GR 249 Gran Senda de Málaga

The Great Málaga Path: 35 official stages around the province, 33 of them mapped and planned here, from the coast at Málaga up into the Axarquía mountains, through Ronda and the Genal valley, and back along the Costa del Sol.

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650kmMapped distance

18,597mMapped ascent

33Walking stages

Best season: October to May on the coast; spring and autumn in the mountains. The coastal stages stay below about 85 m: mild in winter, hot in summer. Inland the ring climbs to about 1,220 m in the Sierra Almijara above Cómpeta, 1,385 m between Alfarnate and Villanueva del Rosario and 1,170 m above Ronda, with cold nights and some snow or ice in winter, and heat in summer. Before you go

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Plan your days

Your dates

Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…

Three mapped sections: Málaga along the coast to Nerja and up into the mountains to Archidona and Villanueva de Tapia; the farmland from Villanueva de Algaidas to Fuente de Piedra; and Campillos round by El Chorro, Ronda and the Genal valley and back along the Costa del Sol to Málaga. Pick a plan, or choose a section and your nights below.

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Every stage mapped so far, one colour per section; the gaps between them are stages not mapped yet. Choose a plan or a day to zoom in.

Make your own plan

Section Start Finish Days First day Set off, day 1 Set off, other days Pace

Changing the pace or where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.

Choose your nights (3 nights)

Rincón de la Victoria2 places to stay listed nearbyVélez-Málaga2 places to stay listed nearbyTorrox2 places to stay listed nearby

Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.

Day by day

Day 1

Málaga to Rincón de la Victoria

Stage 1 · Diputación de Málaga grade: easy (mide 1-1-1-2)

Distance
15.1 km

Climb
+31 / −29 m

Walking
3 h 20Diputación de Málaga time; our estimate 3 h 06

Rincón de la Victoria Town or village

OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 600 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMap

Day 1 GPX Open in Planner
Day 2

Rincón de la Victoria to Vélez-Málaga

Stage 2 · Diputación de Málaga grade: easy (mide 1-2-1-3)

Distance
24.2 km

Climb
+112 / −84 m

Walking
5 h 25Diputación de Málaga time; our estimate 5 h 06

Stage 2: The stage fords arroyos at beach level; after heavy rain they can be deep. It ends at the Rotonda de la Constitución in Vélez-Málaga, about 1.4 km from where stage 3 starts.

Vélez-Málaga Town or village

OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 600 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMap

Day 2 GPX Open in Planner
Day 3

Vélez-Málaga to Torrox

Stage 3 · Diputación de Málaga grade: easy (mide 1-2-1-3)

Distance
16.9 km

Climb
+95 / −124 m

Walking
4 hDiputación de Málaga time; our estimate 3 h 39

Stage 3: The mapped stage starts where stage 2 ends, at the Rotonda de la Constitución, and includes about 1.4 km of town streets to the official start of stage 3, which the official 15 km leaves out.

Torrox Town or village

OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 600 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMap

Day 3 GPX Open in Planner
Day 4

Torrox to Nerja

Stage 4 · Diputación de Málaga grade: easy (mide 2-1-2-2)

Distance
7.1 km

Climb
+41 / −40 m

Walking
2 h 10Diputación de Málaga time; our estimate 1 h 31

Stage 4: The Diputación notes that the Río Chíllar crossing at the end, in Nerja, can be impassable after heavy rain.

Day 4 GPX Open in Planner

Longest day: day 2, 5 h 25.

How these plans are made

Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are the Diputación de Málaga's published times where it gives one, with our estimate beside it; a day that walks part of a stage gets a share of the stage's time by distance and climb. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.Tide times are our prediction from the tide gauges' harmonic constants in TICON-4 (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, 2025, CC BY 4.0).

Weather this week

Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (1,408 m)…

Weather by month

Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (1,408 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.

Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
Weather	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Poor	Poor	Poor	Mixed	Good	Good	Good
Stages rated good on typical weather	31/33	32/33	33/33	33/33	25/33	0/33	0/33	0/33	0/33	31/33	33/33	33/33
High point, day / night	9°/0°	10°/0°	13°/2°	16°/5°	20°/8°	26°/11°	30°/14°	30°/14°	25°/11°	19°/7°	13°/3°	10°/1°
Low point, day / night	17°/7°	18°/8°	20°/10°	22°/11°	26°/14°	30°/18°	32°/20°	32°/21°	29°/18°	25°/15°	21°/11°	18°/9°
Rain, mm	71	73	95	61	40	12	1	6	31	72	88	92
Snow at high point	Possible	Possible	Frost	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Frost
Daylight	9 h 54	10 h 49	11 h 54	13 h 06	14 h 07	14 h 40	14 h 28	13 h 37	12 h 28	11 h 19	10 h 14	9 h 39

Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.

