# Doñana and El Rocío

The village of El Rocío facing the marshes, free trails at La Rocina and El Acebrón, and the national park by 4x4 or boat with the two official operators.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/andalusia/donana-and-el-rocio · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Doñana is the great wetland of southern Europe: marshes, shifting dunes, pine woods and thirty kilometres of unspoilt beach between Matalascañas and the mouth of the Guadalquivir. El Rocío is the village that looks out over it, with sandy streets, brotherhood houses and the white hermitage at the water's edge. For a traveller, what matters is knowing what you can see on your own and what only with the authorised companies.

## How do you visit Doñana National Park?

There are two Doñanas. The surroundings, which include the marsh in front of El Rocío and the visitor centres with their trails, can be explored freely and for free. The heart of the national park is closed to traffic: you can only enter with one of the two official operators.

Doñana Visitas (Cooperativa Andaluza Marismas del Rocío), by off-road vehicle from the El Acebuche visitor centre, on the Huelva side. The tour lasts about four hours across the beach, the dunes, the scrub and the marsh, and costs €35 (€20 for ages 4 to 8).

Visitas Doñana (Real Fernando boat), by boat along the Guadalquivir from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Cádiz side, for €30, with a stop at the Poblado de la Plancha.

Be wary of other offers promising to "enter the national park": on your own you see the surroundings, which are extensive and very good, but the interior only with these two.

## How do you get there from Seville or Huelva?

From Seville, about 65 km and a little under an hour along the A-49 towards Huelva, exit for Bollullos and Almonte and then the A-483 to El Rocío. From Huelva, just under an hour, along the A-49 towards Seville to Bollullos or along the coast, via Mazagón and Matalascañas. From Cádiz it is about two hours via Seville; for people coming from Cádiz or Jerez, the Sanlúcar boat, on the other bank, is more practical. There is no bridge or direct road between El Rocío and Sanlúcar.

## Where do you park?

In El Rocío, on the streets at the entrance or next to the marsh, and then on foot: the streets are sand and it is not worth taking the car in. The La Rocina, El Acebrón and El Acebuche visitor centres have their own car parks. You can only reach them in your own vehicle.

## How much time do you need?

One day covers the village and the marsh first thing, the 4x4 from El Acebuche (from 8:30 until midday) and, in the afternoon, one of the trails at La Rocina or El Acebrón. With a night you see the sunset over the marsh, with the hermitage lit up, and have another morning for the second trail or the beach. If you are going with small children, stay in the surroundings: the 4x4 takes almost four hours.

## When should you go?

From October to April. With the autumn rains the marsh fills with water and the winter birds arrive; in spring there are flowers and chicks. In summer the marsh dries out, it is very hot and, depending on the operator, there are days with no Sunday departures. Beware of the El Rocío pilgrimage, at Pentecost, and the large pilgrimages: the village fills up, accommodation prices rise and there are no visits to the park.

## Can you take a dog?

To the surroundings, yes, on a lead: the streets of El Rocío and the marsh promenade. To the national park, no: the law does not allow domestic animals and the two operators do not accept them. Ask at your accommodation, because few take them.

## Where should you eat?

For Sunday lunch, Aires de Doñana, facing the marsh, with free-range beef. The Toruño del Rocío Restaurant, on the Plaza del Acebuchal, is open every day at lunchtime and in the evening. For a special meal, LaBoca, the restaurant at the Hotel La Malvasía.

## Dónde está
- Zonas: Horse riding routes in Spain
- Cerca: Sanlúcar de Barrameda (a 41.2 km), Carmona (a 83.3 km), Sierra de Aracena (a 84.8 km), Tavira (a 103.6 km · Portugal)

