Dolmens of Antequera

Tickets and tours: which to book

Entry is simple. The main enclosure, with the dolmens of Menga and Viera, opens from a visitor centre on the north-east edge of Antequera, and you walk in, collect a leaflet and explore on your own. The tholos of El Romeral lies about 4 km away on the other side of an industrial area and has its own small gate on the same opening hours. Entry has long been free for European Union citizens and very cheap for others, so there is no reason to buy anything in advance as an individual.

The one product sold online is a full-day tour from Granada that adds the karst landscape of El Torcal to the dolmens, with transport and a guide. It works for travellers based in Granada without a car, because public transport would not let you combine the two sites in one day. A similar plan can be made from Malaga by joining a general excursion to Antequera and El Torcal.

The visitor centre sometimes runs free guided visits in Spanish, and private guides can be booked in Antequera. A guide is useful for understanding the alignments of the tombs with the Pena de los Enamorados and El Torcal, which are the reason UNESCO listed the landscape as a whole.

The sensible approach for most visitors is to walk out from the town centre, see Menga and Viera, then take a taxi or drive to El Romeral before it closes.

A short history

The dolmens of Menga and Viera were built by farming communities of the Neolithic and early Copper Age, Menga in the 4th millennium BC and Viera a little later. Both were covered by earth mounds and used as collective tombs over long periods. The tholos of El Romeral, with its drystone corbelled vaults, dates to around 1800 BC and belongs to a different building tradition. Menga was never fully forgotten and was first described in print in 1847, while Viera and El Romeral were opened by the Viera brothers, local researchers, in 1903 and 1904. In 2005 excavation uncovered the well inside Menga. UNESCO listed the three tombs, together with the Pena de los Enamorados and El Torcal, in 2016.

Getting there

Antequera lies in the centre of Andalusia, roughly 50 km north of Malaga and 100 km west of Granada. By car from Malaga airport the motorway takes about 45 minutes; follow signs for the Conjunto Arqueologico Dolmenes, where there is free parking at the visitor centre. High-speed trains stop at Antequera Santa Ana station, about 17 km from town, so a taxi or bus is needed from there; the Antequera Ciudad station is closer but has fewer trains. Buses from Malaga and Granada arrive at the bus station on the north side of town, a 15 to 20-minute walk from the dolmens. El Romeral is about 4 km further north-east, best reached by car or taxi.

Rules and what to bring

Photography is allowed, but tripods and drones need permission. Do not lean on or touch the uprights inside the chambers, and keep children from climbing the mounds. Inside the tombs it is cool and dim even in summer, so bring a light layer, but the paths outside have little shade. The visitor centre has toilets and drinking water. There is no cafe at the site, but the town centre with its bars and restaurants is a short walk away.

When to go

The dolmens are never as busy as the Alhambra, but school groups visit on weekday mornings in term time, and Spanish families come at weekends. A weekday visit at opening or in the late morning is usually calm. In July and August Antequera can pass 35 degrees by early afternoon, and the walk between the tombs and back to town is exposed, so go first thing and spend the hot hours in the museum or old town. Summer opening hours are often shortened in the afternoon.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with green countryside and clear views of the Pena de los Enamorados. Around the equinoxes in March and September, the rising sun lines up with the corridor of Viera, and special early openings have been held at times; check locally. Winter is mild and quiet. Allow about an hour for Menga and Viera and another half-hour for El Romeral, plus the travel between them.