I’ve planned the first month or so of our around-the-world ride. This route is based on what I’ve learned through many Google searches and a few discussions with friends. If you have some tips, please leave a comment or message me @tnorman on Twitter!
We start in Lisbon, Portugal, where we will spend a few days in a hostel or WarmShowers while we get our bikes assembled and acclimate to the time and culture changes.
We then bike inland towards Evora, checking out Recinto Megalítico dos Almendres, the Portuguese Stonehenge, and the adorable town of Evora, riding through rural agricultural areas. We want to get away from the coast for a bit to experience some of the more local Portuguese culture. Along the way, we will camp or stay in hostels or simple hotels.
We then head back south through Beja and then back towards the western coast of Portugal before tu
rning south. Next, we’ll ride out to the most southwest corner of Portugal, to see Cap Saint-Vincent, Cabo de São Vicente, and
then ride east through the Algarve region. We will keep away from the over-developed coast in lieu of experiencing the more local, less heavily-trafficked roads.
Once in Spain, we bee-line to Seville, the capital of southern Spain’s Andalusia, which is famous for flamenco dancing!
After a day or two in Seville (maybe we will learn to dance flamenco!), we detour south to Tarifa, where we will hop on a ferry to Tangier, Morocco for the day. Although it’s a bit touristy, we thought it would be a shame to skip putting our feet on the African continent for our first time, and we hope to try some amazing tagines.
Back in Spain, we ride north to Ronda, a mountaintop city that’s set dramatically above a
deep gorge. From there, we head north to Puente Genil, where the Via Verde de la Subbética (“greenway”, or dedicated bike path) takes us east for dozens of kilometers before veering south towards Granada. In Granada, we will visit the famous Alhambra, a palace/fortress complex originally constructed in 889 AD!
After Granada, we ride inland (avoiding the over-developed Mediterranean coast with vacation rentals and all-inclusive resorts) through Murcia, before getting back on the coast just before Valencia.
From Valencia, we will practice our “sibilant s” and take the coastal route to Barcelona, where friends tell me we may want to spend more than just a few days. It will perhaps be April when we get here, so depending on weather forecasts, we will either keep riding towards France/Italy, or spend some time waiting for warmer riding days.