Sunday 16 March 2008

Info on Albarracin

Here's a little bit of info on Albarracin because some people asked me about it recently (namely Al, Chris and Michael), so that's for you guys.

The pueblo (well let's say it's a small touristic town) is a very beautiful place and there is plenty to see and do on a wet day. It is located on a hill and controls a turn of the river/canyon, which is why it always was a perfect place for a fortress.

Flying: Valencia and Madrid are probably the closest airports, but I flew to Barcelona-Reus with some wannabe-cheap airline, and it took me 4 hours driving from there to Albarracin. Besides the bouldering is not exactly in Albarracin. Although I'm pretty sure you could take the bus from either Valencia or Barcelona, that country is all up and down and walking to the boulders would be long enough. I therefore strongly recommend a car.

Accomodation: I stayed in the hostel de los Palacios . It was cheap enough and very comfortable altogether. But they are plenty of various accomodation including a campsite: follow the direction Torres de Albarracin, passing Tramacastilla and Noguera till you reach a crossing with Bronchales on the right: follow that road and once you reach Bronchales, there's a sign for the camping Las Corralizas which stands a 1km away in the trees. It is nowhere near the bouldering though, so if you want to go real cheap, camp by the boulders, don't tell anyone and don't leave any dirt (although it seems to be a local custom). Otherwise you can find a lot of places on the town website.


Season: It's inland Spain, so forget about any summer trip, it's far too hot. But it's high in altitude and the winter is not good either, it gets snowy and bitterly cold. Best season: March to mai and September to November.

Touristic information here, including a very handy map giving you details about hostels, bars, restaurants, camping, museums and so on...


Online topos/guidebook here:
http://norop.es/albarracin/cabrerizo
and here:
www.scribd.com/doc/27998/Crokis-albarracin
(I have a copy anyway if that link does not work)

More bouldering info on the following websites:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Another option is the online guide http://norop.es

They also show some other spots in Spain