We are spending 3 days in the Murcia region before heading up to Toledo looking up family roots. What suggestions for things to see? We are thinking of the following as an itinerary but would love other ideas.
Day 1
Canon de Almadenes hike
Mula visit and Bullas wineries
Day 2
Cartagena - Beach and coast exploring - Calblanque
Day 3
Ricote valley…Archena to Blanca as leave Murcia
Drive Toledo
Murcia region doesn’t have the must see sights that other regions have. As far as cities go, a few hours in each Murcia city and Cartagena was sufficient for me. Two castles in that region are Lorca and Castillo de Vélez-Blanco. Near Mula is the Salto del Usero nature preserve. It’s on my to visit list. On the way up to Toledo, you could stop to look at castillo de Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón. It wasn’t open when we passed through. You could also take a minor detour to visit Alarcón. It’s a small town and there’s a walk you can take that follows the river around town; "Sendero Hoz de Alarcón". Closer in toward Madrid is Belmonte castle. From there you could stop at Campo de Criptana to see its Don Quixote windmills and then at Consuegra to see its castle and windmills.
The nearby Palmeral de Elche is certainly worth a visit. Its one of the largest historic palm groves in the world, dating back to the Moorish times, designated a UNESCO Site. The Palm forest is surrounded by the town of Elche, one of the oldest in Spain, with much Iberian and Hellenistic archaeology.
I have not been south of Cartagena (pretty good Roman ruins there), but I have heard that the coastline of Cabo de Gata National Park is quite impressive, but might be a bit far.
Thank you for these ideas!
