Routes

An oasis in the heart of La Mancha. Numerous lagoons with crystal clear waters breaking up the Manchego landscape are to be found, pouring life into the Campo de Montiel. A landscape ideal for immersing oneself and enjoying nature, in one of the areas with the greatest natural landscape beauty to be found on the peninsula. The Natural Park of Las Lagunas de Ruidera, in the Alto Valle of the Guadiana River, is composed by a chain of fifteen lagoons, connected to each other by streams, torrents, cascades or subterranean channels.

Water floods the narrow valley, creating havens with splendid tonalities. Lagoons surrounded by wild reeds and cattails, baptized with names such as Colgada, Salvadora, Batana, Lengua, Coladilla are the refuge for many water birds, as is the case with the Mallard Duck and the Great Crested Grebe, apart from Iberian Barbells, Carps and Pikes. Walking through the ancient Savines of the Alto Valle or the reed beds of the lower lagoons reveals the extensive and varied fauna of this privileged habitat. Marsh Harriers, foxes, boars, turtledoves or otters, amongst many others, are all to be found in the habitats of the Manchego oasis.

Close to one of the lagoons, the San Pedro Lagoon, the famous Cueva de Montesinos is to be found, immortalized in El Quixote, and just north of this natural enclave, without abandoning Cervantes’ universe, we reach what is known as “A place in La Mancha”, name of which Cervantes did not wish to remember at the beginning of his great work, Argamasilla de Alba.

The people of this typical Manchego village claim for themselves the honor of being the Villa where Miguel de Cervantes started to write the first lines of the story of the Ingenious Gentleman while he was a prisoner held in the “Cueva del Medrano”.

Argamasilla is an important archeological site, where remains of Motillas (shelters), characteristic prehistoric settlements in the area, are still to be found, apart from the possibility of enjoying interesting visits to historical buildings such as the Church of Saint John the Baptist or the Casa del Bachiller Sansón Carrasco and close to the town the Castle and Sanctuary of Peñarroya are also to be highlighted, both of Muslim origin.

In the part of the province of Albacete that borders with the Natural Park of Lagunas de Ruidera, we encounter the villages corresponding to the Campo de Montiel, these being El Bonillo, Ossa de Montiel or Munera, where the landscape ripples along low-lying hills covered in Savines and Kermes Oaks. Currently, these populations of Roman origin offer the traveler alternatives that combine nature, culture and leisure.

Visiting the landscapes of the Natural Park of Lagunas de Ruidera, in particular the gorgeous waterfalls in the so-known El Hundimiento, Cueva de Montesinos and Argamasilla de Alba, apart from the Peñarroya Castle and the Casa de Medrano.

Enjoying contact with nature, a swim in the Lagoons, rural accommodation in the area, the Quixote routes parting from Argamasilla de Alba.

Trying the hearty dishes of a shepherding and Cervantine origin such as the Galianos, based on shepherd torts, mountain hare, potatoes and lard; the salpicón manchego and the wedding meat. For desert nothing better than to try arroz de polvorín (Powder Keg Rice) and rollos de anís (Anisette Rolls).