Alicante’s Rugged Mountains

Even though it was the end of a long dry hot summer, it was greener and there were more flowers and insects than we expected, adding to the beauty of the mountain scenery. It was a very hot week, afternoon temperatures were 25 - 29 in the shade if you could find any and it felt a lot hotter in the full sun. We found using umbrellas as a sunshade helpful in some of the hotter spells and had a rehydration sachet as our first drink every evening. We suffered no ill-effects from the conditions and enjoyed a memorable holiday in those 'rugged mountains'.

An excellent holiday in all aspects. Helped that the weather was wonderful so that the beautiful area that we were walking in could be appreciated in full. No real highlight as it was all delightful.

This holiday opened up a whole new area for us. The simple hospitality of local hotels was exceptional and the walks, sometimes challenging, gave us beautiful views of the surrounding countryside all the way down to the sea. All Inntravel regulars should include this holiday in their experiences.

An excellent area for walking about 25 miles and 100 years from Benidorm. Everyone we met was very helpful and friendly. Whilst drinking at a spring our youngest member swam in the adjacent tank. The landowner stopped and we thought we might be in trouble but he invited us to his house for beer, wine, chorizo, oranges .............. Our Spanish is very limited but we spent a very pleasant hour with Peppe chatting.

Excellent holiday. Challenging and satisfying, even thrilling. Spectacular scenery. Highlight was Barranco del Infierno on the last day. We went in May 2019, when temperature was not too hot and all of the hills and montainsides were covered in the most beautiful flowers. The Inntravel maps and walking notes were good, but at times it was helpful to have my compass. Walking sticks are also helpful on the steeper slopes. Well worth returning to do some of the walks which there was not enough time to cover during the week.

This was a great holiday - wonderful walking in the mountains and the most amazing wildflowers. For us the fantastic array and variety of wildlfowers were the highlight. We do not think it is worth upgrading to a junior suite at Hotel Alahuar as the balcony is so tiny. Better the enjoy the view from the hotel's terrace

This was a really enjoyable holiday with varied walks in dramatic scenery, all of which was complemented by beautiful flowers, vegetation and birdlife. The Terrace room in Hotel de Tarbena is well worth the extra if it is available, as is the large front room at Casa Pilar. Taste the water from the springs/fountains and reconnect with mother earth cool and delicious natural water. Yum! Use binoculars to see the amazing 8,000 year old paintings, it makes them much easier to see. The only (tiny) Supermarket in Castell de Castells closed a few months ago so be prepared to stock up on what tyu can in Tarbena. All the walks were simply great, none too taxing and the instructions made the walks really easy. 

Another excellent walking holiday; better than we had anticipated.  Stunning scenery and brilliant walks in such a quiet, remote area. We enjoyed the flowers and the birds. Although we saw many signs of wild boars we were quite relieved we did not meet them! The caves with the rock art were astounding not least because we were able to view them on our own at our own pace. This is a world heritage site but the simplicity of the site with fairly good signage enabled appreciation in a way that is rarely possible nowadays when art is so often glimpsed through crowds.  The museum in Castell de Castells specifically about the rock art is definitely worth a visit. There are displays with information in English  and several videos were also played in English. Limited opening times but definitely worth seeking out. Your information about the holiday mentions the genuine welcome. We agree wholeheartedly. Everyone was friendly. Paco and Pilar and JuanJo particularly were so helpful, kind and keen to tell us about their area; we felt like guests rather than customers. This undoubtedly contributed to making this a very special holiday. Plus their home cooked food was so good.  Probably the best walking holiday we have done with Inntravel. (We've done about 8)

Very peaceful villages and walking, the scenery glorious. The two private hotels very good, Casa Pilar exceptionally good food, and the hilltop hotel friendly and a superb position.

Another excellent experience with Inntravel which lived up to their standards and our (very) high expectations.

I agree with the notes that Day 2 and Day 6 were really good walks. I think that Option 1 for Day 3/4, the shortened walk that includes Pla de Petracos, could be shortened further by asking to be dropped off at the rock paintings rather than 2 km down the road from them. We found the walk from Pla de Petracos back to Casa Pilar quite enough, after lingering at the rock paintings and exploring the cave.

We really appreciated the clear notes about the history of the area. They've inspired us to learn more about it. We found it amazing that so many of the steep mountainsides had been terraced for farming.

