Car rental companies (such as Malagacar, www.malagacar.com) vie for custom at the airport, but it will be more economical to compare prices online and make a booking before arrival. Some companies rent their cars with a full tank of fuel and ask for it to be returned empty; an obvious advantage for them since returning it empty is rather impractical. There are a number of car rental companies in Nerja (such as Autos Tívoli, www.autostivoli.com), but their rates are generally not as competitive as those at the airport. Many of the approaches to the walks in this book involve driving on dirt roads so you may prefer to rent a high wheelbase car or even a small offroader.
A taxi from the airport and back is likely to be costlier than hiring a car, but there are companies (all in Nerja) that ferry people on a taxi-sharing basis.
The airport at Almeria to the east is more than an hour from Nerja and is not served as well with buses and car rentals.
Malaga can also be accessed by train or bus from the cities of Madrid, Seville and Cadiz. Spanish train timetables can be checked and tickets bought online at www.renfe.com and bus times and tickets are available at www.alsa.es.
Accommodation
The kiosk in Frigiliana
All the routes in this guide could be done in a single day trip from Nerja, so Nerja is a good place to base yourself for your trip. There are hotels in Nerja that specialise in group bookings for walkers. Since walkers generally come in the spring or autumn, out-of-season rates apply. These hotels operate on a bed, breakfast, packed lunch and evening meal basis, or on variations of these.
The hotels specialising in catering for walking groups tend to be medium to small hotels, but there are a few luxury establishments in the town as well. Equally there are hostels that are economic and operate on a bed and breakfast arrangement. A useful source of information about accommodation in Nerja is www.nerjatoday.com.
For those who want to fend for themselves, Nerja has many empty apartments available to rent in the off season. Almost all of the real estate agencies in the town provide this service. The option of renting and eating out is very practical, for there are numerous cafés and restaurants that open early and serve anything from coffee and rolls to a full English breakfast. For evening meals there is a wide choice – English roasts, Italian pastas, Indian curries, Mexican spices and many fine establishments serving the best of Spanish cuisine.
The choice of accommodation location lies between proximity to the town centre, the beaches and the mountains. Nerja town centre is a maze of narrow one-way streets, decidedly not car-friendly. So, cars may have to be parked remotely from accommodation.
The bus from Malaga arrives at the top, or eastern end, of the town. It is a 10-minute, downhill walk to most places within the town, but there is a taxi rank at the bus station.
When to go
In the spring, the paths on the north side of La Maroma can be covered in snow
Officially it has never rained in living memory in Nerja during June, July and August. However, as well as being dry during these months, the weather is hot and the town is packed with tourists. In this high season everything is that little bit more expensive. While the coast is basking in heat the mountains tend to be shrouded in cloud. The Nerjans say that the town has its own microclimate such that it never gets unbearably hot and does not suffer from the high humidity of other coastal towns.
For the hillwalker the best time to go is in late April and early May. There may be a little snow on Maroma, but otherwise the temperature is ideal for walking: not too hot and with little threat of rain. The flowers will be in full bloom and the landscape will be green. In early April the flowers will be out, but the rainy season has not yet concluded. The two biggest festivals in the town take place over Easter and on 15 May. Religious processions are big throughout Andalucía, when a significant proportion of the townsfolk take part. Spanish tourists pour into the town to witness the dedication that the community has to its processions. The spectacle is a moving one.
In late summer and early autumn the weather will again be very suitable for walking, but after the hot summer the land will be brown and scorched. From November through to April walking in Andalucía is still very acceptable, although you are now more prone to rain and possibly snow on Maroma. There will be more water in the rivers, many of which must be crossed on the walks, so that getting feet wet may become inevitable. Snow on the Almijaras is rare, with Navachica the most vulnerable. There is never any snow on Lucero because the high winds remove it, but there can be snow on the northern approach to its summit.
The dirt track road into Pinarillo and Fuente del Esparto is (sometimes) closed from 1 June to 1 October, because of the threat of forest fires. This adds considerably to the length of Walks 5 and 6 and this is indicated in the route descriptions.
Walking in Andalucía
The path into the Rio Verde valley (Walk 17)
The Andalucían Parque Nacional has set up and now maintains designated walking trails, and many of the walks in this book follow such trails. The paths are often old mining routes or former mule tracks through the mountains. All of these maintained paths are waymarked. They have a sign at the start of the walk (in Spanish) with notes on what you are about to encounter, a little history, the distance and time it will take and the relative difficulty. It is important to note that the time given on these signs is always for a one-way trip and does not include your return to the start.
The waymarks indicate the direction; where other paths link there are waymarks with crosses to show that they are not to be followed. All waymarked paths have relatively moderate gradients. For the experienced walker this can be a little frustrating because the route is extended to maintain the gentle gradient and becomes laboriously long. In this book shortcuts have been adopted for the most excessive cases.
Many of the walks are not on waymarked trails, which tend to be more challenging. Over time paths can be subject to change: from earthworks, landslides, river flooding and vegetation encroachment and so on, so that you need to keep your wits about you.
The most important thing is to find the start of the path and be sure that it is the correct path. Once you are on a path all you need to do is follow it. Wandering off the path is generally not an option because of the surrounding vegetation.
Almost all the land in this area is in public ownership and is part of the national park. The exceptions are areas immediately north of Frigiliana, part of the Rio Verde Valley, the eastern walk of Ventas de Zafarraya, and land north of Maroma. There are signs indicating when land is private and none of the routes in this book require you to trespass on private land where it is so indicated (although Walk 20 does follow a public right of way that passes through private land).
Spanish dialect in Andalucía
The Andalucíans have many peculiarities in their speech that differ from the Castellaño that is spoken in Madrid. The language sounds much smoother here, not as harsh as that of their northern neighbours and more akin to the Spanish of South America.
For example, the word ‘Andalucía’ is pronounced as it would be in English, whereas in Madrid it would be ‘Andaluthia’. The English pronunciation of the name ‘Nerja’ is ‘Nerka’, but to be more correct it is ‘Nerha’, with the ‘h’ pronounced gutterally.