Subbética Tourism

Turismo de la Subbética is the tourism service of the Mancomunidad de la Subbética, which groups the villages of the south of the province of Córdoba around the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park and Geopark. Its most useful tool for visitors is the Mapas Subbética website (mapas.turismodelasubbetica.es), with the walking and cycling routes of the whole district and the monument listings for each village. It is in Spanish, English, French, German and Dutch.

Walking

The walking guide gathers dozens of routes, each with its own listing: length, estimated time, difficulty, description and a link to its page with a map. There are routes in Rute, Iznájar, Almedinilla, Cabra, Lucena, Benamejí, Fuente-Tójar, Carcabuey, Zuheros and Priego de Córdoba, among others. From Priego and Zuheros, the best known are:

• The trail from Zuheros to the Cueva de los Murciélagos: 4.8 km, about 2 hours, moderate.
• The río Bailón trail: 12.2 km, about 5 hours, moderate.
• Pico Tiñosa, from the hamlet of Las Lagunillas: 5.5 km and about 5 hours, rated very difficult.
• The hermitage of San Miguel del Castellar, from Priego: 17 km, about 5 hours, difficult.

Some listings have incomplete or inconsistent data (no time or a clearly wrong distance), so always compare with the track before setting out.

Bike and Vía Verde del Aceite

The cycle-tourism section includes the Gran Ruta Subbeticana, a circuit in stages on foot and by bike around the Geopark, two mountain-bike routes (Subbética Norte, a loop from Lucena, and Subbética Sur) and the Vía Verde del Aceite. The Subbética stretch of this greenway runs from Luque station to Navas del Selpillar, 45.5 km one-way and very easy, between 442 and 641 metres above sea level, on asphalt and compacted earth. It passes through Luque, Doña Mencía, Zuheros, Cabra and Lucena, crosses 19th-century metal viaducts, such as those at Zuheros and La Sima, and the Plantío tunnel. Several restored stations have a restaurant or bike hire, and in Cabra is the Olive Oil Train Interpretation Centre. The listing lets you download the track as a GPX file.

Themed routes and contact

There are also themed routes, such as the Ruta de los Murales de la Subbética, with eight murals by the artist Kato and six ceramic works by Merche López scattered through the villages. The contact the website gives is the email [email protected]; it gives no telephone number or opening hours.

What to use in Priego

The association's website is good for planning routes and seeing the monuments at a glance, but for the day's opening hours ask at Priego's municipal tourist office. In the town, do not miss the Fuente del Rey, the Barrio de la Villa and the Balcón del Adarve, the castle and the parish church of the Asunción. For the Cueva de los Murciélagos, booking is made at the Ecomuseum.