Our Route

The Meditteranean Coast is highly built up and very busy roads, especially south spain, where all the European Motorhomes go to escape their winter.

The roads are not bike friendly.  The towns do have limited bike paths and stop abruptly before you leave the town.  We found many situations where we were stranded and found it difficult to rejoin the road.

Barcelona and Valencia are well worth visiting, we love the tapas and sangrias. Mojacar was another special place worth visiting.

Campgrounds are numerous on the coast, but are only open in summer.  There were very few campgrounds open in November when we were passing through.

The few campgrounds that were open were enourmous and full.   We still were able to secure a site due to us being on bikes with a hiker tent.

We found wild camping difficult on the coast, where as others cyclist camped in the mountains.

Every house has dogs.  They are not pets, but guard dogs.  The dogs often bark all night.  You can hear them for miles. Take earplugs!

Same as France the shops close in the afternoon for a siesta.  Be aware.

We started on the EuroVelo 8 in the Pyrenees, where was a highlight; but after crossing the Spanish Border, the route was vague and not completed, making our riding unpleasant.

The ride through the lower south of Spain was near impossible, along the Meditteranean Coast.   From Torremolinos to Marbella, the only road is the A7 expressway.

We rode outside of the crash barrier, on a  so-called ‘bike path’, which is a narrow concrete sort of a path, rough and uneven weaving around lamp poles, rubbish bins and bus stops. The panniers needed removing to squeeze past  many spots. 

This section was one of our worst riding days of our life.  Until the EuroVelo 8 route is sorted, go inland and ride through the mountains is our advice.

We did have some spectacular coastal riding after Valencia.

We headed to the Meditteranean due to rainy weather on the Atlantic Coast.   It was the right choice for the weather as we only had one rainy day, on the last day.  No wonder many Europeans travel to southern Spain in their motorhomes for their winter.

Population: 48 million
Language:    Spanish / Catalan
Capital:         Madrid