# An autumn weekend in the Sierra de Aracena: chestnut groves, acorn-fed pigs and ham

Two nights in Aracena to walk among yellow chestnut trees and free-ranging pigs, enter the cave and taste ham at a Jabugo curing house. An hour and a quarter from Seville.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/andalusia/sierra-de-aracena/itineraries/sierra-de-aracena-autumn-chestnuts-ham · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Dónde: Sierra de Aracena

In autumn the Sierra de Aracena has two harvests in view: the chestnut, in the groves that turn yellow from late October to November, and the acorn, which Iberian pigs eat freely on the dehesa during the montanera. It is the best time of year to walk it: it is cool, the cobbled paths between stone walls pass through gardens and chestnut trees, and the ham is tasted where it is cured. Aracena, with its cave and castle, is the base.

## Where to sleep

AccommodationWhereFor whom

Hotel Convento Aracena & SpaFormer convent in the centre, four starsCouples: spa and everything on foot

Finca ValbonoEstate 1 km from Aracena, among holm oaks and chestnut treesFamilies: apartments, riding ring and restaurant

## If you walk more

Swap Sunday's museum for a linear route among chestnut groves: from Linares de la Sierra to Alájar by the Caracol, 4.4 easy kilometres under the Peña de Arias Montano, or from Aracena to Linares, 4.6 km between gardens and dehesa. Arrange the return to the car beforehand.

## The montanera, from the path

From October to February the Iberian pig grazes loose on the dehesa. You will see it at the estate gates: don't go in, don't feed it and leave the gates as you find them. The chestnuts on the ground belong to the grove's owners.

## El plan

### Friday · 19:00 · Arrival in Aracena
A stroll round Plaza Alta and the centre, and dinner in the town.

### Saturday · 9:30 · Loop round the Cerro del Castaño
Twenty minutes by car to Castaño del Robledo. The Natural Park's waymarked route: a 5.5 km circuit, two hours, among chestnut groves, gall oaks and pigs in montanera. It starts on Calle Arias Montano.

### Saturday · 14:00 · Lunch at Jesús Carrión
Next to the cave, on Calle Pozo de la Nieve: acorn-fed ham, venison carpaccio and Iberian meat. Open at midday from Wednesday to Sunday. Book.

### Saturday · 16:30 · Gruta de las Maravillas and the castle
The cave with lakes beneath the village, with a guide and a pass bought beforehand. Then the castle hill in the last light.

### Sunday · 10:30 · Tasting at Cinco Jotas, in Jabugo
The curing cellars and an acorn-fed ham tasting with wine, an hour: €28 per person and €15 for ages 3 to 12. By booking.

### Sunday · 12:30 · Ham Museum
Back in Aracena, the dehesa, the Iberian pig and the curing of ham, in 45 minutes with an audio guide.

### Sunday · 14:00 · Lunch and the drive back
Lunch in Aracena and set off for Seville in mid-afternoon.

## Un consejo más

Buy the cave pass on the council website before you leave: the weekend slots sell out.

## Cuándo no ir

If you only want to walk without people: avoid the November long weekends, when the sierra fills with visitors.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### When are the chestnut trees yellow?
From late October to November, depending on the year.

### Are the routes hard?
The Cerro del Castaño is medium difficulty, 5.5 km. The one from Linares to Alájar is easy, 4.4 km one way.