## Qué hacer
- **4x4 Tour of the National Park from El Acebuche** (3 h 45 · All ages; not recommended with back or neck injuries or during pregnancy · €35 adults · €20 ages 4 to 8 · free up to 3): The off-road tour from El Acebuche is the way into the heart of Doñana National Park without a permit of your own: a guided three-and-a-half to four-hour trip that crosses the beach, dunes, woodland, the vera and the marsh in a single itinerary, as far as the mouth of the Guadalquivir. It is run by Doñana Visitas, the Marismas del Rocío cooperative, which presents itself as the only company authorised to travel through all the park's ecosystems, beaches and dunes included.
From El Acebuche to the river mouth
Departure is from the El Acebuche Visitor Centre, on the El Rocío to Matalascañas road (A-483, km 37.5). The vehicles are enclosed, most with 21 seats, though there are 6- and 30-seaters, and they leave even in rain. The route goes down to Doñana beach, an unspoilt coast of about 28 km that you drive along on the sand, climbs between the dunes and the corrales, crosses the reserve and the vera — the strip where the sand meets the marsh — and looks out over the marsh, which covers more than 30,000 hectares, almost half the park.
There are two stops, one in the dunes and another at the La Plancha settlement; you get out for a short walk around the vehicle. No further walking is required. The guides explain the landscape throughout the journey; you almost always see animals, but the company warns that it can't guarantee how many.
Times, days and price
There is a departure at 8:30 all year and a second one in the afternoon: at 15:00 from 15 September to 30 April and at 17:00 from 1 May to 14 September. According to the company, morning and afternoon have the same route and the same chances of seeing wildlife. There are no departures on 25 December, 1 January, Mondays from October to February, Sundays from June to September or during the El Rocío pilgrimage. The tour is in Spanish or English.
It costs €35 per adult and €20 for ages 4 to 8. Book in advance on its website or on 959 430 432, and pay at the El Acebuche desk, in cash or by card, or at the time if you book online.
Before getting into the off-roader
When you arrive, park and go into the building, about a hundred metres away; cross the first counter to the courtyard and, on the left, is the tours desk, where you are assigned a vehicle. The terrain is uneven and the company advises against the tour for pregnant women and people with neck or back injuries; the cars have no child seats. Bring water, a cap, insect repellent and comfortable clothes: there is nowhere to buy anything inside the park. There is no public transport to El Acebuche.
The centre has a café, exhibitions and about five kilometres of free trails to round off the day; more details on the El Acebuche Visitor Centre page. The tour is the central part of the 4x4 Sunday from El Acebuche, which continues with lunch in El Rocío; there, Toruño is open every day.
- **The Hermitage and Sand Streets of El Rocío** (1 h · Everyone · Free): El Rocío is a village in Almonte without tarmac: sand streets, brotherhood houses with porches and rails for tying up horses and, at the edge of the marsh, the white hermitage of the Virgen del Rocío. Outside the pilgrimage, which fills the village at Pentecost, it is a quiet village where more horses than cars pass by. In 1992 it was declared the International Village of the Horse.
The hermitage
The first hermitage, Santa María de las Rocinas, already existed in the early 14th century and was probably ordered by Alfonso X at the end of the 13th. It lasted until the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. The one built afterwards was demolished in the 1960s to build the present sanctuary, which was blessed on 12 April 1969. While the work lasted, the Virgin was venerated in a temporary chapel. The new camarín was inaugurated in 1999 and the altarpiece was finished in 2006.
In the sanctuary's galleries is the Treasury Museum of the Hermandad Matriz, open since 2014. It displays a tile panel from 1696, the only piece left of the original building, the Crown of the Sun, from the 17th century, the crown of the 1919 canonical coronation, ex-votos, costumes and a processional float from 1933, and ends with a projection in a room with views over Doñana. It is open Wednesday to Sunday and public holidays; for opening hours, the brotherhood can be reached on 620 42 84 25.
How to see it
Park at the entrance and walk. Go into the hermitage, come out on the marsh side and continue along the walk by the water. From the hermitage a wooden boardwalk leads in a few minutes to the Francisco Bernis Ornithological Centre. On a Sunday morning you will see riders and carts. Also go to the Plaza del Acebuchal, a natural monument for its centuries-old wild olive trees.
On pilgrimage days, which culminate in the Virgin's procession on Pentecost Monday and bring together more than a million people, and on the big pilgrimages, everything changes: check the Almonte calendar before you go.
Getting there
From the A-49, take the A-483 towards Bollullos del Condado, Almonte and El Rocío. Inside the village, the road running alongside the marsh leads to the hermitage. The sanctuary is adapted for people with hearing impairments.
Where to eat and sleep
On the Plaza del Acebuchal, next to the hermitage, are Toruño, with a dining room facing the marsh, and its hotel. On Calle Sanlúcar, LaBoca and La Malvasía also look out over the water.
