Caminito Del Rey – A Brief Guide

Once called the most dangerous walkway in Europe, Caminito del Rey is now one of the most popular attractions in the Malaga area of Spain. Pinned to the side of a steep cliff, at about 105 metres/300 feet above the roaring river below, it stretches along a narrow gorge. A walkway like no other and one of the best hikes in Spain.

Construction of the precarious walkway started in 1901 and finished in 1905. Originally built to provide easy access for the workers of two hydroelectric power plants called Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls. After construction of the walkway workers could easily cross from one power plant to the other transporting material and ensuring good maintenance of both sites.

It became known as Caminito Del Rey (King’s Little Pathway) after King Alfonso XIII crossed it in 1921 for the inauguration of the Conde Del Guadalhorce Dam.

The concrete and steel rails walkway fell into disrepair over the years, when much of the concrete path crumbled away. But in spite of its bad state, it continued to be used by rock climbers and thrill seeking adrenaline junkies for many years… on occasions costing them their lives.

The restauration project took about 4 years to complete and it was finally opened to the public in March 2015. It has fast become one of the best attractions in this area. Many of the original features, from over one hundred years ago can still be seen as you walk through the new and safer wood walkway.

It is now a safer and easier walkway that might not appeal to the hard core thrill seekers. But It certainly still delivers plenty of excitement, drama and incredible scenic beauty.

See the crumbling old path below the new one

Only birds are meant to get this kind of view

Incredible landscapes all around

At the start the river roars just under your feet

The walkway winds its way along the cliff

See here parts of the old path underneath the new one

Stunning rocky landscape

Catching the first glimpse of the gorge takes your breath away. Pinned by the side of a sheer cliff, the wooden walkway is firmly secured and you feel safely enclosed by the metal rails. We walked along mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the arid, rocky landscape. We could hear the roar of the river below gushing through the narrow valley.

Narrow paths snake around a cliff face, if looking up you can see large birds catching the thermals and soaring upwards. Towards the end of the walk there is a glass bottom platform that was quite thrilling to stand on.

This footbridge would feel very scary on a windy day

Fabulous views from here

A footbridge marks the end of the walkway, sadly it was all over. Although we still had to walk a fair bit more, to get to El Chorro. From here a bus runs about every 15 minutes, we paid 1.55 Euros to the driver as we boarded it. The bus took us back to where we started from, near Ardales. The full walk takes about 2 to 3 hours depending on your speed. Take your time to enjoy the beauty of these landscapes and no doubt you will be stopping lots to take photos along the way…we certainly did.

Map of Caminito Del Rey

We got off the bus at the Kiosk Restaurant and had our lunch there overlooking a very pretty lake.

How to get last minute tickets

Getting last minute tickets can be tricky, but read on to find out how we did it.

At first we had a good look at the official Caminito del Rey website, a rather unhelpful site. We soon realised that there were no tickets available for our dates or even for the next 3 months. Therefore we decided to look for other options, our research led us to discover the following:

Only a small percentage of tickets are sold via the official website, most tickets are sold to local business such as hotels and tour companies. If staying in one of the local hotels they can arrange tickets for you. Contact local hotels directly for that.

There are about 50 tickets that are sold on the day, at the ticket control point in the North entrance to the Caminito del Rey. All you need to do is be there early and be one of the lucky first 50 people to buy a ticket on the day.

We arrived at the entrance point at 8:15 am, to find there were already about 10 to 15 people queuing for a ticket. Many more soon joined behind us. When the ticket office opened at 9:30 am we bought our tickets and walked the walk…it was fabulous! Best 10 Euros ever spent.

Where is the start of the walkway?

The walkway is linear, it goes in one direction only. It starts at the North entrance – Ardales and finishes at the South entrance – El Chorro, Alora. There is a shuttle bus transferring people from one site to the other, at a cost of 1.55 Euro (March/2019) paid directly to the bus driver.

How to get to the North entrance, where the Caminito starts?

You can’t access the entrance by car, so you have to walk from the main road. There are two walking access points from the main road to the North entrance. Both starting from El Kiosko Restaurant.

Access one – is the longer route- Gaitanejo Way a 2.7 Km route that starts at a tunnel next to El Kiosko Restaurant. We did not choose this access route.

Can you see the tunnel? From this tunnel next to the restaurant is a 2.7 km walk

Access two– Is a shorter route of 1.5 Km – This route  starts at a pedestrian tunnel, which is about 200 m upwards from El Kiosko Restaurant on the left side of the road. That was the route we chose, it took us about 20 minutes to walk to the North Entrance, the official starting point for Caminito del Rey, from the tunnel entrance.

Through this tunnel is a 1.5 km walk to the North entrance.

After crossing the tunnel there is a good surface road ahead

Where do I park if I travel there by car or Motorhome?

There is limited spaces on the road in front of El Kiosko Restaurant, there are more spaces further up by the side of the road, but spaces are limited, make sure to arrive early. There is also a car park upwards from El Kiosko Restaurant (I noticed they charge 2 Euro to park there). We travelled with our motorhome and stayed overnight at the Camping Parque Ardales, just 15 minutes walking distance from Access two. See GPS coordinates below.

What happens when you arrive at the Caminito North entrance?

The ticket office opens at about 9:30 am. Two queues are formed, one for the people who already bought a ticket and another for people who don’t have a ticket. From our experience if you don’t have a ticket, it is better to arrive there and start queuing as early as possible.

Just a small queue at the entrance when we arrived at 8:15 on a Thursday morning in March/19.

There are only 50 tickets available on the day. We managed to arrive there at 8:15 am, there were about 10 to 15 people in front of us. The ticket costs 10 Euro per person, there are guided walks for 18 Euros per person, we prefer doing our own thing, so we decided against having a guide. In fact there is no need for a guide, the path is linear, no risk of getting lost at all.

Don’t loose your place on the queue once there. There are toilets facilities here also.

The walks are scheduled for 50 people to walk the trail every 30 minutes, and there are over 1,000 visitors per day. The trail does not feel crowded since people are well spread out. I have heard of people getting last minute tickets even later on in the day, if there are not enough people (less than 50 who turn up with tickets).

You are given a helmet to wear and a brief safety talk by one of the rangers. Make sure to wear good walking shoes, take sun cream protection, water and snacks with you. Children under 8 years old are not allowed. If you are very scared of heights this might not be for you.

Where to stay to do the Caminito Del Rey?

Many people choose to come here on a day trip from Malaga, which is very doable by train, car or bus. But staying overnight would make it for a more relaxing trip. There are all types of accommodation at nearby Ardales.

If not travelling by motorhome or with a tent, it is still possible to stay where we stayed, which was only a 15 minutes walking distance from the shorter 1.5 km route into the North entrance to Caminito. Our very friendly campsite had some nice looking apartments that they rent out (this is not a sponsored post by the way).

Camping Parque Ardales – GPS coordinates N36.92113 W4.80372

If you love nature and want something a little unusual to do when visiting Malaga, I would really recommend this incredible place. It is such a thrill to walk through a staggeringly beautiful gorge thinking people were never meant to see this!