Caminito del Rey

A Path Between Two Power Stations, 1901 to 1905

The Desfiladero de los Gaitanes is a limestone gorge more than 3 km long, with walls up to 300 m high and a floor under 10 m wide in places, cut by the Guadalhorce between Ardales and Álora. In 1901 work began on a concrete path along its wall to link the hydroelectric plants at the Chorro and Gaitanejo falls, so that materials could be carried and the water channel inspected. It was finished in 1905, a metre wide, resting on steel rails driven into the rock at about 45 degrees.

The royal name came later. On 21 May 1921 Alfonso XIII came to inaugurate the Conde de Guadalhorce dam upstream and crossed the path to reach it, and the Camino del Rey, shortened locally to caminito, stuck. The reservoir he opened is the oldest of the three that now sit above the gorge, joined by Guadalteba in 1971 and Guadalhorce in 1973. The El Chorro page covers the lakes.

The Dangerous Years, and the Closure

The concrete top collapsed section by section through the second half of the century, leaving gaps bridged by bare steel beams and a safety wire. Five people died in 1999 and 2000, and the Junta closed both entrances, though climbers kept using it. Four more died attempting the gorge in the four years to 2013. That is where the phrase most visitors arrive with, the world's most dangerous walkway, comes from: it described the ruin, not the route you walk today.

The Junta de Andalucía and the Diputación de Málaga agreed in June 2011 to split a €9 million restoration, alpinists laid the first section in March 2014, and the new walkway opened on 29 March 2015 with the old concrete path left visible beneath it. The gorge itself has been a Paraje Natural since 1989, a bird protection zone since 1987 and part of the Andalusia to Morocco biosphere reserve since 2006, which is why the rules on drones, pets and noise are the park's, not the operator's.

Who Runs It Now

The route is managed by a consortium, UTE Caminito del Rey, under rules that cite Decreto 2026/3306 of 6 May 2026, the first year those rules have carried a decree number, which is why anything you read from before spring 2026 about refunds and access is worth re-checking against the conditions on the official site. The shop is caminitodelrey.info. A reservas subdomain that older guides link does not resolve any more.

The Approach From the North Access

From the north access by the El Kiosko restaurant there are two ways to the control cabin, the old Gaitanejo hydro station where the helmets are handed out. The Gaitanejo path through tunnel 1 is 2.7 km and about 50 minutes. The Gaitanejo track through tunnel 2, which starts 200 m before El Kiosko, is 1.5 km and 20 to 25 minutes.

Take the shorter one if you are close to your slot. The operator asks you to be at the cabin 30 minutes before the time on your ticket, and at the reception centre an hour before that.

The Boardwalks

The controlled section is the 2.9 km that everyone photographs: wooden walkways bolted to the wall of the gorge, the old concrete path visible below them in places, a glass-floored balcony, and the suspension footbridge across the narrowest part of the Gaitanes where the walls close to under 10 m and the drop is over 100 m. The operator's recommendations page allows about 150 minutes for this part. It is a walk, not a climb.

There is no scrambling and no ladder, and the boardwalk is wide enough to pass. What it is not is somewhere to stop for long, because the groups behind you are ten minutes apart.

The Exit to El Chorro

From the south gate it is a 2.1 km descent to the village of El Chorro, where you hand the helmet back. The shuttle stop is about 300 m from the helmet return, and the railway station is at the village. The El Chorro page covers what else is down there.

If you drove, the shuttle takes you back north to the car park in 15 to 20 minutes.

Is It Difficult?

Not physically. The route runs downhill overall, the operator rates it for anyone with reasonable fitness, and the coach listings describe it as moderate at a gentle pace. What decides whether you enjoy it is heights: the operator advises against it for vertigo and for heart and respiratory conditions, and the afternoon tour operator excludes people with a fear of heights outright.

There is no toilet and no picnic spot between the control cabin and the exit, so the water and snack the operator asks for, at least 1.5 litres, are not optional in summer.

The variable is not the walk, which is roughly the same length for everyone. It is how you get to the north access and back from the south one. By train the shuttle does that leg and the timetable sets your day.

By coach the operator does it and you lose the choice of slot.

Two Renfe services stop at El Chorro-Caminito del Rey. The Media Distancia trains between Málaga and Seville, which run via Bobadilla, all call there, and so do the Proximidad trains, which are extensions of the Cercanías C-2 beyond its Álora terminus. The plain C-2 does not reach El Chorro. Check that your train is a 389xx Media Distancia or a 131xx Proximidad, not a Cercanías that ends at Álora. Renfe's Proximidad page counts five trains out and six back on a weekday.

The times below are from the only timetable document Renfe publishes for the line, a PDF valid from 20 March 2023. Renfe prints no fare anywhere outside its booking engine, so the price is not stated here. The Cercanías zone fares on the getting around page apply only as far as Álora.

The Shuttle Is the Trick

The station is at the south end and the entrance is at the north, 8 km apart by road. So from the train you take the shuttle north first, walk the route, and come out 2.1 km above the station. The shuttle costs $2.91 (€2.50), one ticket valid for unlimited rides that day, cash on board or added when you buy the entry online. From the south stop the first bus is at 08:30 and then every 30 minutes until 16:30. The ride is 15 to 20 minutes. The operator prints the shuttle's overall hours two ways, 07:40 to 20:00 on one page and 07:40 to 19:00 in the FAQ, so treat the 16:30 last northbound bus as the figure that matters.

Off the 08:24 train you reach El Chorro at 09:02, catch the 09:30 shuttle, and are at the north access by about 09:50. Book a slot from 10:40 on, which gives the operator's 30 minutes at the cabin plus the 20-minute track. A 09:00 slot from Málaga by train is not possible.

