Places to Visit - the Murcia Countryside
Places to Visit - the Murcia Countryside

Places to Visit - the Murcia Countryside

Murcia has a wide range of countryside. The area around the Mar Menor is predominantly flat and is known as the “market garden” of Spain. It is farmed for salad vegetables, oranges and lemons, melons (and even cotton) much of which makes it’s way to our supermarkets.

To the north of the Mar Menor is the Salinas Regional Park which is an area of old salt lagoons with hides where you can watch a wide variety of birdlife including pink flamingos.

To the south of the Mar Menor the Calblanque Regional Park is a preserved area with steep hills that plunge directly into the Mediterranean. Accessed only by unmade roads, this is a great area for walking, horse riding and has some wonderful golden sand beaches and coves.

Inland, the terrain changes dramatically with wide open fertile valleys separated by mountain ranges. The agriculture is different here too with a wide range of soft fruits (peaches and apricots etc) interspersed with large vineyards and even rice in paddy fields (Calasparra). Jumilla is worth a drive out for it’s bodegas and wine festival. Also the Ricote Valley links a number of small villages as the river Segura makes it’s way towards Murcia City.

The Sierra Espuna Regional Park protects a range of mountains just inland from Totana and Alhama de Murcia. A beautiful road traverses the sierras linking these 2 towns, with stops en-route where you can walk dedicated trails, mountain bike or even go mountaineering. This is a beautiful area and well worth a visit.