The whole trail

All 35 official stages

The Gran Senda de Málaga runs 675 km around the province in 35 stages, plus variants. All but stages 14 and 18 are mapped and planned here; those follow when OpenStreetMap has their paths. MIDE grades run from 1 (easiest) to 5 for the terrain, the route, the going and the effort.

Stage	From – to	Distance	Official time	MIDE	Climb	Here
1	Málaga – Rincón de la Victoria	15.6 km	3:20 h	1-1-1-2	+40 / −35 m	Stage page
2	Rincón de la Victoria – Vélez-Málaga	24.4 km	5:25 h	1-2-1-3	+70 / −50 m	Stage page
3	Vélez-Málaga – Torrox	15 km	4:00 h	1-2-1-3	+80 / −135 m	Stage page
4	Torrox – Nerja	7.3 km	2:10 h	2-1-2-2	+35 / −40 m	Stage page
5	Nerja – Frigiliana	14.7 km	5:05 h	3-2-2-3	+765 / −600 m	Stage page
6	Frigiliana – Cómpeta	24.7 km	8:15 h	3-2-2-4	+1,160 / −790 m	Stage page
7	Cómpeta – Canillas de Aceituno	24.3 km	8:15 h	3-2-3-4	+1,050 / −985 m	Stage page
8	Canillas de Aceituno – Periana	29.7 km	8:00 h	1-2-2-3	+765 / −870 m	Stage page
9	Periana – Riogordo	19.7 km	6:45 h	2-2-2-4	+821 / −958 m	Stage page
10	Riogordo – Alfarnate	15.6 km	5:20 h	1-2-3-3	+905 / −395 m	Stage page
11	Alfarnate – Villanueva del Rosario	15.4 km	5:15 h	3-2-2-3	+590 / −770 m	Stage page
12	Villanueva del Rosario – Archidona	17.2 km	4:15 h	3-2-2-3	+390 / −365 m	Stage page
13	Archidona – Villanueva de Tapia	17.1 km	3:50 h	2-2-2-3	+170 / −205 m	Stage page
14	Villanueva de Tapia – Villanueva de Algaidas	14.8 km	4:15 h	1-2-1-3	+410 / −470 m	Not mapped yet
15	Villanueva de Algaidas – Cuevas Bajas	9.4 km	2:45 h	1-1-1-2	+280 / −440 m	Stage page
16	Cuevas Bajas – Alameda	21.2 km	4:45 h	2-1-1-3	+310 / −125 m	Stage page
17	Alameda – Fuente de Piedra	18.6 km	3:55 h	1-1-1-3	+60 / −160 m	Stage page
18	Fuente de Piedra – Campillos	25.6 km	7:10 h	2-2-1-4	+400 / −335 m	Not mapped yet
19	Campillos – Embalses del Guadalhorce	23 km	5:15 h	2-2-2-3	+255 / −360 m	Stage page
20	Embalses del Guadalhorce – Estación de El Chorro (Álora)	22 km	6:05 h	2-2-2-4	+680 / −800 m	Stage page
21	Estación de El Chorro (Álora) – Carratraca - Ardales	21.7 km	7:00 h	1-2-2-4	+1,350 / −1,115 m	Stage page
22	Ardales – El Burgo	22.6 km	5:35 h	1-1-1-3	+690 / −480 m	Stage page
23	El Burgo – Ronda	23.7 km	7:30 h	3-3-2-4	+1,040 / −875 m	Stage page
24	Ronda – Estación de Benaoján	13.7 km	4:00 h	1-2-2-3	+270 / −572 m	Stage page
25	Estación de Benaoján – Jimera de Líbar	9.6 km	3:00 h	1-1-1-2	+320 / −240 m	Stage page
26	Jimera de Líbar – Benalauría	14.7 km	4:30 h	1-2-2-3	+805 / −635 m	Stage page
27	Benalauría – Genalguacil	11.6 km	3:50 h	1-2-2-3	+370 / −540 m	Stage page
28	Genalguacil – Casares	20.5 km	5:45 h	2-2-2-3	+770 / −880 m	Stage page
29	Casares – Estepona	24.2 km	7:00 h	2-2-2-4	+1,170 / −2,680 m	Stage page
30	Estepona – Marbella	27.1 km	7:00 h	1-2-2-4	+5 / −5 m	Stage page
31	Marbella – Ojén	17 km	5:45 h	2-2-2-3	+930 / −645 m	Stage page
32	Ojén – Mijas	50.4 km	14:45 h	3-3-2-5	+2,520 / −2,340 m	Stage page
33	Mijas – Benalmádena	18 km	6:15 h	2-2-2-4	+750 / −1,000 m	Stage page
34	Benalmádena – Alhaurín de la Torre	12.3 km	4:10 h	2-2-2-3	+440 / −620 m	Not mapped yet
35	Alhaurín de la Torre – Málaga	12.9 km	2:35 h	1-1-1-2	+10 / −30 m	Not mapped yet