- **Boat Trip on the Guadalquivir from Sanlúcar de Barrameda** (2 h 40 · All ages · €30 adults · €25 over-65s and students · €20 ages 5 to 12): The other gateway to Doñana is on the opposite bank, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The Real Fernando boat, or the Los Cristóbal, sails up the Guadalquivir with the national park on one side and the Bonanza salt pans on the other, and lands for an hour at the Poblado de la Plancha, a group of huts of the former inhabitants of the reserve, for a short guided walk through the pine wood. Allow about two and a half hours.
What you will see
The boat leaves from Bajo de Guía beach and heads about 6 km up the river. It lands at the Poblado de la Plancha, a former settlement of huts inside the National Park, already in the province of Huelva. There you walk a linear trail of one kilometre each way, on a wooden boardwalk and sand, which passes through the pine wood, the huts and the Velázquez flats. The guides explain the mammals, birds and plants you meet along the way.
The return is again by water, with explanations of the marsh, the Natural Park and the Bonanza salt pans. In all it takes two and a half hours or three quarters, depending on the tides and currents, with an hour's stop in the park.
Times and prices
There is a departure at 10:00 all year. In the afternoon, at 16:00 from 1 March to 30 April and from 15 September to 30 October, and at 17:00 from 1 May to 14 September. From 1 November to 28 February it only sails in the morning. It costs €30 for adults, €25 for over-65s, students and people with disabilities, and €20 for ages 5 to 12.
Always by advance reservation and subject to a minimum number of people. There are no departures on 24, 25 and 31 December, 1, 5 and 6 January, Sundays in July and August, during the El Rocío pilgrimage or during Sanlúcar's Feria de la Manzanilla; in January it is worth checking the closure. The meeting point is the Fábrica de Hielo visitor centre, in Sanlúcar, 30 minutes before departure. Suitcases, large bags and parasols are not allowed.
From El Rocío
They are two banks of the same park, but between El Rocío and Sanlúcar there is no bridge or direct road: via Seville it is more than two hours. This boat is the plan if you come from Cádiz, Jerez or Seville along the A-4, or if you are sleeping in Sanlúcar. From the Huelva bank, the alternative way into the park is the 4x4 tour from El Acebuche.
- **The Marsh Walk, Birds in Front of the Village** (50 min · Everyone; flat · Free): El Rocío's marsh begins at the foot of the village, in front of the hermitage. When there is water, from autumn to spring, flamingos and ducks pass a few metres from the walk, and the horses and semi-wild cattle graze. It is the simplest way to see birds in Doñana without entering the park, and the Paseo Marismeño, opposite the hermitage, is one of the places the Almonte tourist board itself highlights in the village.
What you will see
The walk skirts the marsh on the village side, flat and impossible to get lost on, with the white hermitage behind you. The marsh is part of a mosaic of landscapes that, because of its size and location, is a very important wintering ground for migratory birds. With good water you will see flamingos, ducks and herons; with binoculars, much more.
At the end of the walk, following the wooden boardwalk that leaves from the hermitage, a few minutes on foot, is the Francisco Bernis Ornithological Centre, at 48 Calle Sanlúcar. It is the headquarters of SEO/BirdLife in Doñana. From its terraces you can see spoonbills, flamingos, glossy ibises and herons, and often the Spanish imperial eagle; the centre lends telescopes and binoculars, and its staff report the latest sightings and the best routes. Throughout the year it organises courses, workshops, bird-ringing and volunteer days open to the public.
When to go
First thing or at sunset, with binoculars. In summer the marsh dries out and there are fewer birds. At dusk the illuminated hermitage is reflected in the water. On pilgrimage days, at Pentecost, the village fills with more than a million people and the walk changes completely: if you want birds and calm, avoid those dates and the big pilgrimages.
With children and with a dog
It is a flat, short walk, good with a pushchair and with small children. With a dog, on a lead and along the walk; don't go down onto the marsh.
What to combine it with
Start or end at the El Rocío hermitage and its sand streets. To keep seeing birds in a different landscape, the Charco de la Boca trail, at La Rocina, is a few minutes away by car. For lunch facing the marsh, Aires de Doñana has views over the water.
- **Charco de la Boca Trail, at La Rocina** (1 h 50 · 3.8 km · Everyone; flat · Free): An easy trail that starts from the front yard of the La Rocina visitor centre, about 2 km from El Rocío, and follows the Rocina stream through pine wood and wooden boardwalks. It has two hides over the stream, where you can see herons and ducks. It is 3.8 km and a little under two hours, with no climbs.
What you will see
La Rocina is the main source of water reaching the marsh, and the trail covers its final stretch. It starts through a stone-pine wood, a tree documented in the area since the 18th century and today one of Doñana's most characteristic landscapes. The first hide looks out over the stream where the channel widens: when it is flooded, it fills with birds.
Then a boardwalk crosses the Algaida del Carrizal, among willows and reeds, and the pine wood continues to the second hide. Past the Algaida del Meloncillo there are fern beds and big cork oaks beside the water. There the trail splits: one boardwalk leads to the monte blanco, of rockrose, rosemary and lavender, and the other branch returns through the pine wood among honeysuckle, sarsaparilla and brambles.
The birds
It is a breeding area for the purple swamphen, the little bittern and the marbled teal, and you often see glossy ibises, little egrets, grey herons and purple herons. The visitor centre explains the stream's fauna, where waterbirds and migrants such as the greylag goose or the squacco heron abound, and shows traditional huts of the rocieros.
