# A weekend in Doñana and El Rocío, an hour from Seville One night in El Rocío: the official 4x4 through the park, flamingos on the marsh at dusk, dinner facing the hermitage and the La Rocina trails. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/andalusia/donana-and-el-rocio/itineraries/donana-el-rocio-marshes-weekend · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Dónde: Doñana and El Rocío Doñana can be seen in a day from Seville, but you miss the best of it: sunset over the marsh and the first hour, when the birds are closest and the heat doesn't bear down. With a night in El Rocío you get both. On Saturday you enter the national park in the official concessionaire's 4x4; on Sunday you walk the free trails of the surrounding area. ## Where to sleep? AccommodationFor whomWhat it has TdR Hotel Toruño del RocíoThose who want the marsh at the window30 rooms on Plaza del Acebuchal, restaurant every day Hotel La MalvasíaCouples, a special nightRocío-style houses facing the marsh, LaBoca restaurant Camping La AldeaFamilies, motorhomes, with a horseBungalows, marsh huts, pool and inn ## If you go with children or a dog With children, Camping La Aldea has a pool and bungalows, and the marsh with horses and flamingos hooks them at any age. The 4x4 is four hours without child seats: with little ones, do it only if they can cope. With a dog, Doñana doesn't work: no domestic animals enter the national park, in the 4x4 or the boat. ## El plan ### Saturday · 8:30 · 4x4 through the National Park From El Acebuche, about four hours along the beach, the dunes, the scrub and the marsh with the Cooperativa Marismas del Rocío. €35, €20 for ages 4 to 8. ### Saturday · 13:30 · Lunch in El Rocío At Toruño, with a big window onto the marsh, or at Aires de Doñana, with free-range beef. ### Saturday · 16:30 · The village and the hermitage The sand streets, the brotherhoods' porches and the white hermitage. ### Saturday · 18:00 · The marsh at dusk The walk facing the hermitage with binoculars: flamingos, ducks and marsh horses. ### Saturday · 21:00 · Dinner facing the lit-up hermitage On the terraces of LaBoca, La Malvasía's restaurant; its website doesn't publish the opening hours, so confirm when you book. ### Sunday · 9:30 · Charco de la Boca From the La Rocina centre, 3.8 flat kilometres beside the stream, with observation hides. ### Sunday · 12:00 · Palacio del Acebrón 7 km further along the H-9023: the small palace in the forest and the walk around its lagoon. ### Sunday · 14:00 · Lunch and the drive back Aires de Doñana is open on Sunday from 13:30 to 16:00. Then, an hour to Seville or Huelva. ## Un consejo más Choose the room with a view of the marsh: dawn from the window is half the trip. ## Cuándo no ir The dates of the pilgrimage, at Pentecost, and the big processions: the village fills up, prices rise and there are no park visits. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Seville to El Rocío? A little under an hour, about 65 km via the A-49 and the A-483. ### Can I enter Doñana independently? In the national park, no: only with the concessionaires. The La Rocina and El Acebrón trails and the El Rocío marsh, yes. ### Where to sleep in El Rocío? At Toruño del Rocío or La Malvasía, facing the marsh, or at Camping La Aldea. ### When is it best to go? From October to April, when the marsh has water and winter birds. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **TdR Hotel Toruño del Rocío**, 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**: 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**: 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.