was wonderful. The very comprehensive notes were very thorough and we used them mainly with sometimes a referral to the maps. The ring binder was a good idea as it allowed the removal of the specific notes for that day rather than having to carry around the whole binder. We can't really fault Inntravel on anything! Well done, and we will definitely be recommending them to our friends (have done already), and using them again for another walking holiday in the future (perhaps somewhere less remote next time!). 

Our highlight was probably Sintra and The Palacio de Seteais which was a perfect way to finish.