Opening hours and access
The trail is open every day from 9:00 until dusk, except Christmas holidays and the days of the pilgrimage. It is free. The La Rocina centre has its own hours: from November to January, 9:00 to 15:00 and 16:00 to 18:00; from February to October, until 19:00 in the afternoon, and on Sundays from 15 June to 15 September mornings only. It is closed on 1, 5 and 6 January, 24, 25 and 31 December and during the pilgrimage. It is adapted for people with reduced mobility and hearing or visual impairments.
On the A-483 towards Matalascañas, take the turning for La Rocina and El Acebrón. As soon as you leave the road, next to the car park, are the centre and the start of the trail.
With children and what to combine it with
It is flat with boardwalks, good with children; bring water. From here, continue 7 km along the same road to the Palacio del Acebrón, or go back to the village to see the marsh in front of the hermitage. You will find more information about the centre on its page.
- **Acebrón Palace and the Lagoon Trail** (1 h 30 · 1.8 km · Everyone · Free): A white palace in the middle of the forest, about 7 km from the La Rocina centre along the H-9023 road, which is now a National Park visitor centre. At the foot of the palace, the Rocina stream pools into a small lagoon that locals call the Charco, and from there starts the Charco del Acebrón trail, of about 1.5 to 2 km depending on the source: it is the shadiest part of the Doñana area and a good walk for a hot afternoon.
The palace
It was built in 1961 by Luis Espinosa Fontdevilla as a private residence. Today it houses the exhibition Doñana and Man, on the life of local people and their environment: what the huts made from local plants were like, the organisation of the family, the hard life in the marshes and traditional trades, such as hunting, fishing and livestock farming. It also covers present-day uses such as strawberry growing, tourism and hospitality, and traditions such as the Saca de las Yeguas and the El Rocío pilgrimage. It is adapted for people with reduced mobility and hearing impairments.
The trail
It is a pedestrian trail without difficulty through a very well-preserved gallery forest. It starts among large ash trees beside the water and continues along a boardwalk over the willow grove, with willows, which they call zaos here, and sanguinos, a species endemic to western Andalusia, wrapped in honeysuckle and wild vine. Then it crosses a stone-pine wood where there were once eucalyptus, now recovered with native vegetation, returns to the riverside forest by a second boardwalk with ferns such as the royal fern, and ends among cork oaks, peat bogs and white poplars.
In spring and summer, after the flowering from December to April, the leaves close the canopy and the forest becomes cool and shady: that is why it is so pleasant in the heat.
Opening hours
The centre and the trail are open from November to January from 9:00 to 15:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00; from February to October, from 9:00 to 15:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00. On Sundays from 15 June to 15 September, only from 9:00 to 15:00. They are closed on 1, 5 and 6 January, 24, 25 and 31 December and during the pilgrimage. Admission is free.
Getting there
By car only: from the A-483, take the turning for La Rocina and El Acebrón, pass the La Rocina centre and continue seven kilometres along the H-9023 to the palace car park. The trail starts beside the building.
Combine it on the same outing with the Charco de la Boca trail, at La Rocina, and return to the village to see the hermitage at sunset. With children it is a short, flat, shaded walk.
- **Horse Ride through the Fossil Dunes of Matalascañas** (1 h · Beginners aged 12 to 65; ages 6 to 11 with a year of lessons · Desde 30 € per person): Doñana Hípica El Pasodoble leaves from the Parque Dunar in Matalascañas and rides through the fossil dunes of the Doñana coast, with the sea and the national park in view. It is the company's most visited route and is designed for people riding a horse for the first time: the horses are trained for it, are calm and know the way.
What routes there are
There are three formats. The Dunar lasts one hour and costs €30. The Relax lasts an hour and a half and costs €35. The Clásica lasts two hours and costs €40; in July and August the sunset departure goes up to €45. Departures are at 10:00, at 12:00 and, for the sunset one, at 18:00. There is also a private two-hour departure with an aperitif facing the Atlantic (€120 per person from two people, €150 if just one) and beach rides that the company reserves for experienced riders.
Who can go
No experience is needed between the ages of 12 and 65, but you do need to be fit enough to keep your balance and follow instructions. Children aged 6 to 11 need at least a year of riding lessons. If you have any physical or medical limitation, check before booking: the company will assess it with you.
When to go and how to book
It runs all year, except for the week of the Rocío pilgrimage. In winter they give a glass of local sweet wine on each ride. Book online, by phone (959 448 241) or by WhatsApp. If you cancel more than 24 hours ahead, you get 70% back on the Clásica, private and private beach rides; with less notice, there is no refund. If they cancel because of bad weather, they give you a voucher valid for a year.
What to bring
Long trousers, closed shoes, a cap or hat for the sun and water. For the sunset departure, something warm.
Combine with
Afterwards, the El Rocío hermitage and its marshland, or the 4x4 tour from El Acebuche if you prefer to see the interior of the park.

