El Arpa Apartment 1st floor

The Fuente de Piedra lagoon is the natural breeding ground for thousands of wild flamingos and many other aquatic animals. It is the largest natural lake in Spain, located in the northern part of the province of Malaga, not far from El Arpa.

There are no cages, no fences and no captive animals, just a rich bird community in a beautiful protected nature reserve – and in particular the thousands of flamingos that live here.

But not only here: they move between the various swamps in Andalusia, including the Doñana National Park in Huelva and the 3 smaller lagoons at Campillos.

The visitor center, where you can park the car, is not very interesting, except when the water in the lake is low and the flamingos stay in the bed near the dam.

The interesting places are further around the lake, where there are places for bird watching and parking. You can drive there – or take a bike ride around the lake (approx. 4-5 km one way).

It is an advantage if you have binoculars or a camera with a wide-angle lens. The flamingos are often far out on the lake - especially if you want to spot them from the visitor center.

There is so much to explore here…

In the Lake District of Malaga you will find several restaurants and picnic areas, as the area is a popular tourist destination. Here you can also practice various water sports such as kayaking or canoeing.

For hikers and mountain bikers there are many marked hiking trails and the surrounding mountains offer some of the best climbing in Spain.

In El Chorro there is a huge natural gorge, which appears as if struck by an ax in the rock, La Garganta del Chorro”. This is where you can find the King Trail Caminito del Rey.


Bird watching

On the marked routes in the national park there are many opportunities to study the birds. But even while relaxing on the terrace of El Arpa you can enjoy the view of the rich bird population on the lake.

Many marked hiking trails.

There are many hiking trails in the area. You can bring our laminated maps on your hiking trails.

The King's Path, the Caminito del Rey, is a great walking route through a beautiful gorge with rocks on both sides that are several hundred meters high. Despite the many tourists and the difficulties of obtaining tickets, it is a wonderful experience that is well worth the drive.

After being closed for 15 years, the Caminito del Rey was renovated and reopened to the public in 2014. It is now absolutely safe and can be walked without any problems. And it is a great natural experience.

If you want to walk the Caminito del Rey during your stay in Andalusia, you must order tickets in time. Since the tickets are often sold out well in advance, we advise you to buy them as soon as possible via the link: Caminito del Rey (click on ENG at the top right - to get the page partly in English). The entrance fee is EUR 10 per person and the shuttle bus back to the entrance costs EUR 1.55 per person.

The site is only partially in English, but fortunately it is easy to book:

1. First click “CAMINITO DEL REY” (logo on the left) and “ENG” in the top right corner.

2. Then choose a date

3. Click on the desired start time (click “SELECTIONAR” or “CHOOSE”).

4. Then click on “+” until the correct number of tickets is displayed (under “Entrada general + Autobús” for both the entrance tickets and the shuttle bus).

5. Then click “COMPRAR” or “PURCHASE”.

6. Scroll down. Enter name, telephone number, passport number and email address.

7. Check the 3 options at the bottom of the page (accept the terms and conditions and privacy conditions) and click on “FINALIZAR”/”FINISH”.

8. Enter the credit card card number, name, expiration date, security code and click “PAGAR” to pay.

Unfortunately, the tickets always sell out quickly. If so, there are 3 other options to obtain tickets:

1) Book through an agency (this is generally more expensive and includes extra services), including: GetYourGuide, Aloratur, Kora Travel or La Garganta

2) 4 days in advance, unsold tickets become available on Caminito del Rey

3) Buy tickets at the entrance (this can be done on a weekday - the advice is to arrive early in the morning and take into account approximately 0.5 - 1 hour waiting time).

We hope that one of these options will allow you to obtain tickets for the Caminito del Rey.