Information
Getting around Castillo de Locubin
Town square, with two bars and many restaurants, is 10 minutes’ walk with an atmospheric park which regularly hosts festivals and music events. There are shops, banks, bars, around the square. There are several supermarkets in the town, DIA being the largest which is next door to the main bus stop (on the left of the main road up to the top end of town). All the local supermarkets close for the siesta between 2 and 5, however there is a small shop on the road up to the park, on the left which remains open Pasteleria Churches Merchi and there are also large supermarkets in Alcala la Real and
Alcaudete that are open all day.
There is a public swimming pool in Calle Felipe Castillo with its own bar.
Our favourite wine bar Restaurante El Moreno is located in the square minutes’ walk away from the casa. You will find other wine bars cafes and restaurants around the village.
Local places of interest
Nacimiento del río San Juan:
An idyllic place that is accessed by the C-3221 that links Castillo and neighbouring Valdepeñas de Jaén. Two kilometres away there is a detour to the right along a narrow road, which gives access to the car park of the recreational area, full of water and life. A place of great coolness and serenity, where several pools of cold, crystalline water emerge from the side of a mountain. Some years ago this place became a recreational area. The most spectacular thing about this source, something that is rarely seen elsewhere, is the way in which the water bubbles up from the floor of the ponds, across an extension of a thousand square meters, forming beautiful Intermittent columns of bubbles to the surface. The temperature of the water, being too cold, does not allow for fish to occupy it.
Montefrio:
Located off the tourist trail in the northwestern corner of Granada province near the Cordoba border, this friendly village enjoys one of the regions most striking settings, with one of its churches perched on top of a bare, rocky pinnacle, overlooking the town and its surrounding hillsides clothed in olive groves and fields of cereal crops. It nestles between two memorable hilltop churches; you can't miss either of them since they dominate the skyline.
Priego de Cordoba:
This prosperous olive-farming town stands on a plateau overlooking the rolling hills of the Subbética Mountain Range, and is famous for its baroque churches, in which the convoluted patterns are elegantly incised into the stone façades, such as the Iglesia de la Asunción and the Iglesia de la Aurora, from which a cloaked brotherhood sets out on a procession every Saturday night, singing songs and collecting alms.
Iznajar:
This small town of some six thousand inhabitants was transformed some years ago
by the creation of a reservoir, below the promontory on which Iznajar sits in the River Genil valley. Today, to all intents and purposes, Iznajar now has a waterfront, overlooking an inland sea some thirty kilometres long, and containing an estimated 900 million cubic metres of water (when we last measured it!) destined for domestic consumption. Iznajar itself escaped the submersion and if anything, the lake below has given further resonance to its unofficial title as the Mirador (viewpoint) del Genil. Surrounding countryside and communications have been radically altered, not least by a bridge built across the reservoir near Iznajar in order to continue to carry traffic on the Archidona to Priego de Córdoba road. In effect, Iznajar now offers the perfect setting for anyone wanting to live in the interior but still retain a sea view. Iznajar is situated near the southerly border of Córdoba province, and serves as a natural entrance to the Sierra Subeticas Natural Park. From the south, it is best reached from Junction 175 on the A92 Sevilla-Granada motorway, and is only 20km from the turnoff. Town and embalse - named after it - are north of Archidona on the map. The town of Rute is to the north-west and, beyond that, Lucena. Priego de Córdoba lies to the north-east,Jáen beyond it.
Granada - Alhambra Palace
The Alhambra is one of the most beautiful historic palaces you can visit in Spain. Booking tickets is essential and if you want we can assist. There is so much to see in Granada, you could spend several days exploring less than one hours easy drive from Locubin Cordoba Mezquita a must visit is easily reachable in just over an hours travel.
Our other favourite places to visit
Lucena 50 minutes drive
Antequera 1 hour 25 minutes drive Baeza and Ubeda 1 hour 20 minutes drive
Ronda 2 hours 30 minutes drive
Nichols bar, restaurant, museum and trailway:
On the site of an old railway station at Luque on the N432 just past Alcaudete. You can still dine in the old restaurant carriages (air conditioned in the summer) and there is an interesting collection of historic machinery etc. Entrance is free. A fascinating shop is attached selling all sorts of traditional Spanish foods at
reasonable prices. We visit each time we come have lunch and then purchase our olives oils nuts wonderful cava and delicious chocolate.