## Dónde comer
- **Aires de Doñana** (Restaurant, El Rocío, €€€). Qué pedir: ortiguillas from La Rocina to start, the ragout or the rangers'-house-style mostrenca, and the Doñana dessert
- **Toruño del Rocío Restaurant** (Restaurant, El Rocío, €€). Qué pedir: the creamy mostrenca rice, the mostrenca cannelloni or the Punta Umbría squid, and poleá with Doñana honey for dessert
- **LaBoca Restaurant (Hotel La Malvasía)** (Restaurant, El Rocío, €€€). Qué pedir: something seasonal from the traditional cooking menu and a Condado de Huelva wine.

## By car: By Car, and the Park with the Licensed Operator
You get to El Rocío by car from Seville or Huelva in under an hour, and you need the car to move between the village, La Rocina, El Acebrón and El Acebuche, which are on the same road but several kilometres apart. You can't enter the national park in your own car: you park at El Acebuche and continue in the operator's 4x4.
Presupuesto orientativo: 70–140 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **TdR Hotel Toruño del Rocío** (Hotel, desde 63 € / night): Toruño del Rocío is a thirty-room hotel at 22 Plaza del Acebuchal, in the centre of the village of El Rocío, next to the thousand-year-old wild olive tree that the village calls "El Abuelo" (the Grandfather) and a step from the hermitage. The south-facing rooms look onto the Doñana marsh; the north-facing ones onto the square. The hotel itself describes itself as something between a rural stay and a hotel with soul, in a simple marsh style.
Marsh, square or courtyard: three prices
There are three room types, all with private bathroom. Those with marsh views have one or two beds, with an outside window or balcony, from €81 a night. The exterior twins, facing the marsh or the Plaza del Acebuchal, start from €72. The interior ones, with a window onto the Andalusian courtyard, cost from €63, and among them there is a single for solo travellers and an adapted option; ask about availability of the adapted bathroom. If you book on its website the hotel guarantees the best price and, subject to availability, early check-in or late check-out.
Marsh breakfast and eating house
Breakfast is served in the Blanca Paloma lounge, on the ground floor, from 7:00 to 10:30, with extra virgin olive oil, artisan sweets, and cured meats and charcuterie from the area. In the same house is the Toruño restaurant, open every day, with mostrenca and Huelva prawn rice dishes, and its terrace on the square.
Rules and times
Check-in is from 15:00 to 23:00 and check-out before 12:00. In summer you can extend check-out for a charge: 30% of the last night's price until 14:00, 50% until 16:00 and 100% until 20:00. Reception is staffed 24 hours. Smoking is not allowed in the hotel, nor are e-cigarettes, and outside food or drink may not be brought into the common areas. The building has a lift. The website doesn't say whether pets are allowed: ask beforehand.
Parking and getting around the village
The hotel has no garage, but you can park free around it, on the village's sand streets or in the Plaza del Acebuchal itself. From the door you walk to the El Rocío hermitage and the Paseo Marismeño. Matalascañas and its beach are a few minutes by car, and on the way is El Acebuche, where the 4x4 tour of Doñana departs.
- **Hotel La Malvasía** (Small hotel): La Malvasía is two rocío houses turned into a four-star hotel, La Malvasía I and La Malvasía II, on Calle Sanlúcar in El Rocío, the street that runs beside the marsh. From here you can see the Charco de la Boca and the hermitage is a few metres away. The houses mix the rustic side of the village's architecture — wooden beams, tiled floors, courtyards — with careful interior design by the decorator Alejandra Pombo. The hotel belongs to the Kaizen Hoteles group.
Seven types of room
