Thanks to our guests Alyson and Vernon from England who chose to share their experience while exploring the paths and villages of this rural area of Andalucia.
On the paths of La Alpujarra: from Bérchules to Cadiar
21 February 2018
Our walk from hotel El Cercado, near Bérchules, to Cadiar, Alpujarra region on part of the GR7 national footpath route.
A cosy cottage inside the «Complejo rural El Cercado» was our base to visit the Alpujarra. It was a bright, sunny day and we decided to walk the path from Alcutar to Cadiar, stopping off in the small village of Narila en route. The path was easy to walk and we used GPS to check the route every so often. From hotel El Cercado turn left, walk up the hill a little and then turn left onto a concrete path with a house or two on the right, and you are on your way!
Cadiar is a typical white village of this region and sits down in the valley with picturesque hills completely surrounding it. Along the way we saw many beautiful almond trees with their pretty pink and white blossoms as well as a few olive trees, of course. Everywhere in this area you can hear the sweet tinkling of bells that hang around the necks of cows and sheep. As we got down into the valley a little, we walked beside the river, rio Guadalfeo, and crossed it via stepping stones and traversed back again via a rustic bridge further down.
We reached Narila within about an hour (you would get there a lot quicker if you didn’t stop to take as many photos as we did!). It’s a very quiet village with a church (Moorish style) and fountain in the central square. We walked around it in about 10 minutes and didn’t see a shop, or cafe/bar. We continued along the river path to Cadiar, stopping on one of the bridges to have coffee from our flask and a sandwich en route.
Cadiar is a much bigger town with shops, bars, a public garden to sit in, churches and squares. In one of the squares there is a very contemporary fountain made of marble and I think it has replaced a fountain called la Fuente del Vino (fountain of wine!) from 1967. We were told that during Fiestas it flows with red wine. Not our lucky day! Only water was being dispensed today. We stopped in a bar on the square. Vernon had a beer and was served a very generous portion of tapas (bread with cured ham and a fried egg on it and some crisps). However, I ordered a fresh orange juice, which was very good, but I was not offered any tapas. Presumably that only comes with alcoholic drinks?
We made our way back along the rio Guadalfeo to Narila, chatted to a Dutch chap who was painting his house, and then took the path north east towards the road. High up on a plateau overlooking Narila was a tiny pretty chapel and further on a fantastic viewing point from where we could see both places, the river, and the hills and mountains for miles around us. The last leg of our walk was by road. It was not busy with traffic and walking back round on the east side we could see our hotel, El Cercado, from the front, nestled in the hillside.
We walked a very enjoyable 8.8 miles / 14 km. View on map.
Read also: On the paths of La Alpujarra: from Bérchules to Mecina Bombarón
