Spring in Andalucia

Monday 19 April – Tuesday 27 April (8 nights)

This tour is mainly botanical and will cover parts of three mountain regions in eastern Andalucia, flying in and out of Malaga. It will be based for four nights in a rural hotel and four nights in Granada and will include a visit to the Alhambra and the Generalife Gardens. The tour will be led by experienced guide Razvan Chisu. The tour can expect a mixture of bulbs, orchids, Mediterranean and alpine plants of the region.

Andalucia is a region that covers eight Spanish provinces in the far south of the Iberian Peninsula. Its latitude is approximately that of Crete and it hosts a very diverse range of Mediterranean flora including many endemics. There are close to 5000 species in this region; 944 Iberian endemics of which 429 are strictly Andalusian.

However, Andalucia is also home to the highest mountains in Spain, the Sierra Nevada, rising to 3479m. There are in fact a number of mountain ranges throughout the region, and this tour will visit three of them: Cazorla, Huetor and Sierra Nevada itself.

The three great historic cities of Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada are famous worldwide – our tour will visit Granada.

The Tour will fly to and from Malaga. We will journey to the Sierra de Cazorla where we will spend four nights and then move to Granada for a further four nights. We will also spend half a day in the world famous Alhambra Palace, and then spend three days exploring the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra de Huetor. We shall be able to enjoy plenty of “tapas” in the evenings in Granada.

Guide The tour will be led by Razvan Chisu, a highly experienced Tour guide and who has been to the area many times.

MPG Organiser For any queries about this tour contact Andrew Mayo at andrewjmayo@gmail.com

Price per person
Shared Double room: £1250
Single supplement: £340

This price is inclusive of:
8 nights accommodation
All meals except for one free evening in Granada
Drinks at mealtimes
Ground transport and guiding
Water and some snacks
Entry fees
Gratuities

The price does not include:
Flights and UK home country ground transport
Travel Insurance (required)
One evening meal in Granada

Deposit
A booking deposit is requested at the time of booking of £250 to secure your place. The balance due date will be advised but expected to be early March. Depending on the number of bookings and the exchange rate at the time this may vary a little from the quoted price, but it will not be greater.

Flights
There are many flights to Malaga from UK and Europe generally. The itinerary is built around an assumption that most UK-based people are happy to fly from Gatwick, and the recommended flight from UK is Easyjet flight 8079 which leaves Gatwick at 0845 and arrives at 1240 local time. The return on the Tuesday 27th departs at 1355 and arrives back at 1550. At the time of writing Easyjet quotes £160 for the basic starting price. It is important that all participants will be able to join the bus at c 1315 at Malaga Airport.

Fitness
Most walks will be fairly easy and no more than three or four miles walking in any one day, and always at a relaxed pace, ideally suited to photographers. Most walking will be on more or less level paths with one steeper walk. There will be roadside stops where safe and possible, and any walking from them will be optional..

Booking
You will find the booking form below. You will be later asked for your insurance details, flight details and next of kin. Places are limited to 16 and it will be a case of ”first come, first served”. You must be a member to book and should remit your deposit at the same time to secure your place.

ITINERARY

This map shows the planned journey, which is described below. Our guide has discretion to vary our routes depending on weather and season. Seasons are very variable and we cannot be sure of what we will see specifically.

(c) Google 2026

Day 1 – Monday 19 April
Participants will all meet at the airport at “Arrivals” at around 1pm. We shall have one bus with ample room and drive to Cazorla National Park, approximately three hours drive north west. We shall stop en route for lunch.
We will stay at the Hotel and Spa Sierra de Cazorla for four nights. The rooms are comfortable and the setting of the hotel is delightful. The spa offers a number of treatments for guests at an extra charge.
Day 2 – Tuesday 20 April – Cazorla National Park
After breakfast, we will stop briefly at a supermarket/bakery to stock on lunch supplies, and then we will drive to the source of the Guadalquivir river.
At 408 miles long, this is the second longest river in Spain and we will be able to visit the gorge where it rises. From here we will take a moderate woodland walk to what are said to be 1000-year-old yew trees. This is the first location where wild peonies are known to grow (and depending on the weather, flower at the time of our visit).

From here we will drive to the next stop, and after a picnic lunch we will go on the Rio Borosa walk and nearby botanical garden (if open). The walk along the tumultuous river will take us to a narrow gorge, where on walls next to a suspended board-walk grows the endemic carnivorous plant: Pinguicula valisneriifolia. During this walk we might also come across rusty-coloured Digitalis obscura, sky-blue Aphyllanthes monspeliensis, and Adiantum capillus–veneris clinging on to moist tufa walls.