The website distinguishes standard, superior and deluxe rooms, junior suite, deluxe junior suite and deluxe viewpoint junior suite. Some are in La Malvasía I and look onto the inner courtyards; others face the outside, and the hotel warns that the decoration, layout and views vary from one to another, so if you want to see the marsh from your bed, ask for it when you book. All have a high-quality mattress and bed linen, a rain shower, double-glazed windows, air conditioning and heating, TV, free wifi, bathrobe and slippers, and paraben-free toiletries. The hotel recycles water in a closed circuit and prides itself on its sustainable management. Prices can be checked in its booking search.
LaBoca and the terraces over the marsh
In La Malvasía I is the LaBoca restaurant, open also to non-guests, with updated traditional cooking, Condado de Huelva wines and terraces facing the marsh. For the evening, the bar has a list of spirits. The houses also host celebrations and events.
Doñana from the door
The hotel organises experiences in the surroundings: outings in the national park to see birds and scenery, and one that recreates a day on the pilgrim road, with horse-drawn carriages, live music, food and drink along the sand tracks of the reserve, on any date of the year. Matalascañas is about 19 km away.
On foot from the door you have the Charco de la Boca, the Paseo Marismeño and the El Rocío hermitage. To reach the heart of the park, the 4x4 tour from El Acebuche departs a few minutes away by car, along the Matalascañas road.
What it is worth asking
Check-in and check-out times, pets and parking are the three things worth asking about beforehand. Call 959 44 27 13 or write to reservas@hotellamalvasia.com before arriving, especially on pilgrimage or brotherhood dates, when the village changes completely.
- **La Aldea Campsite** (Campsite): La Aldea Campsite is at kilometre 25 of the El Rocío road, at the entrance to the village, at the gates of Doñana National Park. It is a large, full-service campsite: pitches, bungalows and mobile homes, huts imitating the marsh ones, a pool, a supermarket, a restaurant with a function room for celebrations and, something the other places to stay in the area don't have, stables so guests can keep their horses.
Marsh huts and mobile homes
Besides pitches, the campsite rents several types of accommodation: the Euro 2 and Euro 2 Suite, the Euro 4, the Mobil 2, Mobil 4 and Mobil 5 mobile homes, a youth accommodation, the marsh hut (choza marismeña) and the marsh suite hut, and equipped Kampaoh tents. The marsh hut is for five people: two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with a bed and bunk, a living room, a bathroom with hot shower, air conditioning, a kitchen with utensils and fridge, bed linen and towels.
In season, check-in at the accommodation is from 16:00 and check-out before 10:00. In July and August you can only book Saturday to Saturday; from April to June and in September you can arrive on any day, depending on availability. Prices are calculated in the booking search on its website: the rates page wasn't available when we checked.
Pool, mesón and horses
The pool is surrounded by green space, and there is a pétanque court, a sports court, a children's playground and a supermarket. The toilet blocks have hot showers, washing machine and dryer. Mesón La Aldea, the campsite's restaurant, cooks with Doñana produce and fish from the coast, and has a room for 350 people used for weddings and celebrations.
The stables and boxes — of poles, wood or brick — are booked by phone. The campsite also organises horse rides.
Doñana and the village close at hand
From here you reach the El Rocío hermitage and the Paseo Marismeño in a few minutes. The El Acebuche Visitor Centre, where the 4x4 tour of Doñana departs, is on the same road, towards Matalascañas. For eating in the village, Toruño is open every day.
A phone that is often engaged
The campsite warns that its phone, 959 442 677, is often engaged because of the volume of calls, and asks you to use the quote form on its website or write to info@campinglaaldea.com. The website doesn't detail the dog policy: ask beforehand. On pilgrimage dates, the village and the campsite change pace; confirm which services are running.

