Hiking the Waterfalls of Buñol

After many a day trip visiting surrounding cities and towns, I was in desperate need of a good dose of nature and fresh air, so with pure sunshine on the forecast, my AirBnB roommate and I left behind the busy bustling city of Valencia and headed inland to Buñol, about an hour away by train.

Buñol is perhaps most widely known for La Tomatina, the annual tomato festival, when everyone gathers from far and wide in late August to quite literally throw tomatoes at each other. Sounds like a pile of fun.

The rest of the year, Buñol is a sleepy little town where not much goes on and its inhabitants live quiet lives. On hot sunny weekends such as the one we found ourselves with, residents gather near the local waterfalls to cool off in the spray from the gushing waters. There are two beautiful waterfalls near Buñol: Cueva Turche and Cueva de las Palomas. There are walking trails that connect them both with Buñol, although they're not very clearly marked and Google Maps wasn't entirely accurate; I'll do my best to explain the routes below. In total from the Buñol train station to the waterfalls and back, we walked just over 15km.

Start your time in Buñol with a wander through town and with a visit to the Castillo de Buñol which offers views down over the city. Pop over to the Mirador de la Cruz on the other side of town for a great panoramic view of all of Buñol.

To reach Cueva de las Palomas, follow the signs for Charco Mañán, but then keep going up until you reach a gate. Immediately to the right hand side of the gate is the trail you need to follow. Don't cross the river at any time, just keep going all the way along the river, past the parking lot. Eventually you'll come to a little concrete hut in the woods, turn left up and scramble up the hill to a big campground, which is right on the outlook over Cueva de las Palomas.

To make your way back to Buñol, you'll need to hike back along the trail along the opposite side of the campground on the other side of the river that falls out of Cueva de las Palomas. Follow the white and green painted stripe trail markers all the way along the river, until you come to a red hand painted sign with an arrow to Buñol and an arrow to Rio; follow the path all the way back to Buñol (approx. 5km from Cueva de las Palomas total).