### How much does the ham tasting cost?
The Esencia de Cinco Jotas visit costs €28 per person and €15 for ages 3 to 12.

### Do I need a car?
Yes, to get between the villages and to the starts of the routes.

## Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Hotel Convento Aracena & Spa**: The house
A four-star hotel behind the walls of a former 17th-century convent, on calle Jesús y María, right in the centre of Aracena, a few minutes' walk from the Gruta de las Maravillas and the castle.
The convent came from the determination of sor María de la Santísima Trinidad, an Aracena woman born in 1604 who travelled to Seville to seek permits and money and worked on the building with the women of the first beaterio; she died before seeing it finished. Of the building, the cloister survives, with some of the cypresses from the nuns' time, the old church, the sacristy and enclosure turns and grilles scattered along the corridors. After the nuns left, its rooms housed a ceramics workshop that came to produce pieces for Loewe.
The rooms
There are 57, adapted to the volumes of the convent, so no two are alike: room 16 keeps a large niche from the old refectory, 56 incorporates a turn and the enclosure grilles, and 24 occupies the place where the founder's house stood. There is a single, with a 135 cm bed; a standard double, with two 105 beds; and several special doubles, among them the choir double, in the old choir, with views of the garden and the pool, the cloister double and the terrace double, plus a junior suite.
All have wifi, air conditioning, television, minibar, kettle with herbal teas, safe, telephone and a bathroom with shower or bath. The website does not publish fixed prices: they are checked by date in its booking engine.
Spa, pool and restaurant
The spa has a thermal circuit with a hydrotherapy pool with jets and a waterfall, sauna, Turkish bath, bucket shower and Scottish shower, as well as massages and rituals. It opens Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 21:00, and on Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 21:00. Outside there is a seasonal outdoor pool, and inside a free gym.
The restaurant, Huerto Nun, is in the nuns' old kitchen garden and serves mountain cooking with a contemporary outlook, with a menu organised by element in which acorn-fed Iberian pork and ham with Jabugo PDO stand out. It serves dinner every day from 20:30 to 23:30 (last seating at 22:45) and lunch only on Saturdays and Sundays, from 13:30 to 15:30, always with prior booking. Breakfast is a buffet, and the Decoro café occupies the former entrance to the enclosure, under the choir.
- **Finca Valbono**: Finca Valbono is a three-star rural hotel on an estate of holm oaks, cork oaks, pines and chestnut trees on the edge of Aracena, inside the Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park. It has two ways to stay: the six rooms of the old farmhouse, where the bar, restaurant and lounge are too, and twenty-one apartments, which the house calls alquerías, spread around the estate. It is a place for those travelling by car who want countryside a step from the village.
Six rooms or an alquería
The rooms are on the upper floor of the farmhouse, simply decorated, with bathroom, television, telephone, internet, air conditioning and heating. As there are few of them, the atmosphere is quiet. Pets are not allowed in them.
The alquerías have one or two bedrooms, for two to four people, in mountain style. The two-person apartment has a bedroom with one or two beds, a sofa, electric hob, fireplace, bathroom, central heating and air conditioning. The four-person one has a double bedroom and another with two beds, a living-dining room with kitchen and a bathroom. In the apartments pets are allowed for a €10 supplement. Rates can be checked in its search engine or on 959 127 711.
Pool, riding ring and paths
The estate has a pool, padel court, football pitch and riding ring. In summer a bar-restaurant also opens by the pool. Parking is free and spread over several areas, so you leave the car near the farmhouse or your apartment. Around it lead paths, tracks and drovers' roads for walking, Nordic walking, cycling or riding, and in autumn the woods are mushroom country.
The house cooking
The Finca Valbono restaurant, in the farmhouse, cooks with produce from the sierra — cheeses, mushrooms, chestnuts, Iberian ham — mixing traditional recipes with contemporary touches, and prepares company lunches and family gatherings. If you prefer to go down to the village, Jesús Carrión is in the centre of Aracena.
Getting there from Aracena
In Aracena take the ring road towards Los Marines and Portugal; about five hundred metres on, turn right onto the HU-8126 towards Carboneras and, less than a kilometre on, is the entrance to the estate. From Seville you arrive by the A-66 as far as Venta del Alto and then by the N-433 via Higuera de la Sierra. From the estate you go down in a few minutes to the Gruta de las Maravillas and the castle, and from the village starts the route from Aracena to Linares de la Sierra. To plan two days, see the autumn weekend in the Sierra de Aracena.