Caminito del Rey derived from the original name Camino del Rey (The King’s Pathway). Sounds pretty much like the Camino which connects to Santiago de Compostela.
Basically, Caminito del Rey is a narrow walkway pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, in the province of Malaga, Spain. The area is known to locals as El Caminito.
Super Tour guides
We purchased our excursion with Pareja Oriental Costa S.L. online through GetYourGuide.com. They have multiple pick-up points in Nerja, Torrox del Mar and Malaga. We are most fortunate to have our pick-up right in front of our hotel.
I’ve got to tip my hat (and maybe a few more) to our guide Louis! Honestly, if I had to keep up with his chatter, I’d end up tongue-tied in a flash. This guy is a language wizard! He’s like a linguistic octopus, juggling English, Spanish, German, and Dutch all at once. During our bus ride to pick up the rest of the guests, I found myself chuckling, wondering if he’d whip out a different language every time he took a breath. One moment he’s rattling off in English, and before you know it, he’s flipping to Dutch like it’s a light switch, then bam—German! It’s like a game show—“Guess That Language!” Seriously, it’s a circus of words, and Louis is the ringmaster!
Ardales
Our first stop, the small town of Ardales in the province of Malaga. This is our first break after picking up all participants of the tour. Ardales is a peaceful and developing town where the folks are pretty laidback and enjoying the country-side.
Errm… think of this as the ultimate bathroom break stop, because let’s be real, the Caminito del Rey reserve is like a desert when it comes to restrooms! The locals are pretty awesome, having struck a deal with most of the tours to let tourists use their facilities without forcing you to buy a fancy smoothie or a sad sandwich. So, go ahead and take care of business—no food purchases required!
Tip: Be here early when the shops just open their doors for business. The pastry and bread are freshly baked and delivered. The business owners are extremely proud of their breads. We purchased 3 packets of chocolate-coated buns with a generous spread of custard inside, costing Euro 1.50 each. This is the cheapest you can find as food is only available after the Caminito del Rey hike at quite a price.
Caminito del Rey Reserve
Those who hate walking, here is the bad news.
All Caminito del Rey tours will drop off participants a distance from the Visitor Reception Center. It is approximately 1.5km of warm-up through the Túnel de Acceso a Caminito del Rey and Visitor Reception Center. I would strongly suggest getting good and comfortable walking shoes as the entire walk is approximately 4.7km. Best to treat this as a relaxing nature walk to survive 
The rangers will hand us each a hair netting and a helmet before the rangers brief us on the mandatory requirements –
- keep helmet on at all times
- keep all water bottles tightly fastened in the bags
- when looking downhill and spot an orange pole below, walk away from the area quickly – the orange pole is an indication where the area is prone to landslides
- keeping within the group.
“Pictures can tell a thousand words“. To best tell about our travel to Caminito del Rey is through these photos…
I have to say that Louis, Esmeralda and the bus driver made a perfect troop. Esmeralda speaks very good English and is always cheerful yet attentive. The bus driver possesses marvelous driving skills as he navigates the bus up the steep roads with so much confidence.
Tip: It is advised that individuals who are not familiar with the area refrain from visiting the Caminito del Rey alone, as no vehicles are permitted to enter the Reserve, even in emergency situations.