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Riding along the deep blue sea and over rolling hills dotted with white washed villages!
Seville – Jerez – Cadíz –Tarifa – Gibraltar – Ronda – Córdoba – Seville
750 km cycled
February-March 2024
Watch the video!
The Plan
This is the third trip I (Kurt) enjoyed with Ernst and it partially follows a former Christmas trip with Darina. It wasn’t about scouting retirement options this time, but rather searching for spring. As always, in February I’ve had my fill of winter and warmer temperatures are still far from the horizon in Switzerland.
Seville
We landed in Seville; still one of my favourite cities. There’s so much to see and do and it’s so easy to get into the swing of things.
On the road
After two days strolling around town, enjoying good food and not-so-brilliant flamenco, we headed down the Guadalquivir plain. The area is mostly agricultural, but also boasts a big nature reserve with lots of flamingos and storks. Komoot (our navigation app) had it almost pit pat, expect for a tractor path through a soggy muddy field. We managed to cross it, and after a half hour poking muck out from under the mudguard, the wheels could turn again.
Cadíz
In Cadíz, we enjoyed a paddle in the Atlantic Ocean and even though it was still very fresh, the feeling alone was worth the airfare!
EuroVelo 8
Well, we spent an extra day in Cadiz strolling through markets, visiting the camera obscura, looking for Roman ruins and snacking in lovely tapas bars. The next day we made up for it with a longer ride straight to Tarifa. One of the more enjoyable coastal routes, improved with a lot of new cycle lanes, it’s hard not to like it. This is also the starting point of the EuroVelo Route 8, which hugs the Mediterranean right down to Turkey. On the way, we passed Cape Trafalgar and visited the Roman colony of Bolonia, an ancient centre of fermented fish sauce production.
To Gibraltar and up to Ronda
In the protected valleys behind La Línea (opposite Gibraltar), spring was in full swing, all the electricity masts were occupied by breeding storks, and the outdoor cafés were full of cheerful locals. We spent a day exploring the rock (Gibraltar) and then headed in the direction of Ronda.
It would have been an ambitious stage to get to Ronda in a day. Ernst was all on for it but when I spotted a hotel 30km short of Ronda, I was happy to call it a day. The hills, dotted with whitewashed villages, were just too beautiful to race through. And Ronda was still there the next day! It was a bit on the cold and wet side, but we still had a lovely hike to admire the famous bridge from below.
Ronda to Córdoba
The sun was out again the next morning, and we put in a not-very-exiting 110km to reach Écija, a real surprise of a gem. I’ve taken note to include it on a future trip with Darina!
Córdoba was next and I have to say that this is another city where I could stay for a few months. As it was, we had a good look at the Mesquita-Cathedral and strolled through a lot of the small lanes before it was time for yet another lovely dinner.
And back to Seville
The last stage was also the longest: 140km back to Seville, giving us another day to admire the city. This time we stayed next to the Setas de Sevilla (Mushrooms of Seville), a modern shade-providing structure that serves as a counterpoint to the older squares, lined with architectural marvels from earlier centuries.
Food
It’s hard to find bad food or eateries in Spain. At least we failed miserably and dined like lords from start to finish!
Accomodation
We used Booking.com most of the time and always found a room/apartment in the 50-100€ price bracket. Most places were grand and had space for our bicycles too. Just once we had to take the front wheels off to get the bikes into an elevator up to the 6th floor.
Conclusions
As on our southwest Italy trip, we were a tad too early in the season and would have appreciated a few degrees more. But as far as Andalucia goes, I’d go back in a heartbeat! I guess, for future winter escapes, we will just have to venture further south…
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