14 of the best walking holidays in Spain
Spain’s most famous walking trail is undoubtedly the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrimage route that draws thousands of visitors each year. But, away from this increasingly busy path, the Iberian peninsula has thousands of miles of varied and less-trodden trails, from the jagged peaks of the Pyrenees to the desert landscapes of Almeria and the coastal paths and volcanic interiors of its islands. The variety means there’s a terrain for almost every type of hiker, along with a chance to take in history, culture and fabulous cuisine along the trails.
Main photo: Cabo de Gata Natural Park in Almeria (Getty Images)
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1. Costa Brava
The Catalan coast has its share of traditional broad sandy beaches but walking the coastal path leads you to hidden coves, picturesque fishing villages and secluded bays backed by shady pine and cork forests. Starting in the pretty white-cube seaside town of Calella de Palafrugell, Exodus’s Catalan Classic Walk heads along the coast through a host of charming towns and villages. Among the jewels are Peratallada, one of the best-preserved medieval villages in Spain, and peach-coloured Pals with its golden Romanesque church.
Grade gentle Price six nights’ B&B with two dinners and luggage transfer from £869
Calella de Palafrugell 2. Picos de Europa
These distinctive serrated limestone peaks were the first sight of Spain for ships arriving from the Americas. Lending their name to the country’s oldest national park (created in 1918) the mountains are home to a small community of shepherds producing Cantabria’s famed blue cheese, queso de Cabrales. Macs Adventure’s self-guided walking holiday snakes you past craggy cliffs, through ancient oak and beech woods and across heathland and meadows filled with wild flowers and butterflies.
Grade moderatePrice seven nights’ B&B with four dinners and luggage transfers from £520
macsadventure.com
Cares gorge in the Picos de Europa (Getty Images) 3. Castile and the Ebro River
Spain’s longest river runs for almost 620 miles from the Atlantic coast to its rice-growing delta on the Mediterranean and this glistening waterway is a useful navigational aid on one of the country’s longest Gran Recorrido (GR) long-distance trails. Pura Aventura’s self-guided inn-to-inn package traces the Ebro’s beautiful Castilian upper section. Here the river cuts through a vast limestone cavern and the terrain is a mix of river valleys and high plateaus where bird life abounds. Stay in converted water mills and monasteries for a splash of waterside life.
Grade moderatePrice seven nights’ half-board from £1,344
pura-aventura.com
Posada Molino del Canto in the Ebro Valley 4. Basque Country
Stepping out in the Basque Country, with its distinctive language, culture and traditions, is like stepping into another world. The tail end of the Pyrenees makes for manageable mountain walking while the Basque Country coast is green, wild, steep and dotted with ancient forests, surging cliffs and wide windswept beaches. Foot Holidays’ self-guided package takes you through Quintanilla del Rebollar valley to the historic town of Espinosa de los Monteros, with its decorated knights’ mansions, before heading into the hills and along a ridge to vibrant Bilbao.
Grade moderatePrice five nights’ B&B plus one dinner from £940
onfootholidays.co.uk
Espinosa de los Monteros (Getty Images) 5. Catalan Pyrenees
A hotspot for hikers in summer, these ancient, gnarled mountains become a winter walking wonderland in the colder months. When snow makes trails harder to pick out, Ramblers offers guided snowshoeing holidays around the Aiguestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park. The technique takes minutes to master and allows you to hike deep into beech forests, beside frozen streams and through snow-covered valleys. Thaw out in a cosy hotel in the mountain village of Boi, where medieval churches are dusted with snow, or snowshoe out into the night for a spot of stargazing.
Grade moderate to challengingPrice seven nights’ half-board with guiding and snowshoes from £1,255
ramblersholidays.co.uk
Winter in the Aiguestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (Alamy) 6. Sierra de Guadarrama
An hour’s drive north from Madrid, the majestic granite peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama rise up to 2,434m, forming a 50-mile ridge that runs through central Spain. The range provides both spectacular hiking and rich history; these are the mountains described by Hemingway in For Whom The Bell Tolls and are home to numerous civil war sites. A self-guided walking holiday with the Natural Adventure Company also takes in the monastery of Escorial, the Royal Palace of La Granja and the striking city of Segovia.
Grade moderate with strenuous options Price six nights’ B&B with two dinners and luggage transfers from £660
thenaturaladventure.com
The Royal Palace of La Granja in San Ildefonso (Getty Images) 7. Aragon
The medieval kingdom from which Henry VIII’s first wife Catherine hailed feels almost unchanged. Vultures hover high above the craggy peaks of the Sierra De Guara, accessed by old charcoal-makers’ paths. Below, the slopes are dotted with Romanesque chapels and Moorish monuments, and cut through by dramatic gorges. In prehistoric times ancient Celtiberians inhabited these mountains — discover their cave paintings on Celtic Trails’ walking trip through the Unesco world heritage site of River Vero Cultural Park.
