A Scenic Granada to Almería Road Trip Itinerary

Discover the best route for a Granada to Almería road trip with this relaxed 3-5 day itinerary, complete with hidden gems, iconic film locations, and unforgettable hikes along the way.

Driving straight from Granada to Almería only takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes, but after doing this route countless times while visiting family in the area, I can promise you the direct drive skips some of Andalucía’s most unexpectedly beautiful spots.

From the rugged badlands of Purullena and the cave-house charm of Guadix, to La Calahorra’s Game of Thrones scenery and the otherworldly Tabernas Desert, there’s far more to see than you’d ever spot from the motorway.

If you prefer slowing down, exploring quieter places, and turning a simple Granada to Almería drive into a proper adventure, this itinerary will show you exactly how to make the most of the journey.

Quick Overview: Granada → Almería the Scenic Way

🚗 Distance: ~162 km 

🕒 Total drive time: ~2 hours (but you won’t want to rush it)

🗓️ Ideal Trip Length: 3-5 days

🐶 Dog-friendly: Mostly!

🚐 Vanlife-friendly: Yes - with the occasional optional dirt track

⭐ Highlights: Badlands viewpoints, cave houses, GOT filming locations, Spain’s only true desert

Granada to Almería Road Trip Map (All Stops + Overnight Van Spots)

To help you plan at a glance, we’ve mapped the complete route with all the major stops, viewpoints, and the best overnight spots for campervans.

We’ve stayed at each of these or visited them ourselves, so you’ll know exactly what’s accessible, quiet, and safe.

Zoom in on the map to see more items. Click here to view the map bigger.

How Long Do You Need?

You can technically drive Granada to Almería in under two hours, but the stops along this scenic route deserve more than quick pull-overs.

Some places, especially the desert, are best enjoyed slowly, with time to explore, wander, and sit quietly with the views.

Three to five days gives you that breathing room.

You’ll hit everything without feeling rushed, and still return to Almería with that lovely “we actually travelled today” feeling rather than a sense of just ticking off distance.

If you only have one day, you can still enjoy a condensed version… more on that in a moment.

A One-Day Quick Version

If you’re short on time but still want to experience the magic of this route, here’s the best simplified version with the places that give you the biggest contrast to the motorway:

Granada → Purullena Badlands → Guadix Cave Houses → La Calahorra Castle → Tabernas Viewpoint at the Repsol Garage.

It’s a perfect sampler of the badlands, the cave districts, and the desert.

The Repsol viewpoint isn’t part of the full itinerary because the Tabernas hikes give far better views, but for a quick desert taste, it delivers.

Best Stops Between Granada and Almería

Day 1: Granada → Purullena (Half Day or Full Day)

Once you leave Granada behind, the road winds gently toward Purullena, a small town that doesn’t look like much at first glance, until you start climbing into the badlands.

The landscape suddenly splits open into ridges and ravines, steep earth formations glowing warm orange in the afternoon light.

Purullena is the gateway to these badlands and the views here genuinely surprise first-timers.

We’ve done these lookouts a couple of times and the dirt tracks up to them are absolutely doable with a regular vehicle on a dry day.

You don’t need a 4x4, but confidence helps, and if it’s been raining it’s better to walk to avoid the very real chance of getting stuck.

You can reach Mirador Badlands de Purullena or Mirador Cárcavas de Marchal by car, or park in town and take the steady one-hour walk up.

We often recommend the walk when the weather is good if you don’t fancy tackling the dirt track. It’s a peaceful way to start the road trip and gives you time to appreciate just how unusual this landscape is.

Lilly loves it up here, but there’s little shade, so earlier or later in the day works best.

If you’re travelling by van and decide to stay longer, there’s a peaceful free camping area in Marchal with views of the rock formations. It’s a lovely spot to settle in for the evening if you want a slower start to the trip.

Day 2: Purullena → Guadix → La Calahorra

Purullena and Guadix pair easily, and depending on how much time you like to spend wandering, you can reach La Calahorra on the same day.

Guadix 

Guadix is only 10 minutes from Purullena, and we recommend half to a full day. 

We always recommend starting with Barrio de Cuevas, the cave house district.

The streets twist around whitewashed chimneys and carved-out doorways, and if you wander quietly, you’ll catch moments of everyday life here: laundry drying in the sun, neighbours chatting across walls, cats weaving between caves.

Remember, these are still people’s homes, so don’t go inside the yards or spend too long staring. 

The historic center is compact and easy to walk. The cathedral dominates the main plaza, and a guided tour (€7) takes you inside, including a climb up the bell tower. It’s not dog-friendly, so we only saw it from the outside.

The streets around the plaza are full of traditional Andalusian buildings, cafés, and small shops which you can enjoy simply by wandering around and taking in the atmosphere.

There’s also a small park nearby that’s well-kept and quiet, a good spot to take your dog for a run and watch the city go about its day.

Just around the corner are the ruins of a roman temple. They’re not the most impressive roman ruins we’ve seen but if you’re walking around the city they’re worth a peak!

Parking in Guadix can give a strange first impression. The large vehicle parking area near town can look messy with litter everywhere.

If it doesn’t sit right with you, Aldi and Lidl have parking a little further out, it adds a short walk into town, but it’s easy to manage.

La Calahorra

If you still have the energy, La Calahorra is only twenty minutes further. This is a small village that’s easy to fit into your drive from Granada to Almeria.

