A lap round Spain in november

[maico97]

Myself and a mate are touring Spain in a couple of weeks for 12 days. Portsmouth to Santander. First night is booked in salamanca(hotel). After that a ride down the side of Portugal to the south coast which will then consist of camping/riding throughout our trip, eventually making our way to Barcelonaon a coastal route.
I have read a few posts on here about coming in land a bit to see the real Spain and staying away from the tourist spots which we are hoping to do.
Any advice, POI etc would be very much appreciated

 

[david a hall]

Carmona, Cordova, Sergovia, Rhonda, these will do you for starters...

 

[maico97]

Carmona, Cordova, Sergovia, Rhonda, these will do you for starters...

Thanks David....will take a look

 

[david a hall]

Thanks David....will take a look

Not sure I have spelt them right....

 

[Skid06]

Carmona, Cordova, Sergovia, Rhonda, these will do you for starters...

good call..segovia and rhonda great places to stay over or visit on your journey

 

[DaddyPaddy]

Had a stop over in Avila this year, lovely place lots of history / architecture etc!!

 

[Wapping]

This month's Ride magazine has a whole pull out section on Spain.

Loads of routes to download from their website, including a complete lap of Spain for you and your mate to enjoy in a couple of weeks.

There is a recent thread on it here on UKGSer, along with links etc.

 

[luke scott]

Carmona, Cordova, Sergovia, "Rhonda", these will do you for starters...

It's not Rhonda

It's Ronda

 

[patzx12]

A bunch of expats meet at the BP station San Pedro on the start up to Ronda every Sunday morning. Its a lively spin if tou want it to be.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Pw3ikiuAAlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Wapping]

This month's Ride magazine has a whole pull out section on Spain, including a complete lap of Spain for you and your mate to enjoy in a couple of weeks.There is a recent thread on it here on UKGSer, along with links etc.

Here you go..

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/376394-Guide-to-Spain

 

[Yellow Peril]

A bunch of expats meet at the BP station San Pedro on the start up to Ronda every Sunday morning. Its a lively spin if tou want it to be.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Pw3ikiuAAlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

They are nutters loads of bikes out on the Sunday morning, the road up from the coast is amazing.

 

[luke scott]

They are nutters loads of bikes out on the Sunday morning, the road up from the coast is amazing.

Look at the bike in the gutter at 35 seconds into the video.

 

[sven]

Had a stop over in Avila this year, lovely place lots of history / architecture etc!!

Agreed, and Segovia and Salamanca are close by

Santiago di Compostella is lovely too

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/347259-Northern-Spain-July-2013

 

[gspod]

This may sound a bit strange but you are late in the season for much of the inland/real spain that is so fantastic in terms of roads and scenery as this will be mountainous terrain and therefore very cold - indeed many campsites that we visit in summer will be long closed by now.

If it were me I would take a line East to West through Madrid and stay away from any mountainous regions north of this if you intend to camp e.g. Cuenca mountains, parts of Aragon, Soria hils, Pyrenees, Picos (although OK if campsite is on 'The Way') etc...

A night in the city of Salamanca is recommended on the way down, it is the oldest University city in Spain with excellent nightlife - Spanish style.
A lovely area, also on the way down, is Extremadura - not dramatic but very atmospheric - It has a few world heritage cities especially Caceres. We were there at the beginning of October 2012 and the weather was perfect for camping, although campsites are not abundant even in summer.

Happy holidays

 

[maico97]

Agreed, and Segovia and Salamanca are close by

Santiago di Compostella is lovely too

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/347259-Northern-Spain-July-2013

thanks sven, some great ideas and possibles for us to consider. i clicked on your link and am amazed at the scenery...has got me looking forward to the trip

This may sound a bit strange but you are late in the season for much of the inland/real spain that is so fantastic in terms of roads and scenery as this will be mountainous terrain and therefore very cold - indeed many campsites that we visit in summer will be long closed by now.

If it were me I would take a line East to West through Madrid and stay away from any mountainous regions north of this if you intend to camp e.g. Cuenca mountains, parts of Aragon, Soria hils, Pyrenees, Picos (although OK if campsite is on 'The Way') etc...

A night in the city of Salamanca is recommended on the way down, it is the oldest University city in Spain with excellent nightlife - Spanish style.
A lovely area, also on the way down, is Extremadura - not dramatic but very atmospheric - It has a few world heritage cities especially Caceres. We were there at the beginning of October 2012 and the weather was perfect for camping, although campsites are not abundant even in summer.

Happy holidays

thankyou aswell gspod, have noted your POI and recommendations about the mountains at this time of year

 

[maico97]

has anybody had problems with security, trouble from local "undesirables"...and any pointers on safety?...thanks in advance !

 

[david a hall]

Your going to Spain, not Mogadishu, you will have two weeks of people being nice, !!!!!!!

 

[gspod]

Spain is going through a massive financial crises at the moment and there are a lot people down on their luck unfortunately.

On our 3000 mile trip round inner spain we saw a lot of middle age men going through bins - even on campsites - very sad. Also many people going from table to table asking for cash.
However they were not what we might expect in this country. They were not drunks or druggies, they were polite and most of the Spanish people gave them a bit of cash if they could afford it, as did we.

All that said I did not feel for one second that security was an issue - I certainly felt safer there than in this country.

Obviously just be careful when you're in or around Barcelona which has a long history of crime.

 

[patzx12]

Madrid is a magnet for Gipsies and the street scams, be streetwise in Barcelona, there are a lot of illegal Africans on the Costa selling counterfeit goods. Just ignore them completely like they are not in front of you, don't get into an exchange with them.
There is some scams around Madrid on the motorways, fake cops and such.
But that's it a very honest country without a culture of yobbism or thieving. I rarely lock and chain my bike. I don't think a single set of LC clocks have been nicked in Spain.

 

[luke scott]

has anybody had problems with security, trouble from local "undesirables"...and any pointers on safety?...thanks in advance !

We toured Andalucia last year and had no problems at all. Sometimes we had to leave the bikes on street overnight and all was ok. My mate had no "key" to remove his gps so it was always on the bike and nobody ever touched it. We did a good few big towns and one or two cities.