How do I get to Loarre Castle?

[dick bird]

The Castillo de Loarre is on of the gems of the Romanesque and is sited tantalisingly close to the Camino Catalan between Bolea and Sarsamacuello near the town of Loarre. I reckon it is possible to walk up to it and carry on in one day. Wikiloc, All trails etc show trails and I could probably just walk up the A2223. But I would like to hear from anyone who has done it and how.

 

[trecile]

The Mapy.cz app is great for things like this since it puts you on trails as much as possible.

 

[Bartman]

This is a fantastic side trip which I did in May of 2023. The first night I was there I stayed in the town of Loarre. I ventured up the road through "Camping" which is mainly used for motorhomes and caravans although there is a bungalow there and a very good restaurant. It's quite a hike to the top but definitely well worth it. It was late in the day when I did it. I came back and spent the night in the bungalow and hiked back to the castle the next day because it was so interesting. The walk was mostly on the road. Just be careful. It was cold and VERY windy. Be mindful and present.

I've included two Relive videos of that excursion. I highly recommend it.

Day 19 5.15 Bolea to Loarre

Relive 'Day 19 Bolea to Loarre'

View my hike: Day 19 Bolea to Loarre

www.relive.cc

Day 20 5.16 Zero day in Loarre

Relive 'Day 20 5.16 Zero day in Loarre'

View my hike: Day 20 5.16 Zero day in Loarre

www.relive.cc

Admission was 6€. Included is a downloadable video for a self-guided tour. I recommend getting that. Plan several hours up & back and the tour.

Buen Camino and enjoy!
Bartman

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I passed on the castle. You shouldn't. I didn't know how fantastic it is. Also it was November and so daylight hours were a premium and I made the (incorrect) decision to keep walking.

In the albergue at the sports center in Bolea I took a photo of a map of the next stage. You can see the castle with the side trip there starting from "Carretera" which isn't a named location but indicates the highway crossing.


For this post I used the OSMand app to see if there was a shortcut to the castle from the camino not using the highway. It found a 2.4 km way starting at 42.31494 -0.60509. Note that this OSM map has the campground mentioned by @Bartman appearing on the highway. The camino is highlighted by blue as seen at the green flag indicating a way to the castle at the checkered flag.


Just for fun I'm adding this picture. On maps you will see that the camino has a bridge at the entrance to the village of Loarre. Using the bridge is optional.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I just walked up from Loarre past the camping (and the restaurant was good when, for some reason, everywhere in Loarre was closed). It is uphill, but not viciously so. I was there in the late afternoon and had the place to myself, but would not have minded a tour. The view from the castle is exceptional.

The castillo has a sello, which you should definitely get on your credencial.

 

[Blister Bill]

The castle is unmissable with a great history and recently featured on the "holy grail" documentary although couldn't recall any mention on the audio tour or any markers. Good feed and view from the restaurant on the way at the camp ground.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

For readers who aren't familiar with Loarre Castle here's why it is worth a side trip. Too bad for me that I hadn't searched for these four years ago.

First, to grab you, is 3 and a half minutes of drone footage followed by a 16 minute video of the interior.

Loarre Castle had location shots filmed for a number of movies, Kingdom of Heaven is probably the most notable. The link below lists a half dozen of them.

Advanced search

www.imdb.com

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

BTW, while to add screenshots of maps to this thread @trecile used the app Mapy. cz and I used the app OSMand many of the mapping, navigation and track viewing apps mentioned on the forum use data from the Open Street Map (OSM) project. They have a web interface that you can use to view maps if you don't have one of the many OSM based apps to play with.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.

openstreetmap.org

 

[dick bird]

I am now in a position to answer my own question and have photos to prove it. We set off from Bolea at 6.30 and followed the arrows along a farm track, up and down but nothing too strenuous. After about 7kms there was a signpost pointing up the hill saying Castillo de Loarre, 5.2 kms. You could try that but having been warned against it by various sources, we carried on until we met the access road from Loarre and started walking up it. It’s a long, windy schlepp but looking at the map, probably shorter. About 1km from the top we hitched a lift with 2 Australians (who else?) in a camper van. Coming down, we discovered a much shorter path that starts by the Hípica Castillo de Loarre (riding school). We were there just after 10, which is when it opens and down in Loarre for a very good lunch by 1. So good, in fact we barely made the last 4kms to Sarsamacuello.
The first picture is exactly what you think it is. We’ll they had to go somewhere.