Winter bike vacation to southern Spain vs southern Portugal or maybe even Tuscany

[OtayBW]

Tarifa, Malaga, and Grenada in So. Spain, IMO. The Alhambra is not to be missed, even with the crowds. And a really cool place to hang for a couple of days is the little seaside town of Nerja, ~25 km east of Malaga. Sit in an outdoor cafe and drink some local red, stroll around and eat, take siesta,...

[Hakkalugi]

Another vote for Malaga and sierraNevada.cc. I went in January and the temps were upper 60s, town was quiet and empty, and the cycling was fantastic.

[Mr. Pink]

Just my two cents about Nerja and a lot of the other beach towns in southern and even western/Med Spain. No culture. It's a lot of northern Euros who retired and came down to die. Europe's Florida. Certain towns are filled with Brits who don't even learn Spanish and have their own little British pub culture into themselves. And the beach in Nerja sucked, I e., there was hardly a beach.

Sicily, for a shorter term visit in winter. Girona long term, year round.

[SDJ]

Well i can agree to a certain extent but come on that’s a bit harsh no?

Depends on which town or area you pick - some more some less - Nerja and west of Malaga yes a lot of expat retirees but less in Almuñécar and if you go a bit inland the situation changes. Visiting the bigger cities also “helps”

Never been to Girona myself but my impression after reading and hearing about it the last ten years is that it is full of pro or half-pro (or ex) and wannabe (hipster) cyclists…yes maybe a bit harsh
Sicily will also have a lot of expats especially post pandemic.

Nowadays you gotta take the good with the bad as the climate, way of life and outdoor possibilities attract a lot of people to all of southern Europe

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Just my two cents about Nerja and a lot of the other beach towns in southern and even western/Med Spain. No culture. It's a lot of northern Euros who retired and came down to die. Europe's Florida. Certain towns are filled with Brits who don't even learn Spanish and have their own little British pub culture into themselves. And the beach in Nerja sucked, I e., there was hardly a beach.

Sicily, for a shorter term visit in winter. Girona long term, year round.

[RonW87]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Just my two cents about Nerja and a lot of the other beach towns in southern and even western/Med Spain. No culture. It's a lot of northern Euros who retired and came down to die. Europe's Florida. Certain towns are filled with Brits who don't even learn Spanish and have their own little British pub culture into themselves. And the beach in Nerja sucked, I e., there was hardly a beach.

Sicily, for a shorter term visit in winter. Girona long term, year round.

Don't disagree. That's why I would suggest staying in Malaga itself. Lots of culture, restaurants, history.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by SDJ

Well i can agree to a certain extent but come on that’s a bit harsh no?

Depends on which town or area you pick - some more some less - Nerja and west of Malaga yes a lot of expat retirees but less in Almuñécar and if you go a bit inland the situation changes. Visiting the bigger cities also “helps”

Never been to Girona myself but my impression after reading and hearing about it the last ten years is that it is full of pro or half-pro (or ex) and wannabe (hipster) cyclists…yes maybe a bit harsh
Sicily will also have a lot of expats especially post pandemic.

Nowadays you gotta take the good with the bad as the climate, way of life and outdoor possibilities attract a lot of people to all of southern Europe

I was thinking of moving to Europe a few years ago, and, if I did, I want to be on a major train line with high speed access to a lot of the continent, and direct cheap flights. Girona is very close to Barcelona, and on the same line to both Valencia South and France north. Maybe the high speed doesn't stop there, but, a quick connection will get you there Girona itself has plenty of history, and you're a nice drive into Basque country. Pyrenees are close. The southern coast has none of that. But, I'm a skier, so I embrace winter in a different way.

[litcrazy]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm getting excited.
I just reached out to sierraNevada.cc to start getting serious about options. It's sounds like a number of folks have explored the area.

Would folks recommend staying inVelez de Benaudalla? Any other places nearby worth considering?

How hard was it to get to Granada and the coast from Velez de Benaudalla? Is a rental car necessary or do the trains and buses work? We like public transit generally for the interactions it provides?

What else would there be to do in Velez de Benaudalla besides cycling?

If we were to stay in Velez de Benaudalla, would folks recommend day trips to Granada or spending a night or two there?

