Guadix to Granada

The Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada

This was a very enjoyable day’s ride, with a welcome return to warm sunshine. We passed more cave dwellings along the road out of Guadix, some with substantial land holdings. We climbed up above La Pesa and through a wonderful ravine along quiet roads, stopping for lunch before dropping down into the village which was large enough to cause us some difficulty finding our route out through the other end. A long climb up to Puerta de Blancas followed, a wonderful ride through a spectacular gorge with white chalky cliffs. From the 1297 metre summit it was downhill all the way to Granada, passing the Embalse de Quentar and throngs of racing cyclists out on their training runs.

It was an easy ride into the city centre, we’d not booked accommodation and were debating where to seek a bed for the night when Juan waved to us from across the street. He’d camped between Puerto de La Ragua and Guadix and then rode to Granada the next day, and had stayed in a hostel. Unlike in Britain, the tourist information office don’t offer a booking service so could only provide a list.  After phoning several places we secured three places in a shared four-bed dorm in the Meridian hostel, which was in a good position in the city centre. We resolved to book accommodation in advance for the other cities on our itinerary as the hostel was quite noisy being a weekend, and Granada attracts stag and hen parties. In the city we spoke to a retired German couple who’d cycled from Hamburg to visit their daughter, a trip of several months and camping every night.

A day in Granada