Categorized | Bike Travel

Bike Travel in Spain

Posted on 15 May 2008

 

Three weeks of love and adventure on a bike!

Seville.
As the capital of the region this historic city makes a great starting point.
With a well stocked tourist information centre, {Avda. de Constitucion 21b tel (95)4221404}, it is possible to buy a mountain biking guide book for off road routes in Andulusia and collect detail maps of the whole area.
Seville Nighlife:
Spain is a land of leisure, the nightlife of Seville is one of the worlds best. Hundreds of bars and clubs rage from dusk till dawn. Super clubs with expensive decor and huge dance floors can be found along the river bank where the Expo was held. Mega dance shows to techno music and sevillana clubs, where the youth of the city pirouette to the sounds of this traditional Spanish music style, adorn this river side location.
Across the river from the old city there are several streets full of small bars and bodegas where one can sample the vast array of Spanish wine while meeting the locals in what is a very friendly city.
Sightseeing:
Being the location of so many historical turning points there are a lot of ancient buildings surviving from the 15th century when the Christians retook this part of Europe from the Moors (North African Muslims that dominated Southern Europe for five hundred years).

Seville to Cadiz.
Leaving Seville most of the roads are motorways so for a more pleasant starting point take the local train from any of Seville’s stations to Utrera. On local trains it is possible to take a bike. The trains run every 15 minutes and the journey takes 20 minutes.
Utrera is a lovely little town with a fort and a church on a hill surrounded by the traditional white houses if the region of which  many are bars for a beer or coffee and of course a tapas or two.
From Utrera you can take the N17 or use your map to pick smaller roads  to work out a route to Jerez. It is 70km and mostly flat. On the way you will pass a large lake, home to huge flocks of birds.
Jerez is a large lively town. It is the centre of Sherry production and you can take a tour around a distillery. It is possible to stay here or if time is short take a train down to Puerto Santa Maria and from there take the boat across the harbour to Cadiz. (You can take the train direct to Cadiz but the boat journey is a nicer way to arrive).

Cadiz:
It is from this port that Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage of discovery. The city seems to have changed little since then. Streets too narrow for cars, wind from square to square. Set on a narrow peninsula surrounded by sea it also has plenty of beaches to choose from for a rest. The nightlife here is almost as lively as in Seville and its a great place to find Flamenco performances.
The Quo Qadis hostel  offers discounts if you arrive on a bike and is a good place to meet fellow travelers and chat to the outgoing owner, its also the only place in town to get vegetarian food.

Cadiz to Medina Sidona; As a ride from Cadiz Madina Sidon located 40km inland makes a nice first days Cycle. Take the train out of Cadiz to Puerto Real and start cycling from there. There is an off road route in the mtb book. that takes you through vinyards and pine groves with excellent camping spots.
Medina Sidona is a lovely little hill top town good fro a nights stay.

Medina Sidona to Vejer de la frontera.
An easy days ride of less than 50km takes you another hill top town with great views of the surrounding countryside from the fort. Its a great place to stay a couple of days wandering around the tiny streets winding up and down the hill.

Vejer to Los Canos de Meca a hippie beach resort is only 12 km. The town has developed a lot recently and there are a number of guesthouses there now, but you can still find travellers sleeping on the nudist beach in the national park area to the east of the town. There is natural spring water coming from the cliff face, for a free shower.

Los Canos to Barbate is 12 km through the national park pine forest and offers great off road mountain biking overlooking the African coast. From here you can work your way along the coast to Zahara de las Atunes, about 30kms of the most beautiful coastline imaginable.
Zahara is a little sea resort but is still quite undeveloped with a few family run guesthouses which are good value.

Zahara to Bolonia , a huge beach with enormous sand dunes backing onto pine forest, is a 50km ride back in land then along the main road before the turnoff which takes you over a little hill descending to the Roman ruins Bolonia’s main tourist attraction. Although the ruins draw in tourist buses the beach itself is huge and walking a km away from the ruins into the sand dunes you can find a private spot. Just along the beach there is a nudist colony and in the forest is a natural spring where there are usually travellers camping out.

Bolonia to Ronda:
From Bolonia go back to the highway and turn right to Facinas the start of a nature reserve. The road through the park is a rough tarmac route, keep a look out for eagles and other wildlife as you go along!
after 50km you’ll arrive at the road for Los Barrios. Take it down for a few km then turn off onto the CA512 towards Esation San Roque. You can spend a night at Estation San Roque. Take the old road from here up to Jimena de la frontera 40km away. Jimena to Ronda is 60km along a hilly road.
Ronda is an old capital town of one of the Moorish kingdom before it was overrun by the Christians and the history of the place is still evident.A spectacular bridge traverses a huge gorge where the warring sides threw their prisoners as the town passed from one side to another. It’s a very touristy place but well worth a few days.
A little ride around the surrounding countryside to Sentinil, where the houses are built into the rock face, then around in a loop to old Ronda, the roman ruins,  then back to Ronda, makes for a fascinating day trip.

Ronda to Ardales 60km
From Ronda take the road to Burgos through the natural Park Sierra de las nieves. From Burgos which has good places to eat make your way along to Ardales which is yet another hill top town with a fort and steep streets up to it. The journey to Ardales takes you through exceptional mountain scenery, from forests to dry bare rock.

Ardales to Antequerra.
From Ardales its a few kms to the lakes where there are plenty of quiet places to pitch a tent and enjoy the outdoors for a day or two.
If you have the nerve go to El Chorro gorge for a walk along the Camino del Reyes. This abandoned trail is a concrete path that works its way along the side of the gorge two hundred meters above the river. With a sheer cliff face above and a fall below there are some points where the concrete has fallen away leaving just the rusty iron rails for as much as twenty meters. Shuffling along these with the fall below is real knee shaking adventure. The trail goes for about 10km and can be easily reached from el chorro rly station. It brings you out back on the lakes. Ride along the lake to the Valle de Abdalajis turnoff then take the road to Antequerra. (50km).
Antequrra is the biggest town in the region. As a day trip ride up to the Toracal, bizarre limestone rock formations on the top of a mountain. There are several walking routes at the top.

Antequerra to Cordoba.
First ride out towards the Fuente de la Piedra a lake where flocks of flamingos breed.
From here there is a rail line to Cordoba or you can follow little roads that go along this flat 100km up to the city.
Cordoba is one of the worlds most beautiful cities and you’ll need a few days here to explore the city as there are a lot of things to see.

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