Accommodations in the Alpujarras - Sierra Nevada

LISTS ON THE TOURIST BOARDS
On the official website of the Granada tourist board (turgranada.es) you can search accommodation per villlage.
On the official website of the Almería tourist board (almería-turismo.org) you can also search per village.

CAMPINGS
Look here for Alpujarras campings.

REFUGE HUTS
Look here for the Sierra Nevada refuge huts

RECOMANDATIONS
Apart from the lists above, we would personally like to recommend these accommodations in the Alpujarras.

Bérchules:
Casa Rural El Paraje * that´s us :-)
Hotel los Bérchules
More Berchules links

Cádiar:
Alquería de Morayma

Cañar
El Cielo de Cañar

Cástaras
Apartments Casa Mezcua

Ferreirola
Casa Ana
B&B Sierra y Mar

Lobras:
Apartamentos El Huerto de Lobras

Mairena
Casa Rural Las Chimeneas

Órgiva
Hotel Taray

Torvizcón:
Pensión Moreno

Trevélez:
Hotel La Fragua

Yégen:
El Rincón de Yégen

Non-official directories in which you do not get lost:
- buscacasarural.com Granada province Almería province
- ....working on it ...

related key words: lodgings, camas, hotel, B&B, Andalusie, Andalusia, kamers, overnachten, hostal, pension, trektocht, wandelvakantie, hiking trekking, inn, guesthouse, accommodatie, Bed and en Breakfast, alojamiento

XIV Trade fair ´Hecho en la Alpujarra´

From the 9th to the 13th of April, the trade fair ´Made in the Alpujarra´ is organized for the fourteenth time in Órgiva. This Feria del Turismo, Artesanía y Alimentación ´Hecho en la Alpujarra´, is a an exhibiticion of tourism, crafts and local products that can be visited on four consecutive days from 11.00 to 21.00 hours.

Photo-journey Mieke Verkennis

Here are some inspiring photographs taken by Mieke Verkennis who stayed at ´El Paraje´ during the third week of March 2009. We want to thank her for allowing us to make an Alpujarras selection from her Picasa Andalusie album.
Use the arrow at the bottom right to go to the next photograph!!

Welcoming spring in the Alpujarras

Today it is just a perfect day to welcome spring. It is sunny, the sky is blue and the temperature is just right to enjoy the outdoors. In the Alpujarras, the changing of the seasons can be experienced in many different ways. A few of our guests went down the GR7 to Cádiar and were pleasantly surprised about the different flowers they could photograph near the river Guadalfeo. Other guests followed the river Trevélez and marvelled at the amount of water coming down. The snow level is at the moment at about a 2,000 metres height. Walking through the snow can at some places be exhausting, but also worth the effort. It allows you to actually see the snow melting and to enjoy the sight of icicles. At the moment an enormous amount of meltwater is running through the Acequia de Mecina and there are quite a number of waterfalls to be seen. Our walk ´Acequia de Mecina´ is therefore our special recommendation for this first spring weekend.

related keywords: el tiempo, het weer, le temps, das wetter

Legend of the ´Fuente de las Carmelas´ lives on

The last couple of months, a number of fountains in Bérchules and Alcútar have been done up. The ´Fuente de las Carmelas´, the drinking fountain at the entrance of Bérchules, looks very nice again. The water of this fountain is renowned for its excellent quality and it is therefor quite appropiate that the fountain has been renovated in such an attractive way. It has new ornamental tiles, but the old legend lives on. The story goes that there was once a Carmelite priest who found himself a fiancée after having drunk from this fountain. He got married and left the village, but this fountain therefor got the name ´Fuente de las Carmelas´. This is what the text on the tiles says:

No digas nunca de este agua no beberé, pues esta fuente que aquí ves

Es fuente de la virtud y tiene tal magnitud que a beber su agua invita,

lo confirmó un "Carmelita" que cura fue desta Iglesia,

y soltero que la beba con intención de casarse,

¡no falla pues al instante... Novia tiene! ¡ya lo ves!

