Nerja in November - Day 4 Frigiliana

Tuesday sees a slower start. The bus to Frigiliana is at 7.20 or 9.45 so we opt for the latter and take it easy. The bus to Frigiliana leaves from the same side as the Alsa kiosk but further down in the Málaga direction, the stop is near the toilets and you buy the tickets directly on the bus. €1.15 per person.

We get there at just past 9.30 but the bus is already there waiting. It's a smooth ride up to Frigiliana and the first thing we notice is a gust of unexpectedly cold wind. As soon as we venture into the Casco histórico we warm up but the temperatures have dropped a little compared to previous days. In sheltered corners in the sun it's positively hot, in the shade in the wind perhaps cold. Frigiliana is as pretty as the pictures of it suggest, clean white occasional blue and bougainvillea it's so perfect it's impossible to fault it. 

There isn't even an overkill of shops and restaurants and the November weekday tourists are decidedly sporadic. Perhaps a little too perfect to fall in love with, however, one unique thing will make us remember it....a real working mule, carrying sacks of cement down through the narrow streets for building work. 

We do a lot of up and down, visit the Fuente Vieja, Iglesia San Antonio de Padua, the Ermita and the Botanical garden which is very attractively laid out and even includes a jujube tree which we can't remember having seen before.

The tourist information office instead is just at the start of the newer area of town in an attractive building in its own right with a Mirador at the top and a small museum which is free but hosts nothing much. The lady in the tourist information office is helpful and we ask about the route to follow to go back to Nerja on foot, but when we see the sign mentions 14 km we decide it's too far after all the walking we've already done this morning. 

It's getting past our usual early lunchtime so we go back through the old town and up Calle Chorrera which after a concreted section takes a sharp right turn up to then become a narrow path after two house entrances marked privado. The path gets narrower and narrower and we are not very optimistic but after just a few minutes we come out onto a wider road which takes us to the base of the rocky outcrop called the Castillo de Lizár. There's actually no castle left but an arrow indicates up on the right and with a very narrow path we shortly reach the top. The threatened biting wild donkeys mentioned on TripAdvisor are fortunately absent and the view of the newer part of Frigiliana below and the coast beyond is very nice indeed. 

We choose a sunny spot for a quick picnic. Although there are no fences the area would seem to be private so we don't linger too long and are careful to leave no traces of our presence. Back down in Frigiliana we stop at the Mirador restaurant for a coffee on the terrace with another beautiful view. This turns out, at 5€ for two cafes con leche, to be the most expensive café con leche in Spain during our various travels! Never mind, we retreat to a free bench in the playground above the bus stop to rest a little and wait for the bus. Then, we decide out of curiosity to have a look at the start of the path to Nerja and I check Google maps to see how long the walk would be. At this point we realize that, oddly, the return distance is marked which makes the walk from Frigiliana to Nerja a very doable 7 kilometres. Just to be sure I check with an elderly English speaking couple who are heading in that direction at a sprightly pace. They explain we just have to follow the Higuerón River bed.

We set off in steep descent at a fine pace but then stop at the turn down the river bed to wait for our guides. They confirm it's the right way, so off we go. Basically the path follows the stream bed which is dry at this time of year. It's a spectacular route along the bottom of a steep sided canyon with the houses of the newer part of Frigiliana towering above us. Mostly we just follow the riverbed which is quite stony and I'm grateful I've got my hiking shoes on both for a surer grip underfoot and because my feet are well protected on the uneven ground. In some places there are paths either side of the river bed itself perhaps for when there's some water in it. Then, at one point, there are some enormous rocks and a steep drop, only fortunately some steps have been built on the left side (going down) which allow us to continue on down. When the canyon finishes the river bed opens out into a wider valley and the route is much easier. It takes us about an hour and forty minutes from Frigiliana to the outskirts of Nerja and the first part along the river bed gorge was really spectacular and very enjoyable. 

After a short rest we go to Playa Torrecilla for the sunset but there are low clouds on the horizon and we are soon home again and cooking sardines for supper.