Two of our party eat vegan diets when at home, and though we didn't expect to be provided with wholly vegan food in rural Spain and just requested vegetarian food, in fact we found that most of the food we were served was vegan. Vegetarian paella, made with rice and beans and vegetables, was often made for us, and we were happy with that.  Paco at Hotel de Tàrbena told us that his parents had been farmers and had lived long healthy lives eating mostly rice and beans! So, I think that vegans would be able to avoid animal foods on this holiday.  

The walks on this holiday were varied. stunning and challenging.  We managed the full itinerary and were still smiling by the end! Paco was very welcoming and went out of his way to provide helpful details about the walk around Tarbena. The food and room at his hotel were excellent. Pilar and her husband were delightful hosts and the food and the room we had were excellent also. The setting of the Alahuar Hotel was breathtaking.  We upgraded to a room with a jacuzzi and while the view from there was amazing I felt that there were things in the room which were beginning to need a freshen up. This is a very minor criticism. The staff were pleasant and helpful. All in all another great holiday adventure with Inn Travel. 

An excellent holiday. All descriptions of hotels and facilities were spot on and guidance notes were in the main very accurate. A walk I would do again if there were not so many others I have not done.

A week of sunshine and wonderful walks in tranquil surroundings. The home cooking at Tarbena and Casa Pilar was delicious and we appreciated their warm welcome.

The walks, accommodation, weather and blossom were all wonderful, but a particular highlight were the Macro-schematic 8000 yr old rock paintings at Pla de Petracos. We did the shorter version of the Tollos to Castell walk, and the lower morning sunlight (late February) behind the cherry and almond blossom was breathtaking. For sheer dramatic scenery, the "Cathedral of Hiking" route PRV147 around Benimaurell was superb, and a great end to our 6 days walking in the Marina Alta.

A beautiful area, rural Spain at it's best. Friendly hotels. Lots of character, blue skies and sunshine. Lovely almond blossom, olive trees and wildflowers. We even saw Spanish lavender in flower in the mountains in February. Overall great value.

This was an absolutely wonderful walking holiday, the scenery at this time of year (February) with the almond blossom was beautiful, we hardly saw anyone else whilst walking and the hospitality was great. This mountain region is spectacular and the sense of being alone in this wonderful scenery was very special (with the occasional view of Benidorm on the horizon making for a very surreal twist!). All the accommodation was lovely but you are literally next door to the churches in the first two hotels and the bells toll throughout the night which can interrupt sleep so we would strongly recommend taking good quality earplugs - but do not let this deter you from going!

Our third superbly organised Inntravel holiday, through a part of Spain we would never have discovered by ourselves. We had wondered whether we might be almost too early for the almond blossom (7-15 February), but it was in full bloom and even coming to an end in some areas. We were fortunate to catch a mostly warm, sunny week, although local people were concerned that it hadn’t rained for a month.

Highlights:

* Stunning views in every direction - almond blossom and mountains are a perfect combination

* The steady hum of bees in the background

* All the friendly people who chatted to us (speaking Spanish gave us an advantage)

* The lovely fresh fruit and vegetables at every meal

* Paco’s delicious rice with chick peas, artichokes and saffron – which his grandmother, who lived well into her 90s, ate three times a week

* The beautiful Casa Pilar, full of interesting artefacts acquired from family members, and with the best room to spend three nights in

* Pilar’s wonderful cooking, including the recommended omelette sandwiches

* The thought-provoking prehistoric rock art at Plaza de Petrarcos

* Walking around Benimaurell and Fleix on our final extra day, absorbing the sights and sounds of the two villages

Regarding the ease/difficulty of walks... We completed Day 1-4 with all detours (except the scramble up to the watchtower) comfortably within the given times. We completed Day 5 within the given time, but found the ascent from the CV720 valley road really quite strenuous. Day 6 was considerably more challenging and we decided to leave the route after the first gorge at Juvees De D'Alt, returning to Benimaurell via a westward mountain track to Collado de la Garga, with sweeping views down to the coast.

This was one of the best walks we've done with Inntravel. We would advise customers always to take the detours, because they are often highlights of the walks. Probably the most outstanding was the view from El Castellet. Although some of the walking was along roads, these were so quiet that we rarely saw a car, only a few cyclists.

What a beautiful, tranquil area only a stones throw away from Benidorm! As usual, the well planned itinerary and routes fell into place like clockwork and allowed us to relax and enjoy the holiday in full. Each of the the village hotels brought their own unique flavour to our stay. We enjoyed a particularly friendly welcome at the Hotel Tárbena and fabulous food at Casa Pilar.

