The Sierra Nevada mountains are located near Granada in southern Spain. They are pretty high mountains, getting to over 3300m and have a substantial ski resort. Over the summer season this enables rapid access as you can drive to high on the mountainside at over 2500m. We headed to the Sierra Nevada for a day trip on our recent holiday as we are mountain goats at heart, even missing our turning when we were first heading towards the holiday house where we were staying, as we were mesmerised by the snowy mountains ahead…
To be honest we didn’t do any long walks, although a walk to the summit of the Pico del Velenta at 3396m looks straightforward, mainly following a closed paved road if you did desire a longer mountain walk.
We instead chose to do a couple of short walks either side of the highest car park, to a snow patch (who doesn’t want to have a snowball fight on summer holiday?) and to a lookout point on the other side.
There are several cafes at the carpark, providing a decent lunch and ice creams but unfortunately no toilet facilities, so you need to find a suitable spot if needed. Some of the ski runs look great, and I bet it would be a magical skiing wonderland in the winter…. Plans are forming in my mind!
Overall we highly enjoyed our day trip to the Sierra Nevada mountains and would highly recommend it to any mountain lovers who happen to be holidaying in Southern Spain.
Our other top tips for things to do in the surrounding area include exploring Alhama de Granada, walking a gorge, visiting Largo Bemejales and going underground at the Nerja caves.