Hiking to Far de Cala Nans in Cadaques with kids
Wendi on the Wall of Far de Cala Nans Lighthouse with Cadaques in the distance
Introduction to Cadaques:
Cadaques may be the most perfect town I have ever visited. One of my favorite things we did in Cadaques was spend a day hiking to Far de Cala Nans and relaxing at the secluded pebble beach, Platja de sa Sabolla. This trail starts on the southwestern edge of town, winds along the rugged coast, passing by a few beaches along the way, and ends at a lighthouse on a point jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. It provides amazing views looking back at Cadaques and out at the Mediterranean Sea while hiking through the beautiful wind-battered desert shrub along the coast.
The beautiful trail cut through the flowering shrubs on the Cadaques Coast
Length:
4.4 miles total out and back.
Difficulty:
Easy
Elevation change:
692 feet
Payout:
10/10. This is a fantastic trail with high reward for your work. The views are amazing and the secluded beach is just perfect.
View of Platja de sa Sabolla from the Far de Cala Nans Trail
Trailhead:
The trail technically starts near the Statue of Salvador Dali on Riba Nemesi Llorens, the main road along the harbor in Cadaques. For the first part of the “trail” you will walk along the street, continuing to make your way around the bay.
The trail continuing past Platja des Llane Gran leaving the city of Cadaques
Following the trail:
The only tricky part is following the trail through the edge of town. You will pass several beaches, as you walk along the southwestern side of town. When you get to Llaner Petit, don’t take the trail that leads out along the coast to Punta de Sa Conde. Instead, follow the street inland to cut across the peninsula. We accidentally took the trail along the coast here. I don’t regret the detour, since the views from the point were excellent, but it did hurt the morale a bit to have to backtrack to get on the right trail.
The beach that leads to the Punt de Sa Conde trail. The steps in the distance are what mislead us. We should have followed the road up the hill instead.
Continue to follow Carrer de sa Jorneta until you come to a sign post with yellow signs, indicating you should turn left to follow the Far de Cala Nans. This part is a bit tricky.
The fork at Avinguda Verge Del Carmen
You want to follow the small road forking off to the left here, Avinguda Verge del Carmen. You will see a sign along the wall to encourage you to keep working your way along the road to where the real trail begins.
After you pass Platja de sa Conca, the path will turn into a more traditional trail composed of small packed gravel. From here on out, the path is easy to follow without any confusion. As always, I recommend using the Alltrails app and downloading the map.
A view of Platja de sa Sabolla with part of Cadaques and Cucurucuc Rock in the distance
Plantja de sa Sabolla: As you make your way to the lighthouse, you will see the secluded beach in the cove below. We hiked out to the lighthouse to finish the trail and then hiked back to the beach to relax and have a small picnic. In order to get to the beach, there are two small paths leading down from the trail. Both are a bit tricky to find/follow.
The path down to the Platja de sa Sabolla from the lighthouse side is subtle, but more developed than the path on the other side of the beach. Here you can see Joey standing at the start of the path. You can also see the vague trail on the other side of the cove heading down to the slanted limestone rock on the beach.
We took the one leading down from the lighthouse side of the cove on our way back from seeing the lighthouse. Be aware that the last bit of the descent will require a slightly more technical final move to step down to the beach. We took the second path to get back up to the trail on the other side of the cove.
This slanted rock leads from the center of the beach up to the trail but is less well established than the trail we took down.
This involves walking up the slanted rock at the beach and finding a common use trail at the top to get back to the main trail. This beach is definitely worth the extra work to find your way down if you have time.
The trail to the beach on the Cadaques side appears more developed at the top but gets harder to follow halfway down
There is a second, much smaller beach closer to the lighthouse. We did not go down to check it out as it looked a little more exposed to the surf and much smaller.
Facilities:
You will pass all the lovely cafes along the edge of town if you need to stop on your way out or back for refreshments. We enjoyed a drink at Blau Bar on our way back into town. There are no facilities on the trail once you leave town, however.
Gus working on a rock structure inspired by a rock shelter at the beach
Tips:
Give yourself plenty of time to relax at Plantja de sa Sabolla.
Pack a picnic for the beach.
This one is easy enough to do in sturdy sandals, like Chacos, but I wouldn’t do it in flip flops or loose sandals.
Pay close attention during the section of the walk when you are leaving town and don’t make the mistake that we did of walking out to the Punta de sa Conde.
Be aware that you may pass nude sunbathers along this route and topless women at any beach in Spain. Just make sure your kids are prepared. Our 10 year old barely notices, but our 12 and 14 year olds do.
Relaxing on the smooth stones of Platja De Sa Sabolla
Final thoughts:
This is a great, easy trail with amazing views and a lovely secluded pebble beach. I definitely recommend adding this one to your Cadaques itinerary. Share your experiences with the trail in the comments below.
The pockets of black sand were soft, warm and inviting. Notice the cool shelter near Casey that is made entirely of beach stone.