This holiday exceeded our expectations. The sun was warm throughout the week (early October). The countryside still had flowers and fruit on the trees, the mountains were impressively rugged and there was a great sense of freedom in the walking. Apart from the last walk which is obviously well used we met very few people during our days and found the longer routes suited us. We enjoyed each of the three villages and met some lovely people running and staying at the hotels. The museum at Castells was very informative consisting of a personalised tour and was a great place to have visited the evening before walking to the cave paintings. The paintings themselves are a highlight. We were the only people there so the silence added to the timeless atmosphere, the boards are informative and most of the paintings are clearly visible. 

The Rugged Mountains of Alicante are a hiker's paradise. Once you travel for a couple of hours away from the Costa Blanca tourist meccas of Alicante and Benidorm, you find yourself in a vast empty landscape, dotted with slowly depopulating villages where dogs are kings, surrounded by arid, jagged mountains, with the presence of the long departed moors still felt through the ruins of fortresses high upon the valleys. Inntravel has chosen the most interesting and stunning routes through this awesome landscape: walking on steep and sometimes very rugged trails up and down montain sides, meandering from end-to-end in a deep gorge through which runs a dry stream bed, strewn with shining white rocks, which you keep crossing back and forth, or strolling amid beautiful moors of wild flowers. At a couple of points, the Mediterranean comes into sight, and a picnic eaten while overlooking it is a most wonderful experience.

Late May is the perfect time of year for this holiday, as the temperature is still mild and the nights even cool. Walking through the small, well-kept whitewashed villages while everybody is taking their midday break takes you back in time. And at the end of a day in the mountains, a cool cerveza at the local taverna gives you a chance to practice your Spanish and find out about the life of the village.

My friends and I have taken several Inntravel holidays and we continue to be impressed by the choice of routes, the quality of accommodations and food, and the warm hospitality of the innkeepers. This one was unique in terms of the awesome beauty of its landscape.

A very enjoyable holiday in a relatively unexplored area but with excellent air links via Alicante. Interesting mix of scenery and villages with few other walkers. Good quality accommodation with authentic local cuisine from welcoming hosts. Add-on trip to Valencia very worthwhile with easy transport links.

This is a beautiful and peaceful part of the world...the mountains, valleys, ancient towns, Moorish ruins, terraces full of blooming trees were delightful. The Inns were great...very personal service and cozy places to stay.  Springtime is just gorgeous here and we were lucky with blue skies and sun every day, plus cool enough temperatures to be perfect for long hikes.  

One of our favourite Inntravel holidays. Accommodation and walking were excellent, food was good and the scenery was spectacular.

The almond blossom was marvellous, the variety of walking was tremendous, the quality and originality of the meals delicious, and the accommodation and was charming and full of character.

This holiday totally exceeded our expectations. Spectacular scenery, pleasant accommodation with lovely food. 

This was a brilliant holiday with a perfect balance of varied walks, different scenrery and views in an undiscovered landscape. Some of the walks were challenging in the length and the climbs but the views made it really worthwhile and we enjoyed every moment. Directions were detailed and descriptive - it was a bit like following a treasure hunt looking for clues and wondering if the tree was the 'old walnut' or 'the fig'. The three places were all well-chosen with good food and communual meals. But the highlight was the final stay in Quatretondeta where the cottages, walks, and input from Brian and Pat, together with award-winning food of 5-star quality and even a seven-course tasting menu. We have done several Inntravel holidays and, as stated in all the reviews, this was one of the best we have done.  

The limestone scenery and flora were quite astonishing. We had never seen an olive harvest in action before, and obviously by February the pink almond blossom would be out. At Quatrotondeta, ask for a lift to the back of Serrella, climb the summit, then take in 'Africa', and take the little but exciting detour to explore the base of the Frares. This is more exciting than the Inntravel out-and-back route to 'Africa'. Pat and Brian are retiring in September! I hope the Quatrotondeta experience can continue, but they are a hard act to follow.

Autumn colour against white cliffs; sitting at the spring at Font Roja watching ring ouzels...

We would highly recommend this holiday to get away from the cold in England - we had wonderful weather, dry, sunny and not too hot for walking. The scenery was spectacular.

Tip: To avoid the difficulties with non-existing public transport, we had a very cheap rental car from Alicante airport. Including petrol and the transfer from the last to the first village (where the car was parked during the week), this added up to only 100 €. The stay at Pat & Brian's home was really extraordinary.

