How the ticket system for Caminito del Rey works

Twice a year, tickets are released for sale for the next six months. This is announced in the local newspapers.

However, only 30% of the tickets are put up for sale on the official website.

The remaining 70% of the tickets are reserved for sale through agencies.

Of the 30% sold on the official website, less than half are tickets without a guide.

The tickets without a guide for the next six months are sold out within the first 2-3 weeks.

And after 1-2 months, all tickets on the official website are sold out.

After that, it is only possible to buy tickets through agencies, e.g. Tiqets or Caminitodelrey.tickets

If you just want to walk the Caminito del Rey on your own – without a guide

Then you have to prepare far in advance – and be very aware!

If you follow the local newspapers, for example Diariosur.es, you will see when the tickets are released for sale twice a year.

Otherwise, you can try contacting the local agencies. Most agencies only sell tickets with a guide, but there may be some that sell without a guide.

The ticket system is designed this way on purpose

It is not due to poor planning or amateurish design. It is intentional.

The reason is that the local authorities that run Caminito del Rey want ticket sales to have a positive impact on the local economy.

They do not want you to buy tickets without other services, because that has almost no impact on the local economy.

The ticket system is designed to ensure that as many people as possible buy tickets with a guide, bus, transfer, parking and other services included.

In this way, the authorities ensure that as many locals as possible have job opportunities on or around Caminito del Rey.

Look at it positively: When you buy a guided tour, you contribute to reducing the sky-high unemployment among young people in Andalusia.

How to choose your tickets

Since there are no tickets without a guide, choose a ticket with a guided tour.

There is plenty of space on Caminito del Rey, so you won’t have to walk in groups or huddle together.

Then choose your ticket based on where and how you arrive.

If you are coming by car and want easy parking, choose a ticket from the visitor center.

If you are coming by car and want to park close to the entrance, choose a ticket from El Kiosko.

And if you are coming by train, choose a ticket from El Chorro (La Garganta).

How it works starting in El Chorro

The tickets from El Chorro start at La Garganta restaurant/hotel. Right across from the train station.

There is no parking at La Garganta, so if you are coming by car, you must park just after the bridge – and walk up.

First you go with the shuttle bus to the entrance (north entrance).

Here you go through a footpath tunnel and walk about a kilometer down to the starting point.

After walking the Caminito del Rey, you go up to La Garganta/the station – or down to the parking lot by the bridge.

How it works starting at El Kiosko

If you are lucky, you can find free parking in front of El Kiosko or nearby.

Otherwise, park in the 2-EUR parking lot, where there is usually space.

Meet the guide in front of the El Kiosko restaurant.

First, you go through a footpath tunnel and about 1 kilometer down to the starting point.

After walking the Caminito del Rey, you go up to the station where the shuttle bus stops.

Take the shuttle bus back to the 2-EUR parking lot or to El Kiosko.

How it works starting from the visitor center

Park your car in the large parking lot at the visitor center.

Take the shuttle bus to the entrance (north entrance).

Here you go through a footpath tunnel and about 1 km down to the starting point.

After walking the Caminito del Rey, you go up to the station where the shuttle bus stops.

Take the shuttle bus back to the visitor center.

The disadvantage is that you have to wait for the shuttle bus twice.

The new suspension bridge is included in the prices

In June 2026, a new 110-meter-long suspension bridge from the exit of the gorge to El Chorro was inaugurated.

It is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Spain. A fantastic experience.

You can choose to either walk the new suspension bridge or walk the ´old´ footpath to El Chorro.

The new suspension bridge has been thoroughly tested and is completely safe

Before the inauguration, they had, among other things, 20 full-grown firefighters running in a column back and forth across the bridge to prove its durability.

Like the rest of the Caminito del Rey, it is completely safe and thoroughly tested.

You are not forced to walk across the new suspension bridge

If you do not want to walk across the new suspension bridge, you can simply choose to walk the old footpath from the exit to El Chorro.

You do not have to choose the same either. Some of you can easily walk across the suspension bridge while the rest take the old path.

You can see each other from the footpath to the suspension bridge – and wave at each other along the way.

The shuttle bus accepts both cash and card payments

Many sites on the internet state that the shuttle bus only takes cash. This is no longer true.

You can easily pay by card or mobile phone on the shuttle bus.

Remember that with the shuttle bus, as well as with the guide, parking and other services, you contribute to the local economy and to reducing youth unemployment.

This also applies when you eat at the local restaurants. La Garganta restaurant (in El Chorro, at the end of Caminito del Rey) is recommended.