Walk! Costa del Sol (Axarquia)

We celebrate a Costa del Sol that does not correspond to the cliches, a Costa del Sol that is all right rather than all wrong, a playground of green valleys and gilded mountain tops, a hidden idyll unknown to most visitors, a haven for dedicated walkers and adventurous tourists alike, a place in which every nook is graced with some gratifying discovery and every outing is a great adventure. The majority of walks are aimed at the adventurous leisure walker, people who will on the whole have some experience of hiking in mountains, are happy to invest a certain amount of effort for a corresponding reward. Covering the best preserved stretch of coastline, the prettiest villages, and most spectacular mountains, Walk! Costa del Sol explores the Axarquia region east of Malaga, an area blessed with grand summits, dizzying pinnacles, dramatic crags, deep ravines, delightful streams, stunning views, and the finest coves on the Costa del Sol, and all of it knitted together by a network of paths, trails, tracks and lanes so beguiling that walking is by far the best way to explore this lovely landscape. THE COAST: TORRE DEL MAR, TORROX COSTA, NERJA, MARO are well-placed for accessing the itineraries between Canillas de Aceituno and Competa. THE MOUNTAINS: THE SIERRAS DE TEJEDA and ALMIJARA The Sierra is a discrete massif defined by cliffs, gullies and gorges, and culminating in the Iberian Peninsula's westernmost 2000 metre summit (La Maroma, Walk 35), while the Sierra Almijara comprises numerous mini-ranges separated by canyons. The traditional dividing point between the two sierras is Puerto de Competa, which we visit in Walk 36. The joys of these mountains are manifold, including bulbous karstic domes and vertiginous pinnacles, dramatic cliffs draped with ragged crags and grand ridges dominating the glittering blue sea; there are uplands patched with ancient pastures and dotted with the ruins of remote cortijos (farmhouses), there are terraces stippled with olive and almond trees, hillsides swaddled in a buttery blanket of yellow-flowering shrubs, valleys flanked by shady forests of conifer and cork oak, and fabulous ravines twisting between towering chicanes (known as cahorros) and tipping over spectacular waterfalls into deep plunge pools, all accessible within 15 minutes of the coast. THE WHITE VILLAGES The Pueblos Blancos of...