Highlights:

• Seeing a mother wild boar with two adolescents squealing behind her running down into the Barranca de la Cova.

• Eating fresh almonds from the trees on the many abandoned terraces

• Seeing a vulture at eye level from the top of la Serrella

The evening meals were all lovely but the ones provided by Pat in Quatretondeta were out of this world. The thought of the meal to come made it a lot easier to get through the fairly long walks on very hot days.

The walks were varied in remote countryside, the accommodation was excellent, the hotel owners were friendly and helpful, with meals and local wines being generally of a high standard. At the end of May the temperatures were in the 30s, so not ideal for energetic walking. We finished with a couple of nights in Valencia which was very enjoyable and easily accessible by train from Quatretondeta.

A very enjoyable holiday, combining feeling good about the achievement of completing the walks, with stunning views of the surrounding countryside along the way. Added bonuses for us was the plethora of butterflies, and the interesting conversations with fellow travellers, in the intimate surroundings of the small accommodations selected, over great food and wine. After 2 walking holidays with Inntravel, we are looking forward to deciding on a third.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable holiday. The walks were varied and interesting in picturesque countryside, the accommodation excellent, the hotel owners very friendly and helpful and the food of a very high standard. We upgraded in the first two hotels and enjoyed the suite in both and our own private sun terrace with great views in Tarbena. The real treat was the cottage in Quatretondeta which was of a very high standard and we had access to our own kitchen including a washing machine. The food was wonderful. This was the best Inntravel holiday we have been on in terms of accommodation and meals.

It was an exhausting holiday and my knees and bunion have never ached so much - but it was all so beautiful. The recent rains had brought quantities of wild flowers into bloom and the sun brought out the perfume. The views were spectacular , walking through and beside almond and olive groves and cherry orchards in full bloom. But the culinary highlight was undoubtedly Quatretondeta - superb!

Food and hospitality good at all three hotels. Fantastic at Casa Pilar.

Mountains very quiet. Good paths, not many people.

Unspoilt, maybe too much for me. Sometimes it would be nice to come across somewhere for refreshments.

We had a great time; the walks were fab as was the welcome from each of the hosts.

The long, solitary walks in Alicante's Rugged Mountains let us immerse ourselves in this timeless landscape.  The dramatic limestone peaks and ancient terraced hillsides provided a great walking holiday.

Despite its reputation as a heavily touristed destination, Mallorca is magical and well-worth the visit. The walking was spectacular and the villages were charming. We would love to return.

[INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined 'Alicante's Rugged Mountains' and our Mallorcan 'Mountains and Villages' walks.]

We were all very pleased with our holiday and thought things went smoothly. Some of us found the walking notes a bit too verbose in that we were provided information and then told to ignore it.  But we got the hang of the writer's intent after the first few walks. We also like some of the hikes provided by Brian Fagg. We all enjoyed the terrain and the rugged limestone formation, the Moorish ruins and the variations as we went inland.  We especially like the walk through the river canyon to the Painted Rocks.

The weather was perfect, the food was uniformly good and sometimes gourmet, and the accommodations really good. Really couldn't ask for more. Your staff was great in handling everything and especially helpful in accommodating a late addition to the trip. I think you will be hearing from us again!

This was our best walk yet, our 6th. We were very lucky with perfect weather and the almond trees being in full blossom. We loved the small hotels, all the owners gave us the very genuine impression of being interested and concerned with us and our well being. The food was terrific though always too generous, even with all that walking we still put on weight!  The hotels cosy when the evenings had turned chilly, especially good was the fire in our cottage in Quatretondeta. The walking perfect and the scenery and views just stunning. The thing which struck us most of all,( and we live out in the country,) was the silence. It was deafening!! 

We are just worried now what to choose for our next Inntravel holiday, I don't think we can top this one!

This was a marvellous holiday and far exceeded expectations. We were made to feel very welcome and shown great hospitality in particular at Tarbena with Paco. The walks were truly stunning - blue skies, Almond blossom everywhere & a golden eagle. Visited Africa into the bargain!

End February to beginning of March was excdellent time to go as the almond blossom was everywhere.

The walk from Casa Pilar to the Moorish Watchtower was really good - fantastic views.

Food at all venues was excellent (for my sister and I she is veggie and I am gluten free)

We really like having our own cottage and the fridge stocked with lovely things.

We really enjoyed this walk - very hospitable and enjoyable accomodation and hosts and the countryside was beautiful at the time of year we went - late February. Lovely walking temperatures as well