# A weekend at the Lagunas de Ruidera, an hour and a half from Albacete and Ciudad Real A Saturday of waterfalls and kayaking on the Colgada lagoon, a night beside the water and a Sunday in the San Pedro area, with the Cueva de Montesinos and Rochafrida castle. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/castilla-la-mancha/lagunas-de-ruidera/itineraries/ruidera-lagoons-waterfalls-one-night · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Dónde: Lagunas de Ruidera The Lagunas de Ruidera can be seen in a day, but the park changes when the cars leave: at dusk and dawn, the lagoons go still and you only hear the waterfalls. With a night you can do both areas of the park unhurried, the Ruidera and Colgada one, with its route and its kayaking, and the San Pedro one, with the Cueva de Montesinos. It is an hour and a half from Albacete and Ciudad Real. ## Where to sleep? AccommodationAreaFor whom Hotel MatíasEdge of Ruidera, beside the Rey lagoonOpen all year, pool and restaurant Hotel Rural AlbamanjónAbove the San Pedro lagoonCouples or with a dog, terrace with views Camping Los BatanesBetween the Colgada and San PedroFamilies, bungalows and pools, March to November ## And if I have one more day? Follow the water towards the Guadiana to the Peñarroya castle, with its interpretive trail, or do it by bike: the route from Ruidera is 21 almost flat kilometres. With older children, the Miradores trail and the Hazadillas trail, from the interpretation centre at Ossa de Montiel. ## With children Kayaking with a children's rate, a cave with stalactites and lagoons for splashing in the swimming areas. Camping Los Batanes, with pools and bungalows, is the most comfortable base in season; out of season, the Hotel Matías. ## El plan ### Saturday · 10:00 · Waterfalls route The loop round the Rey, Colgada, Batana and Santo Morcillo lagoons: 5.5 km and two and a half hours. ### Saturday · 13:30 · Lunch at the Hotel Matías La Mancha cooking, terrace and garden, on the way out of Ruidera. Book. ### Saturday · 16:15 · Kayak on the Colgada lagoon With Ruidera Activa, two and a half hours among waterfalls, a cave and an island: €24. Swimsuit and water shoes. ### Saturday · 20:30 · Sunset and dinner A walk along the shore of the Rey lagoon and dinner at the Hotel Matías restaurant, open from 20:00 to 23:00. ### Sunday · 10:00 · Cueva de Montesinos and Quebrada del Toro With a guide, Don Quixote's cave and a canyon with high walls: three hours, €20. ### Sunday · 13:30 · Rochafrida trail and the drive back If you have energy left, the ruined castle of Rochafrida, beside the cave; then lunch and home. ## Un consejo más Organise the weekend by area: Ruidera and the Colgada one day, San Pedro and Montesinos another. That way you don't drive the lagoons road up and down. ## Cuándo no ir In winter the kayaking and the campsite stop and the park is left with almost no services: better from April to October. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Albacete to the Lagunas de Ruidera? Around an hour and a half by car on the N-430. ### Where to sleep at the Lagunas de Ruidera? At the Hotel Matías, open all year; at the Hotel Rural Albamanjón, above the San Pedro lagoon; or at the Los Batanes campsite. ### Can I bring a dog? The Hotel Rural Albamanjón admits dogs in all its rooms. ### How much does the getaway cost? Between €110 and €200 per person with one night, three meals, the kayak and the cave. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Hotel Zielo Las Beatas**, desde 160 € / night: Sleeping inside a transparent dome Zielo Las Beatas is the bubble part of the Finca Las Beatas, a rural hotel in the countryside, 8 km from Villahermosa on the road to Villanueva de la Fuente. Each bubble is a transparent, fireproof plastic capsule of about 20 m², with a 1.80 m bed with a canopy and curtains, set on a plot of about 200 m² fenced with heather and with its own gate. From the bed you see the sky; in rain or storm, too. There are two types: Bubble with indoor shower: a second small bubble, of about 7 m², acts as the bathroom, with shower, basin and toilet. You never leave the dome. Bubble with outdoor bath (they call it Newton): it is completely transparent, and the bathroom, with a bath, basin and toilet, is a metre away, outside the bubble but within your plot. The website lists both from €160 a night. All are for two people, so it is not accommodation for going with children. Cold, heat and privacy The bubbles are air-conditioned, but their walls are a sheet. The hotel itself warns that on very cold or very hot nights the temperature may shift a little. In midwinter, the bubble with the indoor shower saves you leaving the dome at night. Privacy comes from the fence and the distance between plots, not the walls. The bed has curtains. No smoking inside the bubble and you can't bring in outside food; if you dine at the estate, the restaurant is a few steps away. What you pay extra and when to go The hotel is open all year. Check-in is from 16:00 to 22:00 and check-out before 11:00. Parking is inside the estate. No public transport arrives: there are buses to Villahermosa and Villanueva de la Fuente and from there, a taxi. Extras are chosen when booking: dinner at the restaurant (€74 for two), dinner in a converted wine jar (€92), a private 45-minute jacuzzi session in a separate building (€64) and a decoration pack with cava (€75). The estate's pool opens from 1 July to 30 August. The hotel adapts the menu and breakfast for coeliacs and vegans if you give notice. The website doesn't say whether dogs are admitted: ask before booking. The lagoons are about 50 minutes by car, towards Ossa de Montiel or Ruidera. It is a base for spending the night looking at the sky and heading down in the morning for kayaking on the Laguna Colgada or the Miradores trail. - **Albamanjón Rural Hotel**: Terraced above the San Pedro lagoon Albamanjón is a small rural hotel at Calle Extramuros-San Pedro 16, already in the municipality of Ossa de Montiel, in the part of the lagoons facing the San Pedro lagoon. The rooms are terraced on the slope, each with its own terrace