The official opening of the relatively new Caminito del Rey was in 2015. The new pathway made headlines across the world, and in 2015 Lonely Planet nominated a walk along the Caminito as one of the ‘hottest things to do’. If you’re staying on the coast but fancy a day trip inland then this is only a 90 minute drive or less.

The Caminito has a longer history than 2015 in Marbella though. It was originally built between at the start of the 1900s and was used to transport material and people between two power stations that were built both sides of the El Chorro gorge. In the early 1920s it was officially opened by King Alfonso XIII who walked its whole length and named it. Since then, the Camino Del Rey has become a highly popular attraction in the area, alongside the ‘La Concha’ mountain trek.

It has huge walls of rock as high as 400m along its its length of 3km. “El Chorro” is roughly translated as ‘the spurt,’ which is what the water used to do through the gorge’s narrow ravine. The height difference between the two man-made reservoirs at either end of the gorge provided the new and exciting opportunity to develop hydroelectric energy.

You have to reserve tickets, and this can be done in advance online on the official Caminito del Rey website. It’s an affordable attraction at around €10 per person. If you want more history or guidance there are tours available to book.

The maximum number of people allowed on the Caminito at one time is 400 with a maximum of 1,100 people per day. Groups of up to 50 people are allowed through the initial control points, with slots allocated every half hour.

The walk is around 7 km and pretty easy apart from the heights! There’s a bus back to the start point at the lake side and the lake is perfect for a dip afterwards to cool off. There you can also hire kayaks and pedalos and SUP boards to enjoy a full day out at El Chorro. There’s fantastic horse riding, hiking and mountain biking also around the lakes so really we can’t recommend it highly enough.

Getting to Caminito Del Rey is easy. It’s accessible by car and there is parking close by, but there are also some trains available. They only go a couple of times a day so it’s worth making sure there is one at the right time if you don’t have a car available.

Photos from Pixelbay and Tripadvisor.