## As a family: Horses in the Street, Flamingos and a 4x4 Through the Dunes

For going with children, El Rocío works on its own: sand streets with horses, the marsh with flamingos in front and flat, short trails. The 4x4 through the park is long, almost four hours, but with beach, dunes and stops.

### What works best
The marsh walk, with flamingos and horses a few metres away

Charco de la Boca trail, flat and with boardwalks, at La Rocina

Palacio del Acebrón and its walk through the forest

4x4 tour from El Acebuche: €20 for ages 4 to 8

### Where to sleep
La Aldea Campsite, with a pool, bungalows and marsh huts

Toruño del Rocío, on the square, with a restaurant every day

### Where to eat
Toruño del Rocío, with a terrace all day

Aires de Doñana, for a lunch facing the marsh

### Bear in mind
The 4x4s have no child seats

Mosquito repellent in spring and autumn

In the village's sand the pushchair gets stuck: better a baby carrier

### Qué hacer as a family
- 4x4 Tour of the National Park from El Acebuche
- The Hermitage and Sand Streets of El Rocío
- Boat Trip on the Guadalquivir from Sanlúcar de Barrameda
- The Marsh Walk, Birds in Front of the Village
- Charco de la Boca Trail, at La Rocina
- Acebrón Palace and the Lagoon Trail
- Horse Ride through the Fossil Dunes of Matalascañas

## With young children: Flat Walks and Animals in Sight

With small children, stay on the edge of the park: the marsh in front of the village, the La Rocina boardwalks and the Acebrón forest. Everything is flat, short and with animals in sight. Leave the four-hour 4x4 for when they are older, or do it in the morning and with water.

### What works best
The marsh walk, first thing or at sunset

The hermitage and sand streets, with horses and carts

The Charco de la Boca, as far as the first hide and back

Palacio del Acebrón, a short walk under the trees

### Where to sleep
La Aldea Campsite, with a pool and bungalows

### Where to eat
Toruño del Rocío, with a terrace so they can move around

### Bear in mind
Up to age 3, the 4x4 is free, but there are no child seats

Cap and water: there is no shade on the marsh

### Qué hacer with young children
- The Hermitage and Sand Streets of El Rocío
- The Marsh Walk, Birds in Front of the Village
- Charco de la Boca Trail, at La Rocina
- Acebrón Palace and the Lagoon Trail

## Consejos

### Book the 4x4 a few days ahead
Places are limited and they sell out on long weekends.

### Go to the marsh first thing
It is when there are most birds and the heat is lowest.

### Bring repellent and binoculars
Mosquitoes appear in spring and autumn.

### Check the pilgrimage calendar
During the pilgrimage and large gatherings, the village is a different place.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Can you enter Doñana on your own?
Not the national park: only with Doñana Visitas from El Acebuche or with the Real Fernando boat from Sanlúcar. The La Rocina, El Acebrón and El Acebuche trails and the El Rocío marsh are free to visit.

### How much does it cost to visit Doñana?
The 4x4 tour costs €35 (€20 for ages 4 to 8) and the boat from Sanlúcar €30. The trails at the visitor centres are free.

### How long does it take from Seville to El Rocío?
A little under an hour by car, about 65 km along the A-49 and the A-483.

### What is there to see in El Rocío in a day?
The hermitage and the marsh in the morning, the 4x4 into the park or the Charco de la Boca trail, and the sunset over the marsh.

### Do you see flamingos?
Yes, especially from autumn to spring, when the marsh has water, sometimes just a few metres from the promenade.

### Are there park visits on Sundays?
Yes, most of the year. Doñana Visitas does not run on Sundays from June to September or on Mondays from October to February.