Why you should visit Zahara de la Sierra
There’s not much to Zahara de la Sierra. But if you want to see lots of nature beauty and climb to one of the most precariously situated castles in Spain, then you should visit this magical Pueblo Blanco.
Zahara de la Sierra is located in Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema in the Northeast part of the province of Cádiz. You’ll see lots of mountains and lush greenery. Funny fact about this area: it has a microclimate that brings more rain to the park than anywhere else on the Iberian peninsula. So you might be in Andalusia which gets notoriously dry…but in this little pocket of territory you actually get more precipitation than you do in Galicia.
Here is a map of Zahara de la Sierra I did to help me plan our visit
And here is a video, it’ll help you visualize the map above.
It’s a very small town and the tourist highlights are in a concentrated area.
Here’s what you should do:
- When you drive in, before going up the steep hills into town, look for the mirador on your right. It’ll look like a little fortress. You should stop there (there’s parking). The mirador’s official name is “Mirador Peñón de la Horca”. But Google has it as “Mirador de Zahara de la Sierra”. From this viewpoint you get a good perspective of the entirety of the town.
2. Drive up and up and up. I would suggest parking at Arco de la Villa (you’ll see a broken wall where an old gate use to be) or continuing just a little further to where the Tourist Information is on the map (next to the cemetery).
3. If you’ve parked where I’ve indicated, you’re right next to where you buy your tickets for the “Villa Medieval” as they call it (Villa Mediaval referring to the Castle and the Centro de Interpretacion which is halfway up the path to the castle). The ticket costs 3.50 Euros per person (May 2024). I show where this is on the video.
4. Go through the turnstile (after scanning your ticket) and start going up the steep steps. Lots of great views.
5. It’ll take you about 10 minutes to get to the Centro de Interpretacion (located in the Iglesia Major). There’s tons of information here. We honestly didn’t spend much time, it was getting warmer and we wanted to get to the castle before it got too hot.
6. Outside the Centro de Interpretacion there are a couple of cabin toilets. Then you continue up a stone path.
7. It’ll take you another 10 minutes or so to get to the castle. There’s not much remaining to it except for large tower (La Torre del Homenaje). The castle was built by the Moors in 1282, one in a line of Moorish fortresses built to protect the Kingdom of Granada from the Christians coming from the north. Again, more great views here and they’ve done a good job with signage.
8. Make sure to take a little walk on the ridge in front of the Castle. The views from there are great and you can fully appreciate how the castle was built atop of the rock. It’s spectacular.
9. Once finished, go back, descending the stairs, into town.
10. Explore the center of town. On Plaza Mayor you’ll see the main church (Santa Maria de la Mesa), a pretty fountain, and another viewpoint (Mirador Plaza del Rey). Walk the main street towards Capilla de San Juan de Letran. There are some nice cafés, restaurants and tourist shops there. It’s all very pretty.
Once you’ve done all the above, you’ve covered all the highlights. As I say, the town is very small and we covered everything I have above in 2 hours (going at a slow pace).
Zahara de la Sierra is one of my favorite of the white villages and it’s all because of the geography. A fabulous place to go for views and a hike.
Related: What to see in Almuñécar (and impressions…)
Related: What’s it like living in Vejer de la Frontera? (Cádiz)
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