Welcome to Walking Extremadura — the web site all about walking in Extremadura
I started this web site in the Summer of 2007. It was just after I came to live in the Sierra de Montánchez and realised there were unexplored walking opportunities available in the area. I wanted to share what I was discovering, firstly with family and friends and later, with the much wider, and international, walking community. Walking Extremadura will show you the beauty of walking in this area - and not just walking. This is also the place for painters, flower lovers, bird watchers, photographers, animal lovers and people who love history. That’s before we start on about lovers of good food and relaxed and enjoyable company. You will find all that and more in Extremadura.
On walkingextremadura.com you will find:
To navigate this site use the horizontal menu bar at the top. All the walks can be found listed under the 'walks' button, then the area in which they are located geographically. It's logical, I hope. The site has been made simple so that all of us spend less time on the computer and more time walking.
I have my boots on, ready, as I write.
Gisela Radant Wood
All photography and text on this site © Gisela Radant Wood
(Click on small photos to get a whole-screen view, then close by clicking the x in the top right corner.)
All maps are by Google
On walkingextremadura.com you will find:
- regularly written up walks and routes with descriptive text, maps and GPS points to locate walks accurately
- a few historical notes on the routes and general information on walking in Extremadura
- a lot of photography to tempt you here
- how to get here and where to stay
- links, changing pages and updates
To navigate this site use the horizontal menu bar at the top. All the walks can be found listed under the 'walks' button, then the area in which they are located geographically. It's logical, I hope. The site has been made simple so that all of us spend less time on the computer and more time walking.
I have my boots on, ready, as I write.
Gisela Radant Wood
All photography and text on this site © Gisela Radant Wood
(Click on small photos to get a whole-screen view, then close by clicking the x in the top right corner.)
All maps are by Google
Walking News and Updates • 9th June 2025
The Mayor of Botija and the Director of Tourism explaining what to see in the valley below the village walls.
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The stone parts of the walls of dwellings have survived, while the adobe part and the roofs made from wood have long since perished.
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On the 31st May I was part of an archaeological information and invitation day at Villasviejas de Tamuja. Over two thousand years ago, this special place was a thriving village inhabited by a Celtiberian tribe called the Vettons. The nearby town of Botija put on an event once a year when the experts conduct guided tours for groups of interested people. It was a hot day but we moved through the site going from the shade of one encina (holm oak) to another. New discoveries of walls were the highlight. Work is on-going and at times it seems that the whole of Extremadura is one huge archaeological site. The people here are well aware of their important heritage and they love to celebrate it and share it with others. Most of the people who attended the event are Spanish but there were also British, Dutch and German people who live locally and wanted to know more about Villasviejas de Tamuja.
At various stages throughout the site there were displays of defensive stratergies including the use of the sling-shot. A young woman explained the spinning and weaving of flax to make cool linen garments and of wool for the warmer items. The textiles were dyed using locally-grown plants. We were shown examples of cereal crops and beans that would have been cultivated in the area in the time of the Vettons.
The tour took three hours and when we arrived back at the start — a level area with many shady encinas — pavilions had been erected and we were treated to a gastronomic adventure. The Mancomunidad de Montánchez put on a wonderful selection of foods that the Vettons would have also enjoyed — soft beef in a herb sauce with flour biscuits, pork with honey, thick warm white bean soup with herbs and a creamy milk and honey pudding with dried wild fruits. All was served to each person individually as we sat in chairs in the shade. Then came a tasting of four different cheeses which would also have been known to the Vettons; sheep cheese, goat cheese and cow's milk cheese and the most wonderful creamy blue cheese stronger than Stilton but really delicious. Then came the jamón tasting. All was really nice and, of course, no Extremeño event is ever complete without food.
Thanks to Victorino Mayoral Herrera, the Chief Archaeologist at Villasviejas de Tamuja, to Juan Rentero de la Morena, the Mayor at Botija and to Jesús Miguel Viñuales Blanco, the Director of Tourism at the Junta de Extremadura.
This site has two walks that incorporate Villasviejas de Tamuja, here and here and in my new book, see below, chapter three, 'The Celtiberian Tribes and the Carthaginians', relates some of the history of the area on pages 90 to 93.
On the 1st May, I updated a favourite walk, the Ruta de Donde Nace in Montánchez. It now incorporates an option to take in an impressive view of the town of Montánchez with the Sierra de Gredos in the distance. I have also posted two new flowers on the 'flowers' page: Chick Lupine (Lupinus Microcarpus) and Hairy Vetch (Vicia Villosa). I thought I knew everything that grew in the area but there is always something new to see and to discover even on routes walked many times before.