Day 3 – Wednesday 21 April
After breakfast we will drive to the outskirts of the Cazorla National Park towards Pozo Alcon. The day’s itinerary will take us close to the ‘badlands’ of Andalucia. These poor, dry soils look barren from a distance, but in spring, they are the home of an interesting range of plants. Look out for parasitic, yellow-flowered Cistanche pelyphaea, white flax Linum suffruticosum, or mauve Iberis carnosa ssp. Granatensis .
The afternoon will find us walking on the shores of Embalse de la Bolera, a large water reservoir on the south-eastern side of the Cazorla National Park.

Day 4 – Thursday 22 April
In the morning, our bus will head up the Cazorla mountain to the summit where the Parador De Cazorla is located, a centre for several walks in the high country (one hour drive).
Here, we will spend several hours botanising and enjoying the spectacular views down to the valley and beyond. Up on the cliffs look out for endemic Viola cazorlensis, and prickly hummock Erinacea anthyllis, a woody legume species that straddles the Gibraltar straits to occur both in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.

Lunch will be a picnic lunch and then we will descend for an afternoon walk in the Cerrada del Utrero. This short (45- or 60-minute), circular walk will give us the opportunity to look for Griffon vultures, and the Andalusian Linaria verticillata growing in crevices in the rock.

Day 5 – Friday 23 April
We leave our hotel and drive (2.5 hours) to Granada to visit the Alhambra Palace and Generalife garden where we will have pre-booked tickets.
The complex is world-famous for its medieval Islamic architecture, having been the seat of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada for centuries, until the Spanish Reconquista in 1492. Alhambra became the court of Ferdinand and Isabella and it was here that Christopher Columbus received support for his expedition.

After visiting Alhambra we will check in our hotel with plenty of time for an early evening walk through the old town.

Day 6 – Saturday 24 April
We shall head north-west to the Sierra de Huetor. Our first stop will be at the Puerto Lobo Visitor Centre. Growing in the grass among the pine trees, just outside the visitor centre, there are several orchid species: Ophrys lutea, Ophrys speculum, Orchis mascula, etc. Weather permitting, from the visitor centre terrace we will be able to admire spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada peaks.

From here we will drive higher up into the park. On the side of the forestry track we should be able to see Linaria aeruginea, Adonis vernalis, Muscari neglectum and the stars of the day: Paeonia broterii and P. Coriacea. Just before lunch we will make a brief stop at an aclimatisation centre/arboretum.

Lunch will be in the village of Prado Negro at the Wild Boar restaurant (Mesón Jabalí).

In the afternoon we will retrace our steps and not far from the visitor centre we will go on a forest walk towards Cueva del Agua (the water cave), before returning to Granada.

Day 7 – Sunday 25 April
We will take a day trip to Sierra Nevada towards the ski resort as far as the snowline with stops on the way up and a picnic lunch.
With more than 20 peaks reaching over 3000m in altitude, this mountain range is host to a diverse flora (2100+ species of plants, 66 strictly endemic) that spreads over five climatic areas from Mediterranean on the lower slopes to alpine on the highest peaks.
The objective of the day is to find early bulbs, flowering close to the snow line such as: Colchicum triphyllum, Crocus nevadensis and Narcissus nevadensis. On the lower slopes orchids and peonies also occur.
The evening will be a free evening, where participants can choose their own place to eat.

Day 8 – Monday 26 April
We shall stop at a supermarket for picnic provisions, and then return to the Sierra de Huetor for the day and also visit the nearby Sierra Arana. These little known mountain ranges are home to several species of wild orchids (Himantoglossum hircinum and Orchis papilionacea are two that we may see). We shall have roadside stops and some walks. We shall have a final meal at a restaurant in Granada

Day 9 – Tuesday 27 April
After breakfast we will check out and make our way to Malaga Airport in good time for our flights.

WEATHER and FURTHER DETAILS

Warm and sunny with blue skies for the most part. There may be some rain and cloud in the mountains and one should always be prepared for rapid change there.

Booked participants will be briefed with further details in due course and queries can be directed to the MPG organiser, Andrew Mayo.

Booking Form

Please note that MPG events are open to members of MPG and its sister organisations only.

Bank Transfer

By bank transfer with reference ANDALUCIA
Sort Code 40 40 32
Account 5161 4002
Account name: Mediterranean Plants and Gardens
IBAN GB63 HBUK 4040 3251 6140 02

Cheque

To pay by cheque drawn on a UK bank made out to Mediterranean Plants and Gardens, sent to:

MPG
Baldocks
Chiddingstone Causeway
Tonbridge
TN11 8JX

Euros

If you wish to pay by bank transfer in euros, please contact David Mason