Spain > Navarre > Bardenas Reales National Park
Bardenas Reales National Park
N 42°12.615', W 1°30.944'
2019-10-02
https://bardenasreales.es/
Our rating: 6.40
Overall rating: - Rate this place - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Bardenas Reales semi-desert is one of the most interesting places in Spain, reminiscent of the Monument Valley in the United States. At the same time, there is quite a bit of information on the national park and we did not find any normal maps.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
As in other similar places, you need to come here in sunny weather, preferably in the late afternoon. To do this, we settled in the El Villa Castejon hotel (booking.com ), it has the best location for visiting the park. There is still a design hotel nearby, Hotel Aire de Bardenas (booking.com ), but it is much more expensive, so decide what suits you better. We recommend El Villa Castejon as it is inexpensive, located on the autobahn and has an outdoor pool in the summer. There is also a great dinner where you can choose any meat or seafood and cook it by yourself or ask a cook. In Spain, such restaurants are common, but we visited for the first time.
El Villa Castejon hotel ©Yuriy Buriak
El Villa Castejon hotel ©Yuriy Buriak
El Villa Castejon hotel ©Yuriy Buriak
As soon as the weather improved, we went to the park. There are no tickets here, you can even come on foot, though the park is large and you need a car. Any car, not only SUV.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
We entered the park from the other side and drove to the main entrance, here is our route (google.maps ).
Route map of the Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
It took us about 3 hours with all the stops. On the official website you can see the maps of all allowed routes and a map of all the interesting places . We entered here N 42 11.265 W 1 20.173 (point 1). At point 2 (N 42 11.754 W 1 25.181 ) made the first stop. Here you need to climb on this hill.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
The path is quite difficult, you need good shoes and a sense of balance.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
But this view from the top is amaizing
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
The view in the other direction. All what you see is a military tank range, the access is restricted and there are warning signs everywhere.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
The next is point 3 (N 42 11.956 W 1 26.104 ). It is a parking lot on a hill which offers an alternative view of the same sandy cliffs. We remind you once again that such beauty can be seen only with proper light. You can walk along these sand dunes, here is a description of the hiking trail .
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
Be careful at the edges.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
Then we drove through the park for about an hour, stopping for a photo.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
Until we reached the symbol of the park - the Castildetierra rock, N 42 12.571 W 1 30.940 .
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
Since the entire surface of the park consists of soft clay rocks and sandstone, the wind is constantly changing the shape of the rocks.
Bardenas Reales National Park ©Yuriy Buriak
The road from the Castildetierra to the main entrance (N 42 10.765 W 1 31.985 ) is slightly better, so if you are worried about your car, you can drive only to this location. Nearby there is still a place called Cabezo de las Cortinillas (N 42 12.261 W 1 30.015 ). There you can also climb the hill, though we did not have enough time. This is a filming location of "The World Is Not Enough " (1999).
James Bond at Bardenas Reales Park ©@Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
James Bond at Bardenas Reales Park ©@Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Many other films and series were also shot in the park, the most famous, of course, is “Game of Thrones ”.
Game of Thrones in Bardenas Reales Park ©@
Game of Thrones in Bardenas Reales Park ©@
Getting there: the central entrance and tourist information office N 42 10.762 W 1 31.990 . The nearest major city with the train station is Tudela.
Tags, Spain: desert , mountains , natural wonder Tags, all countries: desert , mountains , natural wonder
- Rate this place -
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Our rating - 6.40
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Visitor's rating - 0.00
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help