Walking, horse riding and mountain biking are just three of the activities you can enjoy in the beautiful village of Archez in the interests of sustainable travel. It is a blank canvas... there are no defined trails, marked trails, which makes it a nature lover's paradise, really off the beaten track. Views down to the coast are second to none.
Archez is "the Crown Jewel of the 17th Century", and a delightful village, tucked away in what the Irish would call a "glen" the weather has extremes. At 430 metres above sea level, it can get very cold, and the summers are short, warm, arid, and mostly clear and the winters are long, cold, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 3°C to 30°C and is rarely below -1°C or above 33°C. the town is located at the meeting point of the Sierra Tejeda and the Sierra Almijara.The Arabic heritage is apparent, and has a big influence on the centre of the village. The walk of the three white villages, Canillas de Albaida, Competa and Archez, is very popular with the locals, even though some of the roads we used to walk back in the 1980s are now tarmacked. The scenery has not changed though. It is on the "Ruta Mudejar" (the towns of the route all have a similar architectural style). Five villages make up the Ruta Mudejar - are Salares, Sedella, Canillas de Aceituno, Arenas and Árchez.
For lovers of shopping, there is a busy market, once a week, in the Plaza de Andalucía. The local craftsmen produce objects made from wood and wicker. They also make wine that is sold in bulk by some bars.
The typical dish is guiso de hinojos con arroz (fennel stew with rice). Other delicacies on offer are ajoblanco (chilled almond soup served with peeled grapes), migas (fried breadcrumbs with herring or sardines), chivo (goat with garlic), potaje de garbanzos con bacalao (cod and chickpea stew) and tortas de bacalao con miel de caña (cod and honey cakes). For dessert there's roscos de vino (small, round pastries made with sweet wine), uvas al vino (grapes in wine) and pasas moscatel (Muscatel raisins). There are excellent local restaurants.
Ecology and heritage combined... a haven of peace and tranquility.