Alcaudete, Spain Travel Journals & Blogs

Traveler Camino Mozárabe
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 12, 2022, 2:00pm
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 690 m
- Spain Andalusia Alcaudete 37.590871, -4.07918837°35’27” N 4°4’45” W
2
Day 24
Alcalá la Real to Alcaudete (23.2km)
October 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We don't always walk backwards, but leaving Alcalá la Real, we turned around many times to see the sunrise over the city.

We had had a storm overnight, and a mist hung around for a while. Little pearls of water formed at the tips of leaves.

The walk was nice, and we don't get tired of walking amongst the olive trees. The noise of the nearby Carretera de Córdoba N-432 didn't bother us.

At Ventas del Carrizal, we stopped for a drink. Shortly after we had sat down, 11 pilgrims appeared with their Spanish guide. They were walking from Granada to Córdoba. Some of them had never walked a Camino.

We continued our walk and the sun came out. There was not much shade directly on the path, but we found a big oak tree, under which we stopped for lunch.

A mojón at the entrance of Alcaudete indicated we had another 1114km to go to reach Santiago. Not this year.

The bells were ringing when we arrived at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Fuensante. The statue of Madonna in the chapel had been crowned, and the whole town was decorated to celebrate.

We checked in at the Hotel Spa Rueda, and went for a walk. It looks like tomorrow morning we're going to visit the Castillo.

After that, we're taking a Blablacar, our first time, and we're excited, to Jaén. We're taking two more rest days to discover the city.Read more
Traveler Wow. Still a long way to go from that point for those walking all the way to Santiago de Compostela. I know both you and Rachel (and myself later this month ) are going as far as Mérida (this trip at least ).
10/14/22Reply
Traveler Jacinto from the Asociación Jacobea de Jaén was proud to point out that the distance from Jaén was 1148 km 😊
10/15/22Reply
4 likes
Traveler Camino Mozárabe
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 17, 2022, 3:07pm
- ⛅ 28 °C
- Altitude: 629 m
- Spain Andalusia Alcaudete 37.595, -4.09537°35’42” N 4°5’42” W
Day 29
Martos to Alcaudete (23.6km)
October 17, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Leaving Martos was interesting this morning. We wanted a stamp for today, knowing that there were no villages or towns on our path today. Just a few 100 metres up the road was a Guardia Civil post, so we asked them if they could add a memento to our credenciales, which they did. The hotel is not on the Camino, so we had to make our way to where we thought we would find arrows. We did so against the tide of workers going to a large factory.

As soon as we were out of the urban area, we were surrounded by olive groves. All the way to the horizon. And popping out from under the olive trees were rabbits, scurrying across the path.

And it wasn't long before we came to the Via Verde del Aceite, which made our walk so easy today. It follows the now dismantled railway track, built in 1859, which used to go from Jaén to Puente Genil.

We crossed a number of viaducts, and from one of them we could see a medieval bridge over the río Víboras.

The train line didn't use to go to Alcaudete, so we had to leave the Via Verde, and take a steep incline in the direction of that town.

The temperature went up, so we used the umbrella with UV protection to shade Rachel on her walk.

The Castillo Calatrava greeted us as we entered Alcaudete.

Our day was saddened by the news that the husband of Rachel's sister had passed away after a long illness. Rachel might fly out to Switzerland to be with her sister.Read more
Traveler Feeling for both you now; sad and wanting to comfort family .
10/17/22Reply
Traveler Thank you Annie!
10/17/22Reply
Laurie Reynolds I am so sorry to hear this, AJ. Sending condolences to you, Rachel, and her family.
10/17/22Reply
Traveler Thank you Laurie!
10/18/22Reply
4 likes
Camino Mozarabe
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Feb 20, 2024, 5:33pm
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 648 m
- Spain Andalusia Alcaudete 37.587524, -4.08271537°35’15” N 4°4’58” W
Day 18
Alcalá la Real to Alcaudete
February 20 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
D: This 24 km day was likely our easiest so far, simply because we walked through rolling but not at all challenging landscape. We were accustomed to some much longer stages on the CF and VDLP, so it has been a surprise on this route (until today) to find 20 km enough for a day! The trade off is that the views are nice but far less remarkable. Still, we enjoy!

As always in Spain, I am impressed by the evidence of a robust feminist movement, impacting daily life in even small communities.

G: vandaag een wandeling voornamelijk tussen de olijf-boomgaarden. Op het laatste stuk kwamen we op de weg heel veel rupsen tegen, ze kwamen bij de olijfbomen vandaan en liepen naar de andere kant.. Het zullen er meer dan duizend zijn geweest...

