The incredible hike - Fort of Bernia

One of my favourite hikes in the Community of Valencia is the Fo[rt of Bernia](https://www.livetheworld.com/post/). The route circles Mount Bernia (1128m) and if you are up there you will feel on top of the world. The view over the valleys and mountains are just stunning. The route though is quite challenging and requires a certain level of fitness. Start early in the morning and enjoy a day in nature!

Start your day with breakfast!

As I wrote it is highly recommend to start your hike early in the morning, if you don’t want to finish the route at dusk by torchlight. Though the perfect start for the journey is with a good breakfast. ‘Casa el Peon de Pinos’ is a restaurant close to the starting point of the route - there you can have a good meal on the terrace while enjoying the great view over Calp and its characterizing mountain. They also have rooms if you want to stay in the area overnight. Calp is located 67 km away from Alicante and the start of Fort de Bernia is located close to the restaurant along the road.

Start the route!

The starting point is along the road close to another restaurant. There you will find a parking area, where you can leave your car. It is suggested to go the circling route left and after a while you should pass the Fort of Bernia. We didn’t notice the arrows at first though, so we went to the right and enjoyed the first view on the mountain of Bernia combined with olive trees. The peacefulness of the location takes you in instantly when you start the hike.

Go ahead!

The route is 9 km long in total, and it takes about three and a half hours. If you want to, it is even possible to climb up the mountain of Bernia, but if you want to do so you should start even earlier and leave out the breakfast. It took us five hours, because we just wanted to enjoy the scenery of the surrounding valleys and mountains. Take some food and enough water for the hike and find yourself a nice spot to have it. We chose the spot in the following picture close to the Fort of Bernia after the ascent, because the route goes quite steeply up.

Reach the Fort de Bernia!

Then you will next reach the Fort de Bernia, and be astonished by the view. It was quite fogy when we did the route, but it was amazing to observe the clouds and their fast movements always revealing parts of the hidden landscape like mountains, forests or villages.

Crawl through the old passage for messengers!

After the Fort de Bernia you have to hike for quite a while with the amazing scenery, feeling on top of the world. To access the other side of the mountain you will have to crawl through the mountain of Bernia. There is an old tunnel for messengers, not big enough to walk through.  

Because we were equipped with torches we stayed at the spot just before the tunnel to enjoy the last sunbeams of the day. The sunset up there is just breathtaking!

Reach the other side and complete the circle route!

If you make your way through the tunnel then you can enjoy a whole new view over the landscape on the other side of the mountain of Bernia. Now it will get dark fast . Return to your starting point and enjoy the sensation of the day in nature while hiking!