Diputación de Málaga stage pages, read 18 September 2026.

Before you go

Prepare for the Gran Senda

Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.

Choose your nights

On the coast every stage ends in a town with hotels and coast buses: book a bed at each stage end, or stay in one place and ride the bus. Inland the villages are small, with one or two places to stay: book each night ahead.

Easy on the coast, hard in the mountains

The Diputación grades the coast from Málaga to Nerja easy (MIDE 1–2 out of 5): promenades, beach paths and quiet roads, a good first multi-day walk. Across the Sierras of Almijara and Tejeda it grades stage 6 difficult and stage 7 very difficult, over 24 km and 1,000 m of climb each; El Burgo to Ronda (23) and Ojén to Mijas (32, 50 km) are difficult too.

Gran Senda de Málaga: stage pages

Day trips from one bed on the coast

Coast buses of the Málaga metropolitan transport consortium run between Málaga, Rincón de la Victoria, Torre del Mar, Vélez-Málaga, Torrox Costa and Nerja, so each coastal stage can start and end at a bus stop.

CTMAM: Málaga metropolitan buses

Inland: book every night, and mind the rivers

Between El Chorro and Casares the villages have one or two places to stay, and winter opening is rarely published: book each night ahead. Benaoján station and Benalauría have no hotel in winter; the six-day plan sleeps in Jimera de Líbar and Genalguacil instead. After heavy rain the fords on stages 23, 24, 25, 27 and 28 can be impassable.

AEMET: weather warnings

Hunting season and short winter days

The big-game season runs from 17 October 2026 to 14 February 2027, with drive hunts mostly from November to January, on any day of the week. Hunts must be signposted on the paths: never ignore the signs. Inland stages of 20–24 km take most of a winter day; start at first light.

BOJA: the 2026/27 hunting season (Spanish)

Rivers after rain

The route fords arroyos at beach level and crosses the Río Chíllar at Nerja; after heavy rain they can be deep or impassable. Check the warnings before you set out.

AEMET: weather warnings

Getting there

Connect your journey

Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.

Directions to this start Travel from this finish

Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.

Málaga airport (AGP)

The Cercanías C1 train runs from the airport to Málaga Centro-Alameda in about 12 minutes; km 0 is on the Misericordia seafront, west of the centre.

Aena: Málaga airport by bus and train

To El Chorro by train

Trains from Málaga María Zambrano reach El Chorro in about an hour (in September 2026 at 09:05, 13:26 and 17:08), and the Cercanías C2 runs from Málaga Centro-Alameda. Buses replaced the trains in summer 2026: check Renfe for your date.

Renfe: timetables

Ronda line: buses instead of trains

The railway through Ronda, Benaoján and Jimera has had no trains since the February 2026 storms, and the line is closed for works until about autumn 2027. Renfe runs replacement buses twice a day each way calling at the stations; Ronda has frequent coaches to Málaga.

Renfe: timetables

Home from Casares

Avanza bus L-77 runs from Casares to Estepona on weekdays and Saturdays (none on Sundays; take a taxi), and Estepona has buses to Málaga and its airport every day.

Avanza: line L-77

Coast buses

Lines M-160 and M-163 run to Rincón de la Victoria, M-260 to Torre del Mar and Vélez-Málaga, and M-362 and M-363 to Torrox Costa and Nerja; ALSA links Nerja and Torre del Mar hourly.

ALSA: Nerja to Torre del Mar

Take your trip with you

Offline maps

Prepare each stage while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.

Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.

Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.

Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.

Route & sources

About this map

The line follows the official route on OpenStreetMap paths, checked against the route files of the Andalusian mountain federation, which certifies the GR 249. Where a stage starts across town from where the last one ended, the walk there is added to the next stage. Stages 14 and 18 are not mapped yet: OpenStreetMap does not have all of their paths.

Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 18 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.

Diputación de Málaga: Gran Senda de Málaga