Iberia Coast to Coast

Cycling – 911 miles, 59,600 feet ascent

Our own Iberia Coast to Coast tour, from the east coast of Spain to the west coast of Portugal, takes a southern trajectory. We initially head south along the coast from Alicante, before heading inland to the Cazorla Natural park. It’s south from there into Andalucia and the cave dwellings in Guadix before an afternoon / night in Granada. The route curves to the north of the Sierra de Tejeda mountains, before climbing up to Competa and other stunning white mountain villages and down to the coast to Malaga and a deserved rest day. From Malaga we make our way through limestone mountains to the white villages / towns of Ronda, Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra and on across the plain to Seville. We cross the wooded Sierra de Morena into Extremadura and a night in Badajoz, before crossing the border into Portugal. Evora is a UNESCO heritage site, where we spend the night before crossing to Setubal and Lisbon. On our final day you have the option of an afternoon sightseeing in Lisbon, or an extra loop (not included in below mileage) around the Sintra and Cascais peninsula.

This is an excellent route for those who would like to challenge themselves to a hillier ride, while keeping the distances reasonable. The first half of the route to Malaga is hilly but distances are comparatively short. The second half involves more miles per day but less climbing.

Highlights of Iberia Coast to Coast

• Spectacular mountain ranges: views of the Costa Blanca mountains, the Sierra de Grazalema and the Sierra Nevada, but without ridiculous amounts of ascent.
• A sense of achievement: on having ridden from the Med to the Atlantic!
• Granada, Sevilla & Evora, Lisbon: two of Spain’s most stunning cities and two of Portugal’s!
• White villages: pass through the famous white villages of Andalucia.
• Early sunshine: as the first of our 2027 tours, this holiday makes the most of Andalucia’s wonderful spring weather.
• Wonderful cuisine: from Andalucian tapas to Extremadura meats to Portugese tarts!

Accommodation

Accommodation is on a twin-sharing bed and breakfast basis, in a comfortable hotel or B&B with ensuite facilities.

You pay on a sharing basis, although single rooms are available upon payment of a single person supplement of £795.

Meals

Breakfast will be included in the hotel and  picnic lunches will be provided during the cycling days.

You will need to purchase your own evening meals, which are usually eaten communally although you are free to opt out if you wish.

We will carry emergency energy gels and bars in the support van but you are advised to bring along your own preferred sports nutrition to fuel your ride.

In the Tour Plan, (B, L, D) refers to meals included in the trip cost i.e. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Arrival / Departure

The tour starts in Alicante and ends in Lisbon, both of which ar served by multiple airlines from many airports in the UK and beyond.

Bike Transfers

We happily transport your bike to the start and back for free. If you drop your bike off at our Sheffield office up to three days before departure we will carefully pack it in the support van, drive it to the start and then return it to Sheffield ready for you to collect. If that isn’t convenient, then depending on where you live, we may be able to collect your bike on our journey from Sheffield to Portsmouth. Please get in touch with us to discuss arrangements.

Since we are no longer part of the EU customs unions, any bike we transport to Europe requires an ATA Carnet which incurs a fee of £60 per bike. This cost will be added to your invoice.

Tour Plan

This tour is a point to point cycle tour, where we follow a pre set route. Local conditions, weather or fitness could lead to changes in our daily plans. All times and distances are approximate.