Must See Cities on the Way to/from Morocco?

sven

sven

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I'm currently planning next years trip to Morocco and don't just want to thrash through Spain as it's a large part of the holiday, particularly as I've never been there except for the Pyrenees.

I'm thinking of three nights each way with no motorway, stopping at some nice historical cities overnight e.g. Salamanca, Segovia, Toledo......

Any recommendations? We're interested in the architecture, rather than the nightlife, so would like to see nice old towns, cathedrals, city walls and castles etc.
 
Definitely Segovia......:clap

Fantastic place.....the history, the churches and the sucking pig (apparently!).....:bounce1
 
Granada and the Alhambra Palace :thumb2

Sevilla :thumb2

Cordoba :thumb2

Ronda (and both roads from the coast will blow your mind on a bike :)).

If you're crossing from Algeciras stay here, old skool colonial, fair prices and they are well used to overlanders staying there - a last bit of posh before you hit Africa.

Reina Christina

Andres
 
Need more than three days to travel from the North to South of Spain and see all that has been posted.

Just 'done' Spain and it took 2.5 days of 'sensible' pace travelling just to get to Malaga from Santander.

Alhambra Palace is a good 4 hrs of viewing
Ronda - need at least a whole day - maybe two.

There are so many good places to visit but maybe not enough time.
 
+1 for Segovia and Cordoba and Ronda road.

I stopped at Trujillio which was a nice town with some great buildings, tapas and got to park the bike in a church :thumb
 
Anyone been to Merida or Caceras in Extremadura? They look interesting in my DK Spain Eyewitness Guide :)
 
Centre of Salamanca is a very historic renaissance city; Cathedral, University and Plaza Mayor are all well worth wandering round for 1/2 day. Ibis hotel is a 15 minute walk from the centre and has an underground garage for the bike.

If riding south from Salamanca you can also take in the Montfrague National Park (route EX-208) and see the Black Vultures.

Santander to Salamanca is only a couple of hundred motorway miles however I went to paly int he Picos for a few days before further south.
 
The bit of Spain I've hurtled past and wished I had more time to see wasn't a city, but the extremely impressive Sierra Nevada mountains.

Very dramatic, I'd go back just to spend more time there.

PG
 
The Parador at Camona, its a converted castle with one of the best views ever.
Cordoba, i think was the moorish capital.
Salamanca which has the most amazing plaza.
 
sven said:
Anyone been to Merida or Caceras in Extremadura? They look interesting in my DK Spain Eyewitness Guide :)
Click to expand...
Yes to both. Caceras has a lovely centre around the Plaza. The Parador is an old monastery and the whole of the old town has a medieval feel. Not been there since the mid 90's but back then it didn't feel at all "touristy".

Merida has a lovely little-town feel but its main attraction is the Roman stuff; the best circus outside Rome, the Roman bridge that's still in use and a villa complex, to name a few. I was there last in 2005.

Extramadura is not on many tourist list. In fact many locals have got out when the opportunity has arisen (most of the Conquistadores were from the region) It's like a lot of the scenery you will see in northern Morocco. The fields of sun-flowers are spectacular, huge griffon vultures soar overhead and they still have wolves in those parts. Some great GS trails too.

As others have said, Segovia and Toledo are particularly fine and I've always loved Salamanca.

An observation I'd make is that between a serious tour in the mid-90's and another in 2005, EU money poured into the road-network has left some of the great bike roads either half-buried by the new dual-carriageways, or virtually empty and even better. Keeping off the new roads between Salamanca and Caceras/Merida will reward you with some great scenery peppered with more castles and Roman ruins than you can realistically stop and take-in.

Edit: If you want to see city walls, then Avilla is probably the best but see it from the outside, apart from a tiny central bit the place inside the walls is not very nice.
 
Ávila

I'd check out Ávila which is notable for it's medieval city walls.

It is almost due south from Santander and a stunning days riding, just about the right distance (IMHO) for the first day.

We stopped at the hotel below which is inside the city walls (nothing special but location is great and the beer is cold):

HOSTAL-RESTAURANTE
PUERTA DEL ALCÁZAR
C/ San Segundo, 38
05001 ÁVILA

Tlfno: (34)920 211 074
Fax: (34)920 211 075
e-mail: [email protected]
www.puertadelalcazar.com
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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