Grade moderatePrice seven nights’ B&B with three dinners and luggage transfers from £735
celtictrailswalkingholidays.co.uk
The view from Alquezar in the River Vero Cultural Park (Getty Images) 8. Alicante
Lush valleys dotted with almond groves, terraced slopes, limestone peaks and deep shadowy gorges — this rugged mountainscape is a world away from the busy resorts of the Costa Blanca, despite being just 15 miles from the coast. Depending on how much you want to hike, Inntravel’s self-guided walking holiday allows you to choose between shorter or longer walks through an area where time has seemingly stood still. The routes take you in the footsteps of Moors, Iberians, Romans and Mallorcans along old muleteers’ trails, past spectacular rock arches and through ancient towns and villages.
Grade moderatePrice seven nights’ half-board from £865
inntravel.co.uk
9. Mallorca
The largest of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca is an island of two halves. The sprawling development of the south is curbed in the north by the ridge of the Tramuntana Mountains. Here an ancient network of mule trails criss-crosses the foothills, taking walkers through traditional villages, olive groves and oak forests or along undulating coastal paths. Responsible Travel’s small-group guided walking holiday also includes a steep climb — the 1,181m Puig d’en Galileu, one of the island’s highest peaks. It’s home to an ancient monastery and will be your base for two nights.
Grade moderatePrice seven nights’ B&B and packed lunches from £1,095
responsibletravel.com
10. Almeria
Almeria’s Cabo de Gata Natural Park is a dry desert landscape of prickly cacti, abandoned gold mines and tabletop mountains. Most of the beaches are accessible only on foot or by boat, and majestic pink flamingos inhabit the inland saltwater flats. This wild corner of Spain was the setting for Lorca’s Blood Wedding and a location for numerous spaghetti westerns. On Walk Andalucia’s guided trip, the pretty fishing port of San Jose is the base from which to explore the surrounding desert and its unspoiled coastline.
Grade moderatePrice seven nights’ B&B with six dinners and five packed lunches from £920
walk-andalucia.com
An old windmill in Cabo de Gata Natural Park (Alamy) 11. Andalusia
In between the coastal resorts and high mountains of the Sierra Nevada lies the relatively undiscovered green and pleasant Sierra de Aracena. An Andalusian area of ancient settlements, for years contested by nearby Portugal, it’s dotted with hilltop castles, ancient mosques and patterned, tile-hung, white-cube houses. Headwater’s self-guided trip takes you along former Roman roads and donkey tracks through cork, oak and chestnut groves and lush pastures grazed by black Iberian pigs, renowned for the ham they produce.
Grade easy Price seven nights’ B&B with five dinners and luggage transfers from £929
headwater.com
Hiking in the Andalusian countryside 12. Tenerife
The largest of the Canary Islands, Tenerife is just 53 miles long but has a whopping 15 different microclimates. There are volcanic landscapes surrounding Mount Tiede, lush green rainforests in the Anaga Rural Park, the ash-covered Arenas Negras volcano and the highs and lows of the coastal paths — the northeast corner alone has such varied terrain it’s like crossing continents. HF Holidays provides a choice of daily guided walks, making it easy to sample all the island has to offer, starting in the elegant city of La Laguna (which doubles for Havana in films).
Grade moderate with strenuous options Price Seven nights’ half-board, including flights, from £1,399
hfholidays.co.uk
The old town of La Laguna (Alamy) 13. Cadiz
Hiking makes you hungry and Annie B has combined outdoor adventure with culinary excursions from her base in Vejer de la Frontera, Cadiz. Learn how to create dishes from local prawns, hake and sherry, and work up an appetite hiking high ridges with views across the surrounding sierras and Costa de la Luz, and as far as Morocco. A guide points out not only the way but also the culinary uses of the local flora and fauna.
Grade moderate Price five nights’ B&B, two cooking classes with lunch, two days’ guided hiking, market visits, farewell dinner and tour transport, from £1,600
anniebspain.com
Sunset in Vejer de la Frontera (Alamy) 14. Galician Camino
While the vast majority of pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela follow the French route across northern Spain, the Portuguese Way from Lisbon is less travelled but equally inspiring. The last 60 miles of the coastal route runs from the bustling port of Vigo along the coast famed for its shellfish and albariño white wine. It then snakes inland through the lush Galician countryside and highlights include the elegant spa town of Caldas de Reis, Padron — home of the eponymous peppers — and Santiago de Compostela with its magnificent Romanesque cathedral.
Grade strenuousPrice six nights’ B&B, three dinners and luggage transfers from £620
caminoways.com
Pilgrims in Santiago de Compostela (Alamy)