Gisteren hadden we voor het eerst sinds drie dagen weer een stevige maaltijd. Op de een of andere manier komen we altijd te laat in een dorp voor de maaltijd van de dag ( menu del dia). Een gebruik in Spanje waarbij voor een redelijke prijs iedereen een dagmenu kan krijgen. En in de plaatsen waar we slapen gaan de restaurants daarna niet meer open. We hebben een paar dagen geleefd op toast van het ontbijt, pindaas en fruit.
De goede maaltijd van gisteren met het redelijk vlakke terrein van vandaag maakte de 24 km makkelijk. We haalden daardoor ook een hogere gemiddelde snelheid. Maar om vier uur aankomen op de plaats van bestemming betekent wel dat de keuken net weer dicht is... Ons haasten om op tijd te komen lijkt ons geen optie.
a.Weet je niet of er überhaupt wel een restaurant open is en b.als je forceert betaal je dat ergens anders terug en we willen wel de route kunnen uitlopen.
Kijken of we vanavond wat kunnen scoren.Read more
Traveler Great photos! We were also captivated by the long, long lines of the pine processionary caterpillars ... only to find out a year later that they are poisonous.
2/20/24Reply
Debi Brock Oh my! And destructive to the olive trees?
2/21/24Reply
mary louise adams You are having such spectacular weather!
2/20/24Reply
Debi Brock Yes! We would actually prefer it to be a bit cooler during afternoons!
2/21/24Reply
6 likes
Traveler Camino Mozárabe 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- May 14, 2023
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 648 m
- Spain Andalusia Alcaudete 37.587451, -4.08275437°35’15” N 4°4’58” W
1 1 1
Day 21
Day 17: Alcalá la Real to Alcaudete
May 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Seventeenth day, from Alcalá la Real to Alcaudete, 23.3km.
It's a quiet downhill start on this Sunday morning. We passed the Domus Herculana, an archaeological site in town, where a small statue of Hercules was found, dating back to the Romans. This site is normally freely open to the public, but this Sunday it is closed.
We crossed the Río Guadalacotón on a medieval bridge. We are on a Roman road, improved, or perhaps not, with white gravel. And, as we have learned to do, we frequently look back, just to see the silhouette of the Fortaleza La Mota on the horizon.
In the fields, the cereals are growing, and we come to a road, where a sign invites us to beware of the danger due to the "coincidencia con tráfico rodado". Well, we're used to it now, although for a Sunday morning there is quite a bit of traffic.
It doesn't last long: in Puertollano, where the local farmer can have his turbo sprayer repaired, and where there is a nice playground and a white washhouse, we left the road.
That road is not far away, the Carretera de Córdoba, and we can hear the traffic as we follow a beautiful country path.
Last year we crossed the carretera dodging the cars, because the culvert under the road was flooded and the vegetation was dense. This year we were pleased to see that works had been undertaken to clean up this tunnel under the carretera, and it was a pleasure to pass through. ☺️
On the other side of the road, we continued on another nice path, sometimes, often, lined with olive trees, and other trees that offered us some shade.
This carretera, we found it again, and had to cross it. Not an easy crossing, when there is a massive crash barrier in front of us, that almost requires a stepladder to get over it and down to Ventas del Carrizal.
At the café bar El Parque we had our usual tostada, with two Aquarius Limón. In the square there was a small clothes market.
The small country road that leads out of Ventas del Carrizal soon becomes another country path, lined with olive trees and other shady trees. And so it goes until we arrived in Alcaudete, where we're staying at the Pension Hidalgo.Read more
Traveler 😃😋
5/14/23Reply
Traveler Wow. I’ll bet you took more than one pic of this !! Makes you feel like skipping when you have these views.
5/14/23Reply
Traveler Oh no ! I know how hard this is!!
5/14/23Reply
5 likes
Laurie Reynolds Camino Mozarabe April 2018
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Apr 23, 2018, 4:07pm
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Altitude: 680 m
- Spain Andalusia Alcaudete 37.588865, -4.07649837°35’20” N 4°4’35” W
Day 16
Another castle town
April 23, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Today’s walk was great walking even if the scenery was a bit monotonous. 99% through olive groves, on a wide dirt tracks used by the aceituneros (people working in the olive groves). There was one tricky part through a culvert under a highway and across a stream but I survived it.

I walked 25 km but my body didn’t register that many. It seemed a lot shorter. I arrived around noon in the town of Alcaudete, another town of Arabic origin with a castle on top. This was the Moorish/Christian frontier during the 13-15 C. Lots of battles and intrigue.

Since it’s Monday the castle is closed, but I was able to hike up and walk around the walls and also able to get between the inner and outer walls.

So many castles!!

Tomorrow will be another short day like today but then I may tackle a long stage to get me close to Cordoba.Read more
4 likes