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El Caminito del Rey There’s nowhere to eat inside: no drinking water or toilets along the 7.7 kilometres. You eat sooner or later, and as the route is linear, it does matter where.
Here they are the sites checked one by one, showing their actual timetable and which end of the route they are at.
Ardales Park, next to the reservoir. This is the signpost for the northern entrance: it’s next to the car park, and one of the footpaths leading to the gate starts from here.
And there’s one thing that makes it a must-visit: it opens at 7.00 am. If you’ve got an early-morning ticket, this is the only place to have breakfast before you go in.
Ardales Park, Zone Four. A terrace with views of the reservoir and plenty of space.
⚠️ And here’s the catch with the calendar: closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. As El Caminito is also closed on Mondays, it turns out that On Tuesday — the first day that El Caminito is open — El Mirador is closed. That’s how it is for a lot of people.
Conde de Guadalhorce Dam. It opened recently and It has the highest rating in the whole area: 5.0, serving traditional cuisine with a modern twist.
This is the one that cures hunger when you’ve finished, and it’s exactly where it’s needed: at the helmet collection point, as soon as he stepped outside.
It’s a simple food truck: sandwiches from around €2 —ham, chorizo, pork loin, cheese—, goat’s cheese on toast with caramelised onion or avocado and tomato, and drinks.
El Chorro neighbourhood, 100 metres from the railway station. It’s a great place to go out: a hotel, a restaurant, a terrace with views and swimming pool open in summer.
Two points that come up repeatedly in the reviews: It gets busy and is short-staffed when the groups arrive — it’s best not to be in a hurry —, and the prices are high for what you get. If you’re going to eat here, reservation.
Right next to the train station – pop in for a quick beer whilst you wait. Simple and unpretentious.
If you take a detour into the town centre, Vidal’s Gaitán, next to the petrol station, offers good value for money and is open from 7.00 am to 10.00 pm. Tel. 644 93 84 90.
Make the most of the detour at What to see in Ardales.
And don’t forget the logistical details: As the route is linear, if you left your car in the north, you’ll have to go back on the shuttle bus, which costs €2.50 and only accepts cash. We explain this in Is the Caminito del Rey dangerous?.
There’s nothing inside. No drinking water, no toilets, no stalls.
The rest of the team, in Tips for visiting El Caminito, and the points along the route at What to see at the Caminito del Rey.
We are a local tour operator based in Málaga with over 50 years’ experience organising trips around Andalusia. The guide tells you how much time you have and where to stop, depending on the group’s arrival time:
If you’re travelling with your family, check first El Caminito with children. And the whole destination, in the Caminito del Rey.
No. Along the 7.7-kilometre route, there are no restaurants, stalls, drinking water or toilets, and you are not allowed to stop on the footbridges as it is a one-way route. You are, however, allowed to bring your own food and eat it in the Valle del Hoyo, the middle section that runs at ground level between the two gorges.
At El Kiosko, next to the reservoir and the car park at the northern entrance, which opens at seven in the morning. It is practically the only place in the area open so early, making it the obvious choice for anyone with a ticket for the first session. Their telephone number is 952 11 23 82.
The closest place is Alora Mucho Gusto, a food truck situated right at the helmet collection point, serving sandwiches from around two euros, as well as vegetarian and vegan toasties. It’s open from 10.30 am to 7.30 pm and is closed on Mondays. For a full meal, La Garganta is a hundred metres from the train station and is open from 8.00 to 23.00.
The Mirador de Ardales is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which often causes confusion: as the Caminito del Rey itself is closed on Mondays, many people visit the gorge on a Tuesday only to find the restaurant closed. On those days, it’s best to head to El Kiosko, which is open every day, or to the restaurants in the El Chorro area.
Savia, situated next to the Conde de Guadalhorce dam, has a rating of 5 out of 5. It’s a recently opened venue with limited seating, so it’s advisable to book by calling 656 90 58 14. It’s closed on Mondays. The other restaurants in the area are rated between 3.8 and 4.4.
It’s highly recommended, particularly at La Garganta and Savia. At the former, reviews agree that the service gets overwhelmed when tour groups arrive, whilst the latter has few tables. At El Kiosko and the food truck by the exit, there’s no need to book, as they operate as a bar and offer a quick service.
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