
HORSEBACK TRANSHUMANCE IN SPAIN
TRUJILLO - SIERRA DE GREDOS
INDICATIVE ITINERARY *
Day 1: Meeting directly at the accommodation (the addres will be given with your booking confirmation) or free transfer from Madrid airport (meeting at 3 pm), 2 hours 1/2 drive transfer to Trujillo. Time to visit the spectacular town of Trujillo before a welcome dinner at the hotel with your guide who will talk about the ride and the region on a map.
Day 2: Trujillo - Herguijuela - Torrecillas de la Tiesa. Transfer from Trujillo town to Herguijuela (10 min) where the horses are waiting for their riders, distribution of horses. Riding through the “Cañada Real”. Lunch in the countryside with excellent paella cooked at the spot. In the afternoon, you will ride across flat terrain to Torrecillas de la Tiesa. Night and dinner in a very nice rural Inn. About 5 hours riding.
Day 3: Torrecillas de la Tiesa - Casas de Miravete. Departure after breakfast. This morning, you will ride in an open countryside trough dehesas (Mediterranean forests) and beautiful landscape. Nice trots and canters in the morning. Lunch in the countryside. In the afternoon, a short ride to Casas de Miravete: a small village in a spectacular enclave in the Monfrague National Park. Dinner at local bar with good local food and overnight at rural Inn. About 6 hours riding.
Day 4: Casas de Miravete - Navalmoral. A ride in the morning along the “Cañada Real”, with impressive views of Sierra the Gredos in front of you. Crossing the Albalat Bridge (16th century) over the Tagus River, one of the important public works built during the reign of His Catholic Majesty Charles I of Spain and V of Germany, with a great shield in relief of Emperor Charles with the double eagle. Picnic by the Tagus river reservoir water. The afternoon, you will ride to Navalmoral de la Mata. Dinner and night in a small hotel. About 7 hours riding.
Day 5: Navalmoral – Las Ventas de San Julian. Departure after breakfast. You will follow the Cañada Real in a flatter area with nice trots and canters. Here the Cañada has an unusual wide of 200m. Horses spend the night at Las Ventas de San Julian, transfer for dinner and night to a beautiful rural Inn in Calzada de Oropesa. About 6 hours riding.
Day 6: Las Ventas de San Julian - Navalcán. After breakfast, you will continue your ride following the Cañada Real. Here the landscape changes, you will ride along the reservoir water close to Navalcán with beautiful views of the Gredos Mountains. Dinner and night at a lovely rural Inn in Navalcán. About 6 hours riding.
Day 7: Navalcán - Mombeltrán. This day is a beautiful ride from Navalcán to Mombeltrán. This day, you will change the Cañada to take another Cañada to go to the Gredos Mountains. Beautiful views, Toledo province is left and you will cross to Avila province in Castilla y Leon. Dinner and night at hotel in Mombeltrán. 6 hours riding.
Day 8: Mombeltrán - Navarredonda de Gredos. After breakfast, you will start to climb the more than two thousand years old Roman road, very well preserved. It was used by the Roman armies and the transport of metals crossing the Sierra de Gredos through the abrupt mountain pass Puerto del Pico. Later in the medieval time, it used to be a cattle route. You will ride on this Roman road up the mountains with amazing views, and cross the picturesque mountain village: Cuevas del Valle. When you will reach the Puerto del Pico, at the end of the Roman road, the landscape will change with beautiful mountainous landscape. Lunch at local restaurant at Puerto del Pico. After lunch, you will ride in green mountain pastures with stone walls and the highest peaks of Gredos in front of you to finish this amazing horse riding day. About 6 hours riding.
Day 9: Breakfast and departure. Free transfer to Madrid leaving at 10 a.m., to be at Madrid Airport about 12.30 p.m.
* Indicative itinerary that may be changed if necessary. Reverse side, from The Sierra de Gredos to Trujillo for the the 26 February and 22 October departures:
HORSEBACK TRANSHUMANCE IN SPAIN
TRUJILLO - SIERRA DE GREDOS
INDICATIVE ITINERARY *
Day 1: Meeting directly at the accommodation (contact details will be sent to you with your booking confirmation) or free transfer from Madrid airport at 3 p.m, Transfer to Navarredonda de Gredos, 2 hours drive with a short break in the city of Avila and visit: an amazing fortified medieval town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Welcome dinner at the hotel in Navarredonda de Gredos, a mountain village at 1600 m altitude, with beautiful views of the highest peaks of the Sierra de Gredos, where your horseback adventure will start !
Day 2: Navarredonda de Gredos - Cuevas del Valle - Mombeltran. After breakfast, it's time to meet the horses. Departure of the ride through the Tormes valley and pine forests, and crops with breathtaking views of the mountains of Gredos. Lunch in Puerto del Pico, with great views of the south side of Gredos. After a pleasant lunch, you descend for about 1 hour following the Roman road dating back more than two thousand years, very well preserved. You cross Cuevas del Valle: a picturesque mountain village, to reach Mombeltrán, a beautiful village with a 12th century castle. Night and dinner in a charming rural hotel in the center of the village, next to the medieval castle.
Day 3: Mombeltran-Navalcan. You ride on the Cañada Real, at the foot of the mountains with breathtaking views of the Sierra de Gredos. You cross the Tietar River after the picnic by the river. You leave the province of Ávila, and enter the province of Toledo. Night and dinner in a charming rural inn in Navalcán.
Day 4: Navalcan - Las Ventas de San Julian. Here the Cañada is very well preserved and the landscape changes as you ride along a water reservoir with spectacular views of the Gredos mountains. You cross cork oak forests (Dehesa) with beautiful gallops throughout the day. Lunch next to a medieval church in the village of La Corchuela. In the afternoon, you leave on horseback riding to Ventas de San Julián. Dinner and night at the Parador de Oropesa, a luxury hotel in a medieval castle !
Day 5: Las Ventas de San Julian - Navalmoral de la Mata. Departure on horseback after breakfast, following the Cañada Real in a flatter and more open area, with the chance of beautiful canters: an intense day surrounded by nature, far from civilization. Today you cross the province of Cáceres in Extremadura. Dinner and night at the Rural Hotel in Navalmoral de la Mata.
Day 6: Navalmoral de la Mata - Casas de Miravete. Today, you continue your horseback ride along the Cañada Real, joining the Tajo River, and crossing it over the impressive medieval Albalat Bridge. Picnic by the Tagus River. In the afternoon, you enjoy a nice ride along the Tajo towards Casas de Miravete. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 7: Casas de Miravete - Jaraicejo. After breakfast, departure on horseback crossing the Puerto de Miravete towards the Venta del Colorao with a magnificent view of the Dehesa Extremeña and its open countryside. After lunch, you leave for a short trail ride to Jaraicejo. Night and dinner in a charming rural Inn.
Day 8: Jaraicejo-Trujillo. Departure after breakfast: riding in the countryside with breathtaking views of the city of Trujillo: historic city with a mixture of cultures with the Roman remains of the city of Turgallium, which is now Trujillo. At the top of the town, is a spectacular castle founded in the 10th century by the Arabs. On the main square, many beautiful palaces built by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th century. After lunch, you leave to reach Trujillo. Good canters this last day, to end your incredible experience on horseback ! It's time to visit the charming town of Trujillo in the afternoon, before the farewell dinner in Trujillo.
Day 9: Breakfast and departure. Free transfer to Madrid: departure at 10 a.m., to be at Madrid airport around 12:30 p.m.
* Indicative itinerary that can be modified if necessary.