My new book has now been published
The History of Extremadura
and where to see it
ISBN: 979-83111816663
English language
404 pages
66 black and white photographs
3 maps
Published 2025 on Amazon
All the information is here
Slideshow at the top of the home page:
Montánchez Castle seen from the footpath between Montánchez and Arroyomolinos
Between Garganta del Olla and Cuacos de Yuste, La Vera
Wild flowers growing almost everywhere throughout Extremadura during the Spring months
Walking towards the Hermitage of Our Lady of Snows, Guijo de Santa Barbara, Sierra de Gredos
Looking west from the slopes of Cancho Blanco, Sierra de Montánchez
Near the head of the Arroyo de la Garganta, north of Robeldillo de Gata, Sierra de Gata-Las Hurdes border
Cascades Nogaleas, Navaconcejo, Montes de Tras la Sierra
Short-toed eagle looking for breakfast over the Sierra de Montánchez (below the eagle but hidden)
Near Los Pilones, Parque Natural Garganta de los Infiernos, Jerte Valley
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Almoharín, Sierra de Montánchez
Fritillary butterfly on thistles near the Castle of Amenara, Gata, Sierra de Gata
Camino del Payo between Villamiel and Payo, Sierra de Gata
Griffon Vultures on the path up to the Moorish Castle, Monfragüe National Park
At various stages throughout the site there were displays of defensive stratergies including the use of the sling-shot. A young woman explained the spinning and weaving of flax to make cool linen garments and of wool for the warmer items. The textiles were dyed using locally-grown plants. We were shown examples of cereal crops and beans that would have been cultivated in the area in the time of the Vettons.
The tour took three hours and when we arrived back at the start — a level area with many shady encinas — pavilions had been erected and we were treated to a gastronomic adventure. The Mancomunidad de Montánchez put on a wonderful selection of foods that the Vettons would have also enjoyed — soft beef in a herb sauce with flour biscuits, pork with honey, thick warm white bean soup with herbs and a creamy milk and honey pudding with dried wild fruits. All was served to each person individually as we sat in chairs in the shade. Then came a tasting of four different cheeses which would also have been known to the Vettons; sheep cheese, goat cheese and cow's milk cheese and the most wonderful creamy blue cheese stronger than Stilton but really delicious. Then came the jamón tasting. All was really nice and, of course, no Extremeño event is ever complete without food.
Thanks to Victorino Mayoral Herrera, the Chief Archaeologist at Villasviejas de Tamuja, to Juan Rentero de la Morena, the Mayor at Botija and to Jesús Miguel Viñuales Blanco, the Director of Tourism at the Junta de Extremadura.
This site has two walks that incorporate Villasviejas de Tamuja, here and here and in my new book, see below, chapter three, 'The Celtiberian Tribes and the Carthaginians', relates some of the history of the area on pages 90 to 93.
On the 1st May, I updated a favourite walk, the Ruta de Donde Nace in Montánchez. It now incorporates an option to take in an impressive view of the town of Montánchez with the Sierra de Gredos in the distance. I have also posted two new flowers on the 'flowers' page: Chick Lupine (Lupinus Microcarpus) and Hairy Vetch (Vicia Villosa). I thought I knew everything that grew in the area but there is always something new to see and to discover even on routes walked many times before.
My new book has now been published
The History of Extremadura
and where to see it
ISBN: 979-83111816663
English language
404 pages
66 black and white photographs
3 maps
Published 2025 on Amazon
All the information is here
Slideshow at the top of the home page:
Montánchez Castle seen from the footpath between Montánchez and Arroyomolinos
Between Garganta del Olla and Cuacos de Yuste, La Vera
Wild flowers growing almost everywhere throughout Extremadura during the Spring months
Walking towards the Hermitage of Our Lady of Snows, Guijo de Santa Barbara, Sierra de Gredos
Looking west from the slopes of Cancho Blanco, Sierra de Montánchez
Near the head of the Arroyo de la Garganta, north of Robeldillo de Gata, Sierra de Gata-Las Hurdes border
Cascades Nogaleas, Navaconcejo, Montes de Tras la Sierra
Short-toed eagle looking for breakfast over the Sierra de Montánchez (below the eagle but hidden)
Near Los Pilones, Parque Natural Garganta de los Infiernos, Jerte Valley
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Almoharín, Sierra de Montánchez
Fritillary butterfly on thistles near the Castle of Amenara, Gata, Sierra de Gata
Camino del Payo between Villamiel and Payo, Sierra de Gata
Griffon Vultures on the path up to the Moorish Castle, Monfragüe National Park
walkingextremadura.com has had 29,367 visitors looking at 481,575 pages in the past 6 months (Stats from ipage)
We are not on FaceBook or Twitter (I'd rather be walking) but if you want to keep up with the news just put us into 'favourites' and visit every so often.
We are not on FaceBook or Twitter (I'd rather be walking) but if you want to keep up with the news just put us into 'favourites' and visit every so often.