Andalucia along the Southern Variant of the GR7

If you decide to walk the E4 and you want to start in Spain, an early choice you have to make is whether to take the northern or southern variant of the GR7 through Andalucia.  With no great application of science I chose the northern option.  Checking if this was the best option was just the excuse I needed to return to Spain and in October, five weeks after finishing my E4 trek in Budapest, I was on my way back there with Christine.

I only had 9 days which isn’t long enough to do the whole variant.   The GR7 splits into two at Villanueva del Cauche in Malaga and doesn’t join up again for 450 kilometres (at Puebla de Don Fadrique).  I figured I would need at least 15 days to do the whole stretch.

To help me decide which bit to do I turned to Juan Holgado.  I had met Juan in March on my second day out of Tarifa on the E4 walk.   This was an amazing coincidence and a real stroke of luck.  Juan had helped Michele Lowe and Kirstie Shirra write their guide “Walking the GR7 in Andalucia” and is the expert on the GR7 and all things walking in Spain. He has his own web site (www.jaholgado.com).  Although we only spoke for a few minutes we struck up a friendship and Juan, through comments on my blog, advised and encouraged me all the way across Europe.

Leaving Ventas de Zafarraya and arriving at Alhama de Granada

Accommodation on the E4

One of the great pleasures of a long distance walk like the E4 is the chance to experience the full range of different types of accommodation.  Because you’re following a route you have to take what’s available and never know quite what you’re going to get and indeed who you’re going to meet.  Taking pot luck is a key part of the fun of this sort of walking but finding somewhere to stay is not always easy and often determined where I stopped each night and how far I walked each day. 

 Castillo de Castellar and Casa Henriette 

Just in case anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, or even do something similar, I thought it might be worth describing how I found places to stay in each country and what to expect in the different sorts of accommodation.  Attached to this blog is a link to a schedule of all the places I stayed at and how to contact them.

A few general points first.  I’m a tight fisted sort of guy, I don’t like spending money if I can avoid it, and set myself a daily budget which I enjoy beating.  My daily budget (accommodation, food etc) was 50 euros.  This was easy to hit in Spain (many single rooms), slightly harder in France (double rooms the norm - so easy with 2 people), impossible in Switzerland, fairly easy in Germany and Austria and completely over the top in Hungary. 

Stage 14 - The E4 from Koszeg to Budapest

By the time I got to Kozeg I was obsessed with getting home and could only think about finishing the walk.  My pre-occupation with the end of trip inevitably meant that I rushed at things through Hungary and missed some of the local colour.  Still I enjoyed I enjoyed the last two weeks, had lots of adventures and came away with some wonderful memories.

I knew less about Hungary than any of the countries I had visited. I had been to Budapest a couple of times before, and loved it, but had never left the City boundary and didn't really know what to expect.   More than any stage of the trip the last part of the walk felt like a real journey into the unknown.

The Countrywide Blue Route

Stage 13 - The E4 through Eastern Austria

Coming up with a simple explanation for my route through the eastern half of Austria is not easy.  Firstly I have to explain that there are two E4 options through Austria, one which takes you along the Nordalpenweg 01 and one which takes you along the NordAlpenweg 04.  Secondly the route I took combined bits of both options - I took the 04 for the first six days after Salzburg and then switched south to the 01.  Thirdly I have to explain that my last two days in Austria were on an option which I made up myself designed to avoid what I considered to be an unnecessary diversion which goes north and then south again before joining up with the E4 through Hungary.

Of course I was trying to save time.  I had been walking for five months and was keen to get to Budapest and home to London.  The bad weather through Bavaria had taken its toll on my morale and the forcast was for more rain.  More important neither of the official E4 options seemed to make sense to me.  Both routes struggle to join up with the start of the Hungarian section in a direct way.  The northern variant takes you to Vienna and then south while the southern variant takes you east, close to the Hungarian border, but then heads north to Neusiedler See, before retracing its route south.

The truth of the matter is that the international long distance routes don't always make sense.  They are superimposed on national routes which vary in complexity and develop over time.  Given the huge potential for beautiful walking, the route is particularly complicated in Austria.  Not only are there two basic variants (one following 01 and other the 04) but there are variants within variants (with the 01 splitting in eastern Austria with one leg going to Vienna and the other to Rust).

Nordalpenweg 04 and 01

Stage 12 - The Maximilianweg, the E4 through Bavaria

At Bregenz, at the eastern end of Lake Constance and a day into Austria, the E4 splits.  There are two options, the Nordalpenweg 01 and the Nordalpenweg 04.  Both head east and both finish in Vienna.    I was keen to save time so decided to get through Austria by combining the routes, travelling firstly along the 04 and then, in eastern Austria, crossing over to the 01.  This approached saved me about 10 days.

Part of the saving results from the fact that the 04 is an easier walk than the 01.  It's still Alpine but involves less climbing and you cover more distance each day.  After a couple of days in Austria it crosses into Bavaria and, until you get to Salzburg, involves walking along a route called the Maximiliansweg following a journey undertaken in 1858 by King Maximilian II the then king of Bavaria.  The 04 is an Austrian long distance footpath which, for much its route, takes you into Germany.

Linderhof

When Maximilian undertook the trip he was visiting some of the most beautiful locations in the Bavarian Alps. Starting at Lindau (not on the E4), the route visits Bregenz, Fussen (where his son Ludwig II built the Neuschwanstein Castle), Linderhof (site of another amazing palace built by his son) and Bertesgaden. For much of the time you're walking along or close to the very northern edge of the alps with long views down into Germany.

Stage 11 - E4 through Switzerland

You could blame Switzerland for my E4 adventure.  The first time I did place to place unassisted walking was about 10 years ago, with Christine, when we went from Grindelwald to Gstaad and my enthusiasm for this style of walking has grown ever since.  Of course we were completely spoilt by the scenery, particularly the awesome views of the Eiger and the Jungfrau, but it was the excitement of a new walk everyday and the sense of achievement from looking back over ground covered that really got me hooked.

Switzerland really is a different country.  Intensely associated with the Alps (almost interchangeable) it has lots things going for it.  Famous for its long history of independence and neutrality it somehow combines an intensely decentralised form of government (all the way down to referendum) with really strong national institutions (a conscript army based on national service).  Famous of course for its financial services (infamous to some (particularly Harold Wilson)) it actually has a broadly based economy with the highest per capita level of manufacturing in Europe (interesting counter factual - it also has the lowest proportion of graduates in its workforce).  Switzerland is a successful country and all this makes for easy hassle free visiting.

Stage 10 - The E4 from Grenoble to the Swiss Border

By the time I got to Grenoble I was three days ahead of schedule.  Because friends had booked flights and were expecting to meet me at a particular place, I had to lose some days.  Some friends near Grenoble had offered to put me up so taking a few days out made a lot of sense.  I finished walking on the Wednesday and was back in Grenoble lunch time on the Saturday.  It rained almost continually for the three days so my timing for once was impeccable.

View across the Isere Valley

Getting to the Swiss border, where the E4 turns firmly east, involves a journey of some 245 kms, 10,500 metres of climb and 9110 of descent.  It took me 9 days with some long days where the accommodation was a bit limited.