The L’Albir Lighthouse Route is a very simple and accessible excursion , suitable for strollers and wheelchairs, which will lead you along a paved road closed to traffic to the top of Punta Bombarda, at the northern end of the Serra Gelada Natural Park. This gentle walk will allow you to enjoy magnificent views of the Bay of Altea, the Serra de Bèrnia and the Serra Gelada itself.
The zigzagging path to the lighthouse is a perfect excursion to initiate children -and adults- in hiking and return home with that pleasant aftertaste that contact with nature and the view of the Mediterranean horizon leaves in us. Are you going to miss that feeling? Read on for details of this route!
Hike Overview
From the information point of l’Albir we will follow an asphalt road, practically flat and with no possibility of getting lost. Along the way we cross a small tunnel and find several viewpoints connected to the main path by a short stretch of trail and stairs.
The path leads us to the end of Punta Bombarda, where the L’Albir lighthouse is located and currently serves as the interpretation center of the natural park. Next to the lighthouse you can see the ruins of the Torre Bombarda, built in the 16th century for anti-corsair surveillance.
It is a one way easy walk of 5 kilometers in total. The approximate time to walk it is an hour and a half, depending on the pace of each person. I recommend in this case to walk without haste and enjoy each of the viewpoints. It is a route suitable for children, even with a baby stroller.
ROUTE SHEET
- Difficulty: Very Easy, all audiences
- Linear route (round trip)
- Total distance: 5 km (round trip)
- Slope: +100 m.
- Approximate time: 1-2 hours
- Accessible: YES. Wheelchair, pushchair, cyclable
- Cyclable: during special hours
How to get
The start of the route will be the Information Point of l’Albir of the Serra Gelada Natural Park (see map). Here we find a large parking area, although it is usually full by mid-morning on weekends. There are also a couple of unpaved open spaces and parking space in nearby streets.
L’Albir is a population center that belongs to the municipality of l’Alfàs del Pi and that, over the years, has become an important tourist destination on the Costa Blanca, hosting several hotels of different categories. There are also many vacation rental options in Albir.
Description and Photographs
We start at the information point of l’Albir, where we find different information panels about the hiking route that we are going to do.
For cycling enthusiasts, it is a bike path, i.e., suitable for cycling, but only in a regulated schedule: until 10:00 am and from 8:00 pm. If we opt for this option, we must remember that pedestrians have priority.
Just over a hundred meters from the start of the route, we find a recreational area with some tables and shade . We will have to get up very early if we want to get a seat.
A little further on we find the fork in the yellow route : La Travesía de la Serra Gelada . It is a route of medium/high difficulty that runs along the entire crest of the mountain range.
We discard this fork and continue advancing along the paved road. We arrive at the first viewpoints of the route. The second balcony is especially beautiful, with fantastic views of the Bay of Altea , with the Serra de Bèrnia in the background.
The day I did the route, the visibility was not very good. Despite this, from the second viewpoint we could easily see the Peñón de Ifach , also a natural park, located in the neighboring town of Calp.
Along the route we find different information panels of the #install photographic route, an initiative of the Department of Tourism of l’Alfàs. If you are an instagramer , be sure to follow Turismo l’Alfàs on Instagram .
As I said at the beginning of the post, this is a cyclable path (hours 8 pm → 10 am, off-peak hours). A good way to enjoy the route, because the slope of it is very smooth. You can also choose to use the BiciAltea rental bikes.
Close to the Albir Lighthouse we find another viewpoint, a fantastic ledge on the face of the mountain range that overlooks the sea, with its impressive cliffs and fossil dunes. To get to it we have to go up a small stretch of path.
After 2.5 kilometers we reach the end of the route: The Albir Lighthouse Interpretation Center. Here we can visit the exhibition of photographs of the Albir Lighthouse itself and the Serra Gelada, with a lot of information and curious data.
Hours of the Lighthouse Interpretation Center of l’Albir
WINTER TIMETABLE
- Monday – Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
TIMETABLE SUMMER
- Monday – Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
- Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- Wednesday – Saturday: 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
For guided tours, contact the phone number 965 889 424
I hope you have enjoyed the route, see you in the next one!
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Route Track
In case you need it, you can consult/download the GPS track of the Faro de l’Albir route, available in our wikiloc profile:
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It’s not for wheelchairs!!!!!!!! Whoever said so didn’t go there. Please check the info you post.
Dear Casandra: I have been on this route many times and I can confirm that it is perfectly valid and ideal to enjoy in a wheelchair. The official website of the Natural Park also confirms this. All the best