White asphodels along the A-4130

There are three different ways to drive from ´El Paraje´ to Órgiva. One of the possibilities is to continue on the A-4130 passing Almegíjar. This is the most winding and rural routes. We like it because of its scenery, the views of the Taha valley and the roadside flora. In early spring one of the flowers to enjoy while taking this route, is the ´Asphodelus albus´. According to some taxonomists this flowering plant is a member of the Asphodelaceae. Others do not recognize the Asphodelacea as a family and assert that it is a member of the Lily family. It is called ´white asphodel´ in English, ´asfodelo´ in Spanish and ´witte affodil´ in Dutch. In the description of this flower in Wikipedia, it says that flowers are produced between April and June, but in this part of Spain they flower mid-March. There are hundreds to be seen during this time of the year on both sides of the road from Almegíjar towards the A-348. On the side of this road, between Torvizcón and Órgiva, it can be found as well.

Sendero Local ´Molino Altero´ de Trevélez

The ´camino al molino altero´ is number four of the nineteen walks in the guide ´Senderos Locales de la Alpujarra´ (see also our post of 18-02-2009). More information and the GPS track of this Sendero Local ´Molino Altero´ can be found on the website of Alpujarra Turística of the Mancomunidad. It is a short stroll of two kilometres to the river, which could be a nice walk to do with children. The starting point where you find an information panel on the route, is at the square of the Barrio Medio. On here it says that you leave the village next to the ´polideportivo´ or sports ground. To get there – this is not explained - you go right to pass the town hall and the bar-restaurant of La Fragua. Continue straight on into Calle Posada, passing hotel La Fragua II. At the end of this street you bear left to find the first wooden waypost. From this point on you can follow the green-and-white waymarks to the river where you see what is left of a flour mill. On the website of the ADR Alpujarra it is explained that after a thunderstorm in the sixties of the twentieth century, the Molino altero got almost completely buried by all the water and stones that came down from the Barranco Peñabón. From this point we see to the right the Cerro de Peñabón, one of the many attractive aspects of this pleasant short walk. You return to the village on a broad track that leads you back to the church square. You need to be aware that the starting point and the returning point are not the same. If you want to make this walk longer, you could follow the Camino del Horcajo at the left bank of the Río Trevélez and continue on the small path parallel to the river.



Related article:
- Senderos locals de Trevélez

Publication ´El Sabor de la Alpujarra´

The Asociación para la Promoción Económica y el Desarrollo Rural de la Alpujarra-Sierra Nevada (ADR Alpujarra-Sierra Nevada) published ´El Sabor de la Alpujarra´, a beautiful book on the tastes and flavours of this region. There are chapters on the local wines, olive oil, meats, cured ham, cheeses, honey, bread, sweets and pastries. It has beautiful pictures, traditional recipes, useful addresses and a lot of information on all the tasty products from the Alpujarrra. Free copies can be obtained at the tourist information centre in Orgiva. There is also an online version available. Once the whole document has been loaded you can turn the pages by clicking at one of the corners.

Fallen wayposts on GR142 cause confusión

Yesterday guests got lost while walking the GR142 from Cádiar to Lobras. As we don´t like the idea that more people need to retrace their steps in the future, we decided to check out whether there are any changes. We found out that a few wooden wayposts have fallen on this stretch, probably as a result of the bad weather we had this winter. Unfortunately this has happened at a point which already caused difficulties in the past. Halfway on the ridge of the Loma Callón - 2,13 kilometres from Alquería de Morayma -, you need to bear right for about sixteen metres, to immediately climb up a field of almonds and figs to continue in the same south-west direction following the ridge. A red-and-white cross on a stone gives the impression that you should not enter this orchard, but what it indicates is that you need to ignore the track to the right towards a ochre-coloured new house. You also need to ignore the track to the left, although there is no red-and-white cross here. After having entered the field you see a red-and-white paint mark on a fig tree about ten trees further as counted from the edge. One of the attractive aspects of walking the GR142 is walking through orchards and vineyards. But unfortunately this has also proved to be a little bit confusing as there are sometimes no clear paths, especially after fields have been ploughed.

Ruined mill below Fondales

This year there is a lot more water to be seen and heard everywhere compared to previous years. Walking through the Taha valley with guests today, we enjoyed the sight and the sound of the torrent below. In the past, the water of the Trevélez river powered numerous mills of which the ruins can still be seen. According to Turgranada, this old flour mill below Fondales was considered in its time one of the most representative works of the medieval architecture of the Alpujarra. But unlike the mill next to the Panjuila bridge which is on the list of ´BIC: Bienes de Interés Cultural´, this one is not officially part of the local heritage. On the website of the ADR Alpujarra it is explained that this mill the ´molino de fondales´ was built in the XVIII or XIX century.