and a fireplace or wood stove. There is no village around: you are in the middle of nature, about ten minutes by car from Ruidera, and that is what people come looking for. It accepts dogs in all rooms and in all areas of the hotel, and offers free charging for guests' electric and hybrid cars. From the windmill to the basic room Suite El Molino: the windmill-shaped building that dominates the façade. It has 88 m² on three floors, for three people, with a double bed and views of the lagoon; you enter by the terrace into a middle floor with a living room, armchairs and a wood stove, and from there go up and down to the other two. Television, wifi, minibar and wardrobe. Superior double: 23 m², for up to three people, with a double bed, fireplace or stove, hot tub and a terrace with views of the lagoon. Superior wooden double: an 18 m² cabin for two, with a 1.50 m bed, a balcony with views, hot tub, a small dressing room with fridge and capsule coffee machine, and air conditioning. Small basic double: 14 m² for two, a 1.35 m bed, a bathroom with a semicircular bath and a little furnished terrace with no view of the lagoon. If you come for the water, this is not the one. According to the house, all the rooms have powerful heating for winter and air conditioning for summer. Prices and availability are on its official website, which guarantees the best price there. Breakfast only It has no restaurant: it serves only breakfast, from 9:30 to 11:30. For lunch and dinner you have to take the car. The restaurant at Los Batanes, at the campsite on the same road, opens in season, and in Ruidera you have the restaurant of the Hotel Matías all year. What is nearby The San Pedro lagoon is below the terraces, and the Montesinos Cave, Don Quixote's, is near that same lagoon. To see the lagoons from above, the Miradores trail. - **Hotel Matías**: At the gates of the park, at the edge of Ruidera The Hotel Matías is on the lagoons road, at km 0.8: you leave Ruidera towards Ossa de Montiel and, less than a kilometre on, already inside the Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park, you have it on the left, level with the Rey lagoon. That position is its selling point. You are not sleeping in the village, but not far from it either, and from the door you can walk to the first lagoons. It has parking. The house presents itself as a quiet place for short breaks, long weekends or holidays, with many returning guests, especially in summer. It is open all year, except 22 to 26 December and 30 December to 2 January. The rooms All have a private bathroom with bath, air conditioning and heating, wardrobe, desk and flat-screen television. Wifi is free throughout the hotel. The website does not publish how many rooms there are or of what types, nor their prices, nor whether breakfast is included: all that appears in its booking centre or can be asked on 926 528 156 or at info@hotelmatias.es. It also says nothing about pets or check-in and check-out times. Pool, garden and restaurant The outdoor pool is the most sought-after spot in the house in summer; the website does not give its opening dates, so if you are travelling in spring or autumn and the pool is the reason, ask beforehand. Around it are gardens with a terrace for sunbathing or reading. The hotel restaurant serves La Mancha cooking at lunchtime and in the evening, all year, with a large terrace in summer, a children's play area and premises adapted for people with reduced mobility. Out of season, dining at the hotel itself saves driving at night along the lagoons road. What is around The Rey, Colgada and Batana lagoons begin almost at the door: the walk between the three works well on foot from here. The kayak on the Colgada lagoon is in the centre of Ruidera, a couple of minutes by car, and for a meal beside the water, Perca Rosa is on the shore of the Rey lagoon. - **Los Batanes Campsite**, desde 31 € / night: In the middle of the park, beside the Redondilla Los Batanes is at km 8 of the Lagunas de Ruidera road, in the municipality of Ossa de Montiel, in the heart of the Natural Park and beside the Redondilla lagoon, among the central ones of the fifteen the park has. It covers some 83,000 m². It is a large campsite, the kind that fills up with families in summer, and is a few kilometres both from Ruidera and from the San Pedro area and the Montesinos Cave. The pitches They are under a large grove of deciduous trees: in summer it gives shade and in winter it lets the sun through. The ground is flat, without stones and almost all gravel, so that it does not raise dust, with some grass pitches. Its website does not give the number of pitches or detail the electricity: ask if you are coming with a caravan or motorhome. Bungalows for 2 to 6 The campsite's website speaks of six types of bungalow, for 2 to 6 people, with names like Nidal, Autillo, Boga, Batán or Encina, all equipped; the listing on Campingred, the chain it belongs to, speaks of eight types. When you book you see what each one has. Pools, restaurants and entertainment The pool area has more than 12,000 m² of green space. There are two places to eat: the Abrasador restaurant, with a menu of beef and Iberian produce, and another terrace-style one beside the pools. In summer the entertainment team organises workshops, sports competitions, games, crafts, face painting, bingo and parties, by day and by night, for children and also for adults, and there is a children's adventure circuit. For going out, there are cycling and walking routes, and local companies offering diving, canoeing, fishing, 4x4 routes, birdwatching, caving and abseiling. Season and prices It is open from March to early November. It is now closed for the end of the season and reopens on 12 March 2027; bookings for 2027 are already open. At the end of October 2026, Campingred gave prices from about €31 a night for a pitch and from about €91 for a bungalow; in summer they rise. The rules, including those on animals, are in its regulations. Contact: 926 699 076, 926 699 020 or camping@losbatanes.com. From here, the Montesinos Cave and Rochafrida castle are very close.