How hard was access from Madrid? I can imagine flying in an out of Madrid and spending a night there on each end. Then spending a night or two in Granada and 3-4 nights in Velez de Benaudalla. I saw this before pricing out lodging, of course.

Other suggestions welcome!

[Mr. Pink]

Trains aren't too great in southern Spain. Non existent, pretty much, in a lot of places. We flew in and out of Madrid because cheap direct flights from JFK, and trained to Toledo and Sevilla, and Cordova from Sevilla for a day trip, but Granada is and a lot of the white towns are pretty much drive only. Spain is still playing catch up from Franco era poverty in the south.
Madrid isn't the most interesting city, but the Prado makes up for that in spades. Food is pretty good, too

[SDJ]

You are quite right about that - easy access to Europe of course much easier further north. From the south there are a lot of flights (or 10 hour drive to France) but that has its own complications.

You can get some skiing in Sierra Nevada - not too bad if good snow but I’ve got rid of the skibug after living in the alps

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

I was thinking of moving to Europe a few years ago, and, if I did, I want to be on a major train line with high speed access to a lot of the continent, and direct cheap flights. Girona is very close to Barcelona, and on the same line to both Valencia South and France north. Maybe the high speed doesn't stop there, but, a quick connection will get you there Girona itself has plenty of history, and you're a nice drive into Basque country. Pyrenees are close. The southern coast has none of that. But, I'm a skier, so I embrace winter in a different way.

[SDJ]

Good thing reaching out to SierraNevada.cc - seem like a good crowd - when is it you’re going again? I’ll be there in October and definitely riding through Velez

Velez is good for riding as you have easier acccess to nice rides from there than the coast - it’s a bit of an extra slog along the coast if going to the Alpujarras villages for instance.

Velez is small though - some nice bars and restaurants but not too much other life I think. Beach is a bit of a drive and shopping is Motril or Granada but both are a 30 minute drive or less. All depends on what you want/need.

Bus from Granada - as Pink says no trains in southern Spain (network stops in Granada) as it was deemed too costly back in the day with all the ridges and valleys along the coast line. At least we have the motorway now finally which makes travel along the coast much easier. Rental car could be quite cheap at this time of year and then gives you a lot of freedom to travel around.

Originally Posted by litcrazy

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm getting excited.
I just reached out to sierraNevada.cc to start getting serious about options. It's sounds like a number of folks have explored the area.

Would folks recommend staying inVelez de Benaudalla? Any other places nearby worth considering?

How hard was it to get to Granada and the coast from Velez de Benaudalla? Is a rental car necessary or do the trains and buses work? We like public transit generally for the interactions it provides?

What else would there be to do in Velez de Benaudalla besides cycling?

If we were to stay in Velez de Benaudalla, would folks recommend day trips to Granada or spending a night or two there?

How hard was access from Madrid? I can imagine flying in an out of Madrid and spending a night there on each end. Then spending a night or two in Granada and 3-4 nights in Velez de Benaudalla. I saw this before pricing out lodging, of course.

Other suggestions welcome!

[Tychom]

Originally Posted by litcrazy

How hard was it to get to Granada and the coast from Velez de Benaudalla? Is a rental car necessary or do the trains and buses work? We like public transit generally for the interactions it provides?

As said, not much of a train service in southern spain. There is a bus service that will get you to Granada, Malaga - but it's incredibly infrequent and you should book in advance.

For general ease and to be able to better schedule your activities, I think a hired car is best.

I'll be in Cadiar over christmas. Velez de Benaudalla looks about the same size - I've passed by but never through. The roads in this area are amazing.

With Cadiar, there's a few bars and restaurants, shops, totally fine as a place to cycle out of. But if you're looking for more cultural activities then it's best looking elsewhere. I imagine Velez is the same.

Orgiva is a bigger town so could be interesting for a longer stay, but that's not saying much - Granada and Malaga are really the places to be for off-bike activities - other than say, hiking & beaches.

[Mr. Pink]

I just saw this and consider it sort of relevant. It can relate to biking, because I'm pretty sure the high speeds have open bike accomodations, so you can use them for day trips some distance away. I know a lot of the local trains in Italy had some sort of rack. I had a friend that did three day trips out of Florence,


https://english.elpais.com/climate/2...the-train.html