Granada to Puente de Tablate

It is tempting to spend an entire holiday in the City of Granada itself, given how many historic treasures there are to see. However, Granada province has far more to offer, and exploring the historic mountain villages that lie just outside the great old city can be an eye-opener to those hoping to buy a holiday home close to the Costa del Sol, but away from the beach culture of places like Torremolinos or Malaga City.

A relatively short drive takes explorers of this wonderful province to charming hamlets clinging to the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, a world-famous ski region with excellent snow conditions from November to April. Granada is served by Granada Airport, so not difficult to reach, and just 1.5 hours’ drive from the beaches of the Costa del Sol and nightlife of Marbella.

Following an almost circular route via Embalse De Quéntar, Purullena, Guadix, Lanteira, Castillo De La Calahorra, Puerto De La Ragua, Trevélez, Poqueira Valley and Lanjarón, takes one eventually to Puenta De Tablate, which sits along the A44 route, the fastest way back to the City of Granada and the airport. The tour offers a fabulous insight into the region’s rich cultural heritage. The trip spans around 145 miles (235 km); the best time to go is between spring and autumn. The road over Puerto De La Ragua for example is often inaccessible in winter. 

While villages like Purunella and Trevélez are ideal for shopping for ceramics, cured ham and wine respectively, the villages nestling in the densely wooded Alpujarras part of the Sierra Nevada are perfect for exploring on foot or by mountain-bike.

Sitting just outside the town of Quéntar to the northeast of Granada, this gorgeous turquoise-sapphire-blue reservoir makes for a perfect picnic spot. There is a car park, from which a trail leads around and across the dam. The scenic route then continues over the picturesque pass of Puerto De Los Blancares, which rises 4,250 ft (1,300 m) above sea level and affords spectacular mountain views of the Sierra Nevada.

The same road, the GR3201 (also named the GR-SE-39 locally), leads past the lake to Purunella, home to an imposing statue of a bull and the Sierra Nevada’s ceramic-producing centre. The town is also famous for its cave houses, still occupied by people today. 

Leaving Purunella via the A4100 towards Guadix, the scenic route reaches this pretty town via a broad avenue that may be modern, but could just as well have been built by the town’s ancient Roman founders, who would have been delighted by the avenue’s “chariot-friendly” width. Guadix also boasts many cave houses, marked by their distinctive white chimneys that rise like sugar-cones into the deep-blue skies. 

The troglodyte district, the famous barrio de cuevas, is home to around 2,000 such houses, which are also still inhabited today. These homes date back to prehistoric times and have thus provided shelter to humans for thousands of years. If you are in Guadix for a weekend, be sure to visit the Museo de Alfareria and Museo Etnológico, which are only open on Saturdays and Sundays. Both exhibit a wealth of local finds and explain how people have been able to live in these caves.

From barria de cuevas, return to Guadix town centre, where you can pick up the N324 route towards Almeria. Just after the town exit, turn right onto the GR5104 route for Jerez Del Marquesado and Lanteira. 

This friendly town with its narrow winding streets and white-washed houses serves as the portal for mountain bikers and hikers intent on exploring the Sierra Nevada. The town itself has few tourist attractions, apart from two castle ruins. The town was once a rich mining settlement, which explains the reason for the two castles. A far more imposing fortress, the Castillo De La Calahorra, can be found on route to La Calahorra. Simply leave Lanteira by the GR5104, which leads to La Calahorra itself.

The castle can be reached on foot from the town centre. It’s impossible to miss, as it stands on an isolated hill high above the plains, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. It is only open to the public on Wednesdays, unfortunately, but well worth waiting for, as it is the first Renaissance building in Spain. The building of it was ordered by Rodrigo de Mendoza, the son of Cardinal Mendoza, who built the fortress for his bride. It was completed between 1509 and 1512, boasting four cylindrical corner towers of archly military design that would have reassured any blushing bride about its safety. Inside, however, the castle is delightfully feminine, featuring a palatial courtyard and slender Carrara marble pillars.

You may fall in love with cave houses in Guadix, which are excavated from soft clay and remain a pleasant 18 degrees Celsius throughout the year, and choose one rather than a historic town house in the City of Granada or an apartment at the Costa Tropical. 

Warm and cosy in winter and cool in summer, these cave houses are considered just as good as modern housing by locals, so always highly sought-after and surprisingly expensive. What they lack in natural light, they make up for in sheer originality and space. Farmhouses in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, on the other hand, can be surprisingly cheap, often less than 50,000 Euros, when in need of restoration. Asking prices for fully renovated fincas start at ca. 100,000 Euros.