By Car

From Málaga it is 59.1 km and about 50 minutes on the A-357 and the MA-5403 to the Centro de Recepción de Visitantes at Puerto de las Atalayas in Ardales, where parking is $2.33 (€2) a day, reservable online with the ticket. The centre opens 08:00 to 14:30. Park there, walk or shuttle to the north access, and take the shuttle back from El Chorro when you finish.

If you are sleeping in the city, the airport and car hire page covers where the hire desks are.

The age rule is the one that ruins family trips. Under-8s are not admitted, full stop. There is no carrier option and no reduced ticket. Children from 8 to 17 walk with an adult and must carry their original DNI or passport or a Libro de Familia, because every ticket is personalised to a named visitor and the name is checked. Book a child's ticket in the child's name.

Equipment is checked too. Flip-flops and heels are banned, and so are large backpacks, selfie sticks, tripods, umbrellas, drones and pets. A raincoat replaces the umbrella. Smoking and alcohol are banned on the route. The helmet is issued at the control cabin and handed back at El Chorro.

Time is the third gate. Groups enter every ten minutes, you are asked to be at the cabin 30 minutes before your slot, and the purchase conditions say nothing about a grace period for late arrival, which in practice means do not test it. No-shows are not refunded.

• Under 8: not admitted. 8 to 17: with an adult, original ID or Libro de Familia in hand
• Banned: flip-flops, heels, large backpacks, selfie sticks, tripods, umbrellas, drones, pets, smoking, alcohol
• Bring: closed hiking shoes, at least 1.5 litres of water, snacks, sun protection. There are no toilets on the route
• Be at the reception centre one hour before, at the control cabin 30 minutes before
• No refund for a no-show. Late-arrival tolerance not stated

Weather Closures and the Four-Day Rule

The route can close for weather or rockfall, and the operator announces it the same morning on its website and Telegram channel. If it does, your ticket converts into a choice: swap to another date, subject to availability, or ask for a refund through your online account within four calendar days of the closure notice. Asking for the refund cancels the right to swap, and card refunds take up to ten business days.

Coach operators handle this differently: one listing promises a full refund or a new date if the walkway closes, while the afternoon operator says it is not obliged to refund a heat cancellation, so read the card before you book.

The walkway opens at 09:00 every day it runs and the last slot is 14:50 or 17:20, depending on a season whose dates the operator does not publish. Assume the earlier close from autumn to spring and check the shop's calendar for your date. Mondays are closed all year, plus 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January.

The gorge runs roughly north to south, so the sun reaches the boardwalks late in the morning and leaves them by mid-afternoon. The first slots are shaded and cool, the middle of the day is exposed, and the afternoon is shaded again. The operator of the afternoon tour claims more than 80 percent of its route is in shade, and the Malaga South Experiences listing recommends its 14:00 departure for the same reason. From June to September that is the decision: an early slot by train, or an afternoon slot by coach. The Málaga weather page has the monthly highs. The gorge is inland and runs hotter than the coast.

There is nothing to buy between the control cabin and El Chorro, and the operator says so. At the north access the El Kiosko restaurant is the landmark the shuttle uses as its stop. At the south end El Chorro village has bars around the station that serve the walkers coming off the path.

Neither the operator nor the Ayuntamiento de Álora publishes menus or prices, so this site prints none. The Álora and tapas tour is the one coach option that includes a meal, a tapas brunch in the village before the afternoon walk. Every other listing tells you to bring your own.

If you are on the train, the practical answer is a bocadillo from Málaga in the daypack, because the 08:24 leaves before most bakeries near María Zambrano open.

- The reseller price gap is the coach, not the ticket. The entry is $11.65 (€10) on the official shop and there is no reduced or child price at all. Every coach tour on this page sells that same entry plus a seat and a guide [caminitodelrey.info shop page, read in Q3 2026]. - The shuttle is not run by the Caminito. The $2.91 (€2.50) bus between El Chorro and the north access is a separate service, cash on board, and the operator prints its hours two different ways. The 16:30 last northbound bus from the south stop is the one figure that matters if you are on the train [caminitodelrey.info how-to-get-there and FAQ pages]. - A closure gives you four calendar days to decide. If the operator shuts the route for weather, you swap the date or claim a refund through your account within four days of the notice, and asking for the refund forfeits the swap [caminitodelrey.info purchase conditions]. - The train that reaches El Chorro is not the Cercanías. The C-2 ends at Álora.

Only the Media Distancia trains to Seville and the Proximidad extensions call at El Chorro-Caminito del Rey, five out and six back on a weekday, and Renfe's only timetable document for them is dated 20 March 2023 [renfe.com Proximidad page and horarios_malaga.pdf]. - The Renfe combined ticket you may have read about expired in 2019. A Combinado Caminito del Rey at €23 with train, bus and entry was sold at Cercanías ticket offices until 31 December 2019 and appears on no current Renfe or Caminito page [blog.renfe.com, 21 March 2019, checked against renfe.com in Q3 2026].

It takes a whole day, so it belongs in a stay of three days or more. The three-day itinerary gives it the third day, after the timed slots in the city are done. Pair it with nothing else that needs a ticket the same day.

If you are staying near María Zambrano the 08:24 train is a ten-minute walk away. From the beach neighbourhoods it is a metro ride first, which the getting around page times. The rest of the ring, Ronda, Nerja and the Alhambra in Granada, sits on the day trips hub, and the whole Málaga city guide starts from the homepage.