Day Trip to Montanejos Hot Springs
One of my favorite things when planning a trip is doing all the research into what to do (big surprise for a travel blogger, right?) and when I came across photos of the hot springs in Montanejos I knew this would be at the top of my list. It is just over an hour north of Valencia, and in my opinion it is well worth going with a tour company. We booked with GO Valencia Tours, and they provided transportation and an amazing experience that felt like exploring the sites with a local.
Our first stop was Salto de la Novia, otherwise known as Bridal Veil Waterfall in Navajas. It is a massive single drop waterfall, and according to legend, soon-to-be brides would jump across the river here to prove their love. Supposedly one bride attempted the jump but slipped into the river. Her fiancé jumped in after her and the lovers were swept away by the water. This legend is where the waterfall gets its name, Salto de la Novia translates to Jump of the Fiancé. Although it has such a sad tale, the waterfall is now a local swimming hole, and we spent some time here sliding around the rocks and taking photos under the water.
Next we headed into the town of Montanejos to get a bite to eat at a super cute little restaurant. Our guide ordered several local tapas to share, and as we ate tons of pan tomate, patatas bravas and calamari, he taught us about local traditions including toasting with friends by passing around a goatskin bladder full of wine. We all practiced drinking from the goatskin without actually touching it to our lips, and by the end we had all mastered it enough to try some tricks.
After lunch we took a quick ride down to the main attraction of the day, Fuente de los Baños. The hot springs are located at the base of a large natural gorge, and maintain a constant temperature of 25°C (77°F) which was actually quite refreshing! There are plenty of minerals in the water that can provide health benefits and it is said that a Moorish king called Zeit-Abu-Zeit had built a bathhouse on this site to help maintain the beauty and youthfullness of his harem. We explored the waters finding different channels, some caves where I free dived for some lost goggles, and even a spot for cliff diving. I had never tried cliff diving before, but a few locals showed us the boundaries of the rocks and where to aim your jump, and with just a bit of panic I went for it, and man what a rush!
While we were at the springs some clouds rolled in and we ended up swimming in the rain for a bit. When we realized the rain wasn’t going to pass, we called it a day at the hot springs and moved on to our next location, a lake called Pantano de Arenoso and the nearby El Chorro waterspout built into the side of a cliff. El Chorro was a magnificent rush of power, and we had a blast taking silly pictures with the waterspout.
At the end of the day our little group loaded back into the van to drive back to Valencia, tired and buzzing with new experiences. My waterproof phone case had leaked while we were swimming in the hot springs, and unfortunately this meant that I lost many of the photos from not only the day but the entire previous week in Barcelona. When I realized that the phone was broken, A grabbed me up in his arms and let me have a moment to wallow. As I wrote in my travel journal later- On this trip I managed to break my phone, lose all the photos that were on it, and become a frazzled jet lagged mess, but it was SO. WORTH. IT. Looking back I'll always remember that on this trip I got over my fear and cliff dived, explored new cities, practiced a different language, ruthlessly flung tomatoes with people at La Tomatina festival, and for the first time traveled with someone I love and came out on the other end loving him more. You always have to remember that stuff inevitably goes wrong when you travel, but that's life. The important part is that you go out and live it.
