Town/Rental for Walk Out Hiking

[stockwizard5]

Good Morning.

My name is Ari Daum (and my Dog Oliver) are looking to stay in the area from 11 March 2024 to 06 June 2024.
Looking for nice town with the essentails available but the priority is great hiking out my front door.
I want to avoid renting a car or public transportation and just enjoy the town and surrounding mountains.
If your familiar with Teluride Colorado (hikes up in 3 directions) then something similar to that would be perfect.
I have done some research and found towns like Tolox, Monachil, and Grazalema but its hard to evaluate my needs.
I really appreciate any and all suggestions on possibilities and happy to get PMs for potential apartments.

Ari (American, English, Currently in London, Permanent Traveler)

[olive]

Hi, wecome to the forum.

We stayed in Tolox ( in the hotel up above the town) with our dog. Some great walks and more available from the town itself.

Grazalema is one of the wettest places in Spain ( though we don’t seem to get much rain anymore). Lovely scenery and geared to tourists. You could check historic weather patterns if rain bothers you.

Two places in Granada province as suggestions. The obvious one being somewhere in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains behind Granada( Monachil) - perhaps in the Alpujarras.

The other is my home town of Loja. Behind it you have the Sierra de Loja with a height of 1300 metres or so above the town. Pristine rugged terrain with gravel roads to access the windfarms and about three houses that used to be inhabited. Loja sits on the small river Genil and has uplands the other side. In fact there is a walking trail, part of the GR7 I believe.

How would you intend to get yourself and your dog to your chosen town? We find dogs aren't well catered for on public transport. Loja is well served by buses from Malaga to Granada but we have never tried to take our dog on one. Likewise train but only small dogs allowed. We find taxis are better as they carry your dog at their discretion.

Hope that helps as a start.

[stockwizard5]

Thanks - thats a great start. I would just take a taxi as I have all my belongings as well (well 2 suitcases + carry on). Ari

[Lavanda]

Just to give you an alternative ... over on the west coast of Andalucia is a place called Barbate which is an old fishing port that specialises in tuna and goes back to Roman times. Obviously, there is walking on an almost deserted beach but some lovely cliff top walks through pine forests to Los Canos de Meca and Cabo Trafalgar. Slightly inland is the huge Natural Park de la Breña. The only down side is the wind and mosquitoes. There are several medium-sized towns along the coast that have a small English-speaking population but you did not say whether that was necessary, or not.

Transport links are good with buses and trains and there is Cádiz/Jerez airport not too far away.

[stockwizard5]

Thanks, I will check out Barbate for sure. I am also currently looking at:
-- Canillas de Aceituno recommended by some hikers and
-- Loja recommended by Olive above

[spanish_lad]

taking a taxi to any of those places (malaga to canillas de aceituno, for example) will be well in the hundreds of euros, just so you know.

They used to charge 50€ from alhaurin to the airport a couple years ago - and that is only 20 minutes drive.

[stockwizard5]

Appreciated - Taxi's can really add up!