The main attraction is the castle, which acted as Pentos in the hit series The House Of The Dragon and the surrounding area has also been used in several Clint Eastwood films.

The land is privately owned now, so most of the time you can only see the castle from the outside.

If you’re lucky, you might visit on one of the days that have limited opening hours and be able to explore inside which was also used within The House Of The Dragon series.

Even if it’s closed though, the views from the top of the hill are impressive, especially when there’s snow on the surrounding mountains.

If you’re in a large van, parking is easiest at the bottom of the hill here.

The gravel track gets loose and unstable further up, so don’t be tempted to drive all the way and even if you have a 4x4, it’s private property and there’s no actual parking at the top.

You only need a couple of hours here. A short walk around the castle and hill is enough to take in the history, the scenery, and the early hint of the Western landscapes you’ll find at Tabernas next.

Days 3–5: Tabernas Desert

The Tabernas Desert is Spain’s only official desert, and it’s worth giving yourself a good few days here if you can.

And yes, just to clear it up, Gorafe and Bardenas Reales often get called deserts, but they’re not really deserts. They’re badlands.

Tabernas gets less than 250mm of rain a year, which is why it’s the only one that qualifies… even though it always seems to rain when we show up.

Once you’re here, it’s easy to see why we’ve included it on the Granada to Almería drive. There’s a lot more to do than you’d expect, especially with the western film sets scattered around the area

Fort Bravo

Fort Bravo didn’t make a great first impression. The outer streets feel neglected and a bit run-down, but once you step onto the main street the whole place lifts.

The Bank Robbery show was good fun with plenty of audience interaction (it’s all in Spanish, but you’ll follow it easily), and the performers put on a decent mix of stunts and classic Western-style action.

A quick tip: once you’ve parked, follow the horse paddocks and enter from that side. It drops you straight onto the main street where everything actually looks impressive.

If you don’t have kids, you only need an hour or two here, so it’s worth timing your visit with the shows:

Saloon show: 12:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m.

Western Bank Robbery: 2:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

It’s dog-friendly, but the Bank Robbery show includes loud gunshots.

Lilly stayed in the van with one of us while the other watched, then she came for a wander afterward.

Despite being advertised as Spain’s “biggest” western theme park, we’re not convinced that’s true. It also seemed to attract more adult groups and fewer families compared to Mini Hollywood. You also can’t go inside most buildings, only the Saloon and a couple of others.

We grabbed 2-for-1 tickets on Groupon and honestly, unless they have more going on in summer, we wouldn’t pay full price.

We still enjoyed it though, and Lilly loved all the horses.

Mini Hollywood (Oasys)

Mini Hollywood is the one most people think of when you talk about Western movie sets in Spain.

We've visited a few times over the years and it really does need a full day - even if you’re not visiting with kids!

Just a heads up if you’re travelling in winter: it’s only open on weekends and public holidays… This has nearly caught us out more than once because somehow we always forget.

The Western town feels much bigger than Fort Bravo, with no unloved sections, and you can actually go inside a lot of the buildings.

Some are set up like old shops or living quarters, which makes it feel more like a little museum village than just a film set.

The show itself isn’t as entertaining as Fort Bravo’s; it’s more of a choreographed fight/dance scene with no real storyline and very little horse involvement besides one stunt.

Once you’re done with the main street, there’s a whole zoo to wander around. The animals looked well cared for, though the enclosures are definitely on the smaller side.

Mini Hollywood is dog friendly, but we left Lilly in the van for a few reasons.

The gunshots from the show are loud, and all the animals and crowds would have been overwhelming for a full day.

Sometimes she prefers snoozing in the van over busy attractions, but don’t worry! We have a Furbo to keep an eye on her and make sure to check on her regularly, and our van is set up for moments exactly like this.

Tabernas Desert Hike

Officially called the Western Leon Loop Track on All Trails, this track gives you a really nice mix of what the desert has to offer in terms of views and landscapes.

It’s only 8.5km, which takes around 3 hours to complete. Unless, of course, you travel with a photographer… then it’ll take you around 5 and a half hours because of all the photo stops.

The walk starts at the car park for Mini Hollywood. We recommend doing the walk backwards by starting behind the car park rather than crossing the road.

Going this way you’ll see the highlights earlier in the walk, like one of the filming locations for Lawrence of Arabia and some amazing rock formations, and end it with some pretty views across the valley.

We recommend using All Trails to keep an eye on which way the track goes because there are places where it’s not particularly obvious but overall it’s a really good walk!

Best Time To Do This Granada to Almería Itinerary

We’ve done this route a few times, and it’s always more comfortable outside of the summer months.

Summer in this part of Spain is stiflingly hot, to the point where it can be unbearable.

If you’re wanting to do the hike, there’s very little shade and if you’re wanting to do the movie sets you won’t be able to leave your dog in the van for very long unless you have air conditioning.

It’s still possible to do it in summer, but we personally wouldn’t recommend it. 

Final Thoughts on this Granada to Almería Route

That’s everything you need to plan a slow, scenic drive between Granada and Almería - whether you’re in a camper, travelling with your dog, or just piecing together your next Andalucía adventure.

Tweak the route to suit your pace, stay longer in the spots that surprise you, and let the quieter places do their thing. And if you do take the scenic way, let us know how it goes, we’re always curious what people end up enjoying most on this stretch of Spain.

If you’re planning more road trips around Europe, our guide to planning routes with Google Maps is a handy next step.