The road less travelled brings you to the ‘other Andalusia' in the highlands of the Sierra Nevada. You'll drive past rocky outcrops, olive groves, almond and cork trees as well as cultivated farmland en route. We'll stop in Puerto La Ragua and Guadix, where you'll visit one of its famous cave homes. Ana, one of our expert local guides, says, ‘With around 2000 underground dwellings, Guadix tops the charts in Europe for the number of cave homes, and some are thought to be 1000 years old. These aren't naturally formed caves - they have been hewn from the rock. Living in a cave is actually very appealing in the hot, Andalusian summers.'
The first stop of the tour will be at Puerto La Ragua, where there'll be a short walk through the pine trees. Enjoy the cool, mountain air in the Natural Park of Sierra Nevada which sits at 2000m altitude. Here, you'll be offered a little picnic of Spanish wine and olives. Then in the foothills, head past shark fin-shaped peaks to Guadix – a fantastical town that looks like it's jumped out of the pages of The Hobbit.
You'll notice white chimneys sprouting from the grassy landscape and mysterious whitewashed doorways leading into the rocky hillsides – clues to the unusual architecture of the town. You'll get to see inside one of these unusual cave dweller's homes, and gain an understanding of the traditional lives of the locals when you stop at an earthenware shop to see hand-painted ceramics and watch a pottery-making demonstration.
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