Hike Spain's Sierra de Aitana

• Accommodation: 7 Classic nights (Hostel Rincon de Pepe)
• Five days of guided walking; one free day
• Group normally 4 to 14, plus leader. Minimum age: 16

All breakfasts, five lunches and six dinners (plus local wine with dinner, one bottle per three people) are included. Breakfast: Continental style – local seasonal fruit, orange juice, different types of bread, cakes, cheese, ham, or bacon and eggs on request every day. Tea and coffee. Lunch: Picnic lunches will usually consist of bread rolls (our famous whole wheat triple deckers) with cheese and salad/meat, fruit, muesli bars, biscuits or nuts, and a juice carton. Our local guide usually also provides some snacks such as pickled olives, chocolates and dried figs. Evening meal: As the main meal of the day, we enjoy a large variety of local cuisine including espencat, minxos (small pancakes)  legume soups, roasted lamb, and  of  course  local paella . Most of the food is freshly prepared from locally grown seasonal produce, and the pension produce their own olive oil. A reasonable amount of local wine is provided with the evening meal but additional beverages are not included. Mealtimes in Spain are later than in many other countries; dinner is usually between 8pm and 9.30pm. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diets are well catered for given prior notice, and most other dietary requirements can also be accommodated if you let us know in advance (at the time of booking). Please note we cant guarantee any dietary requests made on arrival. Please note, should flights change to arrive earlier, or depart later, additional meals are not included. Please also note that no refund will be given for meals not taken or taken other than where designated.

This area is known to have the most benign climate in the whole of Europe. Winter is mild and sunny, with more than 300 days of sunshine a year. At night, temperatures can be chilly, especially in the mountains. The little rainfall is usually concentrated in very few days at the beginning of autumn, but rain cannot be discounted on any departure.

The daytime temperatures in winter usually vary between 14C and 20C (57F and 68F) depending on altitude and orientation. These winter temperatures are ideal for walking although, except for July and August, you can walk here year round. In spring and autumn, temperatures should be between 25C and 30C (77F and 86F) but May, June and September departures may experience some warmer days, up to 35C (95F).

This trip has been rated Activity Level 4 (Moderate & Challenging). For more information on our trip gradings please visit the Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.

This trip includes 4 challenging walks out of the 5 included. You should be confident in your physical condition and ability to deal with heights, rocky and difficult underfoot terrain. The walking routes are all fairly long (around 9mi-12mi/15km-20km a day) and vary in duration from seven hours to 8hr 30min per day (including stops). In five days of walking we climb three summits: Serrella (4,465ft/1,361m), Puig Campana (4,626ft/1,410m) and Aitana (5,112ft/1,558m) with approximately 3,280ft (1,000m) of ascent and descent on each of these days.

Most of the paths we follow are footpaths and mule tracks. Some sections are with a gentle gradient, while others follow quite steep rocky paths (sometimes with scree slopes) and there are some sustained ascents/descents. We also trek some cross-country terrain.

This trip is for anyone confident in their health and fitness. It is not recommended as a beginner’s trek. It is suited for those who regularly hill walk and have put in some physical preparation beforehand. However it is also possible to stay at hotel and do your own walks or other activities from there.

Sierra de Aitana is very rich in flora and fauna and along the walks we will see a great variety of birds and flowers. Castles dot distant hilltops, and we visit springs and snow wells as well as having plenty of time to soak up village life. In the evenings the hosts of our characterful family-run village pension will make us feel right at home.