The Caminito del Rey is an 8-kilometre walkway suspended up to 100 metres above the Gaitanes Gorge in Málaga province, and the standalone entry ticket remains the cheapest way to walk the route at your own pace.
BOOK ENTRY TICKETS →This page covers tickets for Caminito del Rey without a guide - the standalone admission product that lets you walk the trail unaccompanied, without a packaged tour or escort. We compare prices across the official ticket office at caminitodelrey.info, the GetYourGuide entry ticket, and the Tiqets catalogue, and explain why the marketplace channel is the only practical option for unguided access despite a slightly higher headline price than the official site. The walkway crosses the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes Natural Area, a UNESCO World Heritage candidate site declared a Special Protection Area for Birds in 1987 and part of the Andalusia-Morocco Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve since 2006.
The trail runs one way from north to south, starting at the Control Booth near Ardales and ending at El Chorro village. A return shuttle bus (€2.50, paid in cash on site) connects the two ends. Standard visits take 2.5 to 3 hours at walking pace, with a hard cap on daily admissions to protect the protected landscape. Tickets sell out 5 to 15 days in advance during high season (March-June, September-October), and same-day tickets are almost never available at the gate from April onwards.
The official ticket office at caminitodelrey.info lists General Admission at €10 and an Official Guided Visit at €18. GetYourGuide sells the same unguided entry ticket from €15 with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Tiqets does not currently distribute an entry-only product - its catalogue starts at €41 with guided tours bundled in, which is a different product category.
The price difference of €5 between the official site and GetYourGuide reflects the booking fee, payment processing, and free-cancellation flexibility added by the marketplace. Both tickets grant identical access to the walkway with identical time slots, identical helmets supplied at the entrance, and identical mandatory ID checks at the Control Booth.
| Ticket Type | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Entry Ticket (unguided) | from €15 | GetYourGuide |
| General Admission | €10 | caminitodelrey.info |
| Official Guided Visit | €18 | caminitodelrey.info |
| Shuttle Bus (return) | €2.50 | On-site, cash only |
| Parking at Visitor Centre | €2 | On-site, cash only |
| Children under 8 | not admitted | Both channels |
| Visitors aged 8-17 | full price + adult escort | Both channels |
Caminito del Rey does not offer reduced rates for students, seniors, or residents - the same flat fee applies regardless of nationality or age above 8, which is unusual among Spanish heritage sites. Children under 8 are not admitted under any circumstances due to the height exposure and walkway design, and visitors between 8 and 17 must be escorted by an adult who carries their original ID or family book to the Control Booth.
For the unguided entry product, GetYourGuide is the only practical option currently available. The official site is technically cheaper at €10, but three issues make it unreliable for international visitors. First, the official site footer still displays a 2021 copyright with no public update since, and the calendar interface frequently shows blocked dates that are in fact available through marketplace inventory - a sign that the listed inventory may not reflect real-time availability. Second, the official site enforces strict non-refundable terms with no flexibility for flight cancellations, weather closures, or schedule changes. Third, support is Spanish-language only with no documented response times.
GetYourGuide's Entry Ticket product carries 4.7/5 from 4,948 verified reviews and is the platform's #1 selling Caminito del Rey product across all categories, including guided tours. Tiqets is mentioned for context only: the platform lists 12+ Caminito del Rey activities, all of them guided tours or day trips with shuttle and meal packages from €41 upwards. There is no Tiqets equivalent to the unguided entry ticket, so the comparison ends with GetYourGuide and the official site.
The Entry Ticket on GetYourGuide costs from €15 and includes the following benefits:
The Caminito del Rey operates Tuesday to Sunday with strictly enforced time-slot admissions, typically from 09:30 to 14:30 in winter (November-March) and from 09:00 to 17:00 in summer (April-October). The trail is closed every Monday for maintenance and on 24, 25, and 31 December and 1 January. Time slots open every 30 minutes, and visitors must arrive at the Control Booth within the 30-minute window printed on the ticket - late arrivals are not admitted and tickets are not refunded by the official channel.
Peak congestion occurs between 11:00 and 13:00 on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October, particularly around Easter and on Spanish national holidays. The first slot of the day at 09:00-09:30 and the last slot before closing offer the quietest walking experience, with fewer photographers blocking the narrower glass-floor sections of the walkway. The full walk including the 1.5 km approach from the shuttle bus drop-off to the Control Booth takes 3 to 3.5 hours door-to-door, and the return shuttle from El Chorro back to the Visitor Centre car park runs every 30 minutes.
The GetYourGuide entry ticket can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before the visit, with full refund to the original payment method within 5-10 business days, while the Reserve now, pay later option lets you lock a time slot without immediate payment. The official caminitodelrey.info ticket is non-refundable once confirmed, and date or time changes are at the discretion of the operator UTE Caminito del Rey. For weather closures, which happen 10-15 days per year due to high winds in the gorge, the operator reschedules visits free of charge but does not refund. Support: getyourguide.com/contact.
Five essential rules drawn from verified reviews and on-site practice:
The walkway divides into three distinct sections that anyone can navigate solo with the printed map provided at the Control Booth:
The Caminito del Rey Visitor Reception Centre is located at Puerto de las Atalayas, 6 km from the Ardales crossing and 57.7 km north of Málaga city via the A-357 and MA-5403 roads. The official website is caminitodelrey.info. There is paid parking at the Visitor Centre for €2 per day, and no public transport runs directly to the north entrance: the Málaga-Sevilla train via El Chorro station serves the south exit only.
| Address | Puerto de las Atalayas, 29550 Ardales |
| Official website | caminitodelrey.info |
| Distance from Málaga | 57.7 km via A-357 |
| Distance from Sevilla | 200 km via A-92 |
| Total walkway length | 7.7 km |
| Boardwalk sections | 2.9 km |
| Maximum height | 105 metres above the river |
| Suspension bridge | 35 metres, glass-floor section |
| Walking direction | One way, north to south |
| Average walking time | 2.5 - 3 hours |
| Closed | Mondays, 24-25 and 31 Dec, 1 Jan |
| Minimum age | 8 years (mandatory ID check) |
| Annual visitors | approx. 300,000 (capped) |