Ok folks I'm headed to Malaga Spain for two weeks at the beginning of February. I guess I'm putting this out as an invite and also a fact finding post. One in need a place to store my hard case while touring and two I want to get some route ideas. Please any feedback is appreciated and welcome. The dates will be the 4th thru the 18th.

See if you can connect with a Warm Showers host to store your case. You have plenty of time to find someone.

The Sierra Nevada east of Granada looks enticing, but maybe too cold in February. Where ever you go I'm sure you'll have fun. Spain is a fantastic place to tour.

17 years ago I toured Andalucia starting from Sevilla in mid-March. Did a large loop clockwise. The Sierra Nevada region, including the Alpujarras mountains, in early February will likely not be pleasant riding weather-wise. Got as close to Malaga as Torrox-Costa. (In general, riding on the coast sucked.) On a separate, non-riding trip in '98 I spent four days in Granada in mid-March. It was quite chilly at night.

OP: I would go later. When I did my trip I spent the first two night at a campground outside Sevilla. Since I would be coming back there I asked the campground to hold my box and they did. If you use a hotel at the start and end they may do the same.

why did riding on the coast suck? I was thinking of doing something like this next year


to the OP - did your trip happen? how was it and any GPXs to share?

Traffic, and not particularly scenic where I was.

don't ride the coast, lots of population, too many national roads ....
leave the coast and after 30-50km your in the most beautiful rural Spain, small roads, many off roads and zero traffic.

Lots of people who can afford to get out of cold northern areas flock to the southern Spanish coast.

its like the Florida of Europe.

yes, but the experienced ones do not cycle the coast, they go inland. for example Calpe, many go there, stay in Calpe, and train the hills in the backland, https://goo.gl/maps/J4QuaRg1deH2 its full of beautiful roads.

Thanks for the advice


I was planning something like this: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/379060


does anyone have any GPXs/KMLs or anything really of past rides they wld be willing to share? Im planning for next January

your using too many national roads! don't do that! serious... too much traffic!

muy paper maps, use only the Yellow and White roads, RED are national roads.

also, your passing very close to Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra de Segura, do some roads there... very beautiful.

another way to find nice roads is google street view, once found I mark them in paper maps ...

thanks for the advice - ill mess with the route and stay off the red ones as much as poss.

I don't think bikes are even allowed on the A-n highways. We made the mistake of riding on one for a few miles and got plenty of horns from passing vehicles.

You can also look at Strava heat maps for roads popular with cyclists: https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#11/-...6986/blue/bike

sorry, would never use strava heat maps, road cyclists are lazy and don't like to explore new roads, cycle most of the cycle on "easy" access roads and where the tarmac is in good conditions.

even sometimes the YELLOW roads have been reformed with EU money in a ugly modern way, very wide very big it has to be now! ;(

1 explore the ""pueblos blancos"" very beautiful part of spain.
2 Sierra de Cazorla and Segura, second biggest protected national park in EU, very beautiful.
3 there are many very beautiful small roads in the backlands of Denia-Calpe-Benidorm
4 explore the "serranía de cuenca""
5 the little roads around Cortes de Pallas, Otonel, Millares, nice!
6 very close to 5, more to the west, Castilla la Mancha, full of little ""carreteras comarcales""

Thank you!! Ill post back what me and my friends come up with. We are open to all comments and help. Muchas gracias 😀

The "red roads" on Michelin Maps were not bad to ride on. However, the "yellow roads" are better. I think it is a matter of what you are used to, and where you are going. We never planned our routes more than a few days ahead, and just picked a road that would take us to the cities we wanted to see.


I actually found the coast to be as interesting as the interior of southern Spain. It was definitely a lot cooler (30-35C vs. 43C), which is not an issue for you. As part of our route from Lisbon, we travelled across to Valencia, and the north along the coast to France.



Between Cordoba and Valencia. Not much shade!



Search for information about Eurovelo Route 8. This trip was 6 years ago, and the route was not completed or marked. They may have done some work on it since then. https://www.eurovelo8.com//stages/cadiz-elche

The Spanish coast, north of Valencia.

fantastic pics... do you have a gpx or map of where you road?

I found this which looks interesting

https://www.viasverdes.com/en/itineraries/principal.asp

cycle.travel/map or opencyclemap.org are the best websites to use when cycle touring in Europe in my experience. I agree with what everyone is saying spanish roads are very busy along the coast, and when going in land very hilly. South france and italy have a lot better cycle routes but it's your trip. I'm sure Malaga will be fine, just you have to cycle on some busy roads.

thanks i'll chck these out!

france and italy were a bit too cold in January for our liking.