Spain, Andalucía, Cadíz

Murcia

Date / Distance

Transport and Route Summary

Sun 27th March 2005
2.2 km

Donaña National Park to Sanlúcar de la Barrameda bus station.
Eight buses and two ferry crossings. This short walk includes a ferry crossing across the Rio Guadalquivir.

Mon 28th March 2005
28.4 km

Sanlúcar de Barrameda to Rota via Chipiona.
Seven buses. Most of the route was along a quiet sandy beach. The last few kilometres were along fairly quiet roads. The tide had come in and the soft sand was tiring to walk through.

Tue 29th March 2005
25.5 km

Rota to El Puerto de Santa Maria.
Six buses. This walk was much longer than expected because we had to skirt a military, naval and air base. The shorter route along the cost was closed to the public and the inland route went all round the air base. Fortunately a pleasant Via Pecuaria (farm track) ran parallel with the main road for much of the route.

Wed 30th March 2005
34.4 km

El Puerto de Santa Maria to Chiclana de la Frontera.
Four buses. We expected this to be a horrible walk alongside major roads. In fact the local authorities had done a fantastic job building alternative routes for pedestrians and cyclists. These followed the estuary and woodland reserves. Some of the route was along roads but much less than we expected.

Thu 31st March 2005
10.4 km

Chiclana de la Frontera to El Playa de Novo Sancti Petri.
Only two buses. We expected this walk to be along an unmade country road. In fact the route had been "improved" and was rather busy. The only saving grace was a cycle track giving space to walk a couple of metres away from the traffic. We did not find a nicer alternative.

Fri 1st April 2005

Day trip to Algeciras.
Four buses. This was to reseach a place to stay for the next leg of the walk.

Sat 2nd April 2005
11.9 km

Playa Barrosa to Novi Sancti Petri.
This circular walk near our accommodation added only a kilometre or two to our route. We explored the shops, restaurants and local streets.

Sun 3rd April 2005
16.2 km

Novi Sancti Petri to Conil de la Frontera.
Three buses. Our route started along the beach. Later we walked on the low cliff tops through gorse and pine. The last couple of kilometres were on a fairly busy road. There was an alternative route along the beach but we found this too late.

Mon 4th April 2005
24.7 km

Conil de la Frontera to Barbate de Franco .
Four buses. Apart from the short urban stretches to the bus stations, the whole route was along sandy beaches and through pine woods. The last section was through a wonderful nature reserve. A strong east wind was a bit of a problem.

Tue 5th April 2005
17.1 km

Barbate de Franco to Atlanterra.
Four buses. The route was along beaches and dunes. There was another easterly gale blowing in our faces and no shelter. The walk was hard work. We went through another military encampment but we were allowed. The only problem was the delicious smell wafting from the catering tents - nicer than our cheese rolls.

Wed 6th April 2005
23.2 km

Atlanterra to Camping Torre de la Peña 2.
Four buses. We followed the road south and east towards the light on the point. At the gate across the road before the light, we went north east across country for about a kilometre climbing steeply. We used builder's tracks, goat paths and fire breaks to get through. At the top we came to another empty mountain road and cheerfuly walked down passing a "no entry military zone" sign. Luckily we were leaving the zone and had not been arrested or blown up. We took the long route to the beach skirting more of the military zone. Here the easterly gale became a real problem. It was so strong that our faces were deforming like those of sky divers! This was a nudist beach but no-one was sandblasting their private parts! Later we found shelter on tracks in woods of pine and broom. The tracks had been made by dune buggies. Near the end of the walk we were blocked by another military zone. We feared we would have to walk back miles skirting a mountain but luckily we were allowed to use the beach to get through. The distance was nearly double our estimate due to the meandering dune buggy paths and cross country climbs.

Thu 7th April 2005
 

Playa Barrosa
A local walk near the Islote de Sancti Petri.