⭐ The Senda Litoral de Estepona – The Coastal Path.
The Senda Litoral is always a pleasure to hike or bike on, or to experience while riding an electrical step (or a “patinete” in spanish), as many locals do. There are a multitude of Chiringuitos (beach bars) and restaurants for rest and replenishments along this beautiful coastal path, and together with the sun, palm trees and sea views they make for the perfect setting for any day. The nice thing about the Sendo Literal is that you can make the hiking or biking tour as long or as short as you want. There are a couple of particularly nice stretches.
- Sonora beach – Estepona town (7 km) I love to start this hike at the Sonora Beach Bar, where you can easily park your car and start walking towards Estepona town, rewarding yourself with one of the best (virgin) cocktails and views you can get when reaching Estepona at Trocadero Estepona. Maybe you decide to go a bit further after this, to the lively city centre to have some tapas at Tapas Diez, or at restaurante Oliva where they are specialised in Iberian products and have a great selection of wines.
- Wild Café and Restaurant – Gualdalmansa or Estepona (4 km) You can also start your hike with a breakfast/lunch at one of the best places for this: “Wild Café and Restaurant.” After the breakfast or lunch you can walk to Estepona or Guadalmansa beach. Maybe having a swim and a rest on the beach here and there, all to end the day with a sunset drink or dinner at the lovely and always busy Chiringuito “Como Pez en el Agua” while watching over the Mediterranean with a view of the Morocco shore.
Best virgin cocktail ever: the Greenpeace cocktail at Trocadero Estepona
⭐ Walk along the famous golden mile of Marbella
Doing this walk is an absolute must if you want to get to know Marbella and its places to be.
The golden mile is an area of approximately 5 kilometres along the coast of Marbella stretching from Puerto Banus to the Puerto Deportivo de Marbella. While doing this walk, you will discover the most beautiful beaches, luxury hotels, top restaurants, beachclubs and much more. Like the Puente Romano resort with it’s luxury restaurants, or playa Fontanilla (the bustling Marbella city beach), my favourite Mediterranean restaurant Besaya Beach, and of course Puerto Banus itself.
It’s best to start at Puerto Banus and to sail with the catamaran to the Puerto Deportivo to enjoy playa Fontanilla or Marbella Old Town (you can also find shops here where you can rent a bike or electrical step near the Puerto Deportivo, which makes exploring the area there much more dynamic). And afterwards you walk back to where you started in Puerto Banus. The catamaran leaves both harbours every hour from march to november, and costs 9 euro for a ride. Its a wonderful way to explore the Marbella coastline.
Fly Blue Marbella – Great Tourist Catamaran in Marbella and Puerto Banus (fly-blue.com).
⭐ Circular Mountain, Lake, Village route near Istan
This 7km hike is a wonderful way to explore the stunning mountains of the Sierra Blanca and the charming whitewashed village of Istan. The route starts at the chapel of the patron of Istan (la Ermita de San Miguel) and takes you up the mountain towards Istan, through the Andalusian village, and then down through the mountain valley to the lake of Istan, after which you go back up to the starting point. It’s a wonderful circular route which offers stunning mountain, village, lake and sea views. I always use the app wiciloc (10 euro a year) for hikes in nature, because you can download the route, and use gps tracking or an offline route. Here you can find the route: Route Ermita de San Miguel – Istán – Pr-A 137 Camino de la Cuesta – Lago de Concepcion – Ermita de San Miguel – Circular Walk – Istán, Andalucía (España)- GPS track (wikiloc.com)
The inside of an abandoned mountain hut that I found along the route.
A view of part of the route
⭐ Hiking in Natural Park Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja
With breath-taking views over Estepona and beyond, wonderful fauna, and easy footpaths all around, you cannot miss out on a hike through the Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja natural park.
While hiking you might see wildcats, ibex, golden eagles, falcons, vultures, and plenty of common reptiles. There are lots of hiking trails offering views out towards the African coast from the mountain slopes.
A beautiful hike here is the Reales de Sierra Bermeja Trail, which features a 6.5 km route up through a Spanish fir forest with great views. You can check out the route here: Route Pico Los Reales por el Sendero Los Realillos y el Paseo de los Pinsapos en Sierra Bermeja (Málaga) – Genalguacil, Andalucía (España)- GPS track (wikiloc.com)
If you are looking for an easier 4 km hike, this one to the Quejigo River is very nice, especially when it’s very hot because half way you can have a resfreshing swim in the river:
⭐ For the Die-Hards: Summit the top of the Famous la Concha mountain | 15 kilometres
Many people from all over the world climb this special and beautiful mountain. But be aware, it is a tough hike of seven kilometres up the mountain, and seven kilometres down. But there is nothing like reaching the summit to enjoy the wonderful views of the costa del sol coastline. You have to be fit to do this hike, and you have to be aware of the heat, best is to do this hike before June or after September, or very early in the morning because of the heat.
You can start your hike to the mountain top from 2 points. From Refugio el Juanar (35 minutes drive from the apartment) or from Istán (35 minutes drive). From Istán the route is slightly shorter, but steeper, higher and scarier. I recommend starting from Refugio el Juanar, because this route also takes you through a magical forest, and this route is already quite challenging.
It took us a total of 6 hours to do the walk. The largest part was easy to walk and climb, but there were a couple of real challenges. Do not expect built paths here, you have to find your own way through the nature and over rocks towards the top.
There are 2 places with chains attached to the rocks to give you more grip above the abyss. So you should not be afraid of heights. Als the last kilometre is very scary (I recommend to take the route on the right side of the rock for the last kilometre). Once past these points, it will be the greatest pleasure to have reached the top.
