Hardly any other landscape evokes such fascinating pictures as Andalusia – a Flamenco dancer in a flowing red dress, white villages enthroned in the rocks, Moorish style filigree palaces and gloriously dressed bullfighters in sold out arenas. Experience an incomparable conglomeration of European and Arabic cultures, the beauty of the scenery harmonized perfectly with masterful architecture.
The present Andalusia joins modern times with a rich tradition. We escort you on well extended paths and small roads without heavy traffic through the lush hilly landscape, green river valleys and the wild landscape of the sierras. You will visit Seville and Cordoba, the metropolises of intellectual life in Moorish Andalusia. You will travel through time in the narrow alleys, the market places, in the architecture of the Real Alcazar and the Mezquita. Dream of past days, when Andalusia’s scholars tore Europe out of the darkness of the Middle Ages. Let’s eat and drink: Cervecas, Tapas, Jamon, Iberico and wine. Andalusia is waiting for you!
Arrival Flights: Airport Seville or Malaga – Group airfare can be arranged for 10 persons or more.
Day 1: Individual arrival in Seville
Three of the most important operas have their settings here: Don Juan, the seducer, Figaro, the cunning barber and Carmen, femme fatale, who lost her life between the tobacco factories and the bullfighting arena. Two world exhibitions left futuristic architecture and lush park grounds in the city. Tour the city with a visit to the biggest Gothic cathedral of the world, to the quarters Barrio Santa Cruz and Casa de Pilatos.
Distance: ~ 28 km
In the morning sightseeing-tour (guided group tour). After a short train journey, you bike through the Alcores, a soft hilly plateau in one of Andalusia’s most fertile agrarian regions. Alcalà de Guadaira provided Seville with bread and water for hundreds of years and it is known as one of flamenco’s cradles. Former haciendas of Sevilla’s kingdom and large agricultural farms skirt the route. Carmona stayed almost unchanged for the past 150 years. Camona offers Baroque palaces, churches and monasteries, surrounded by the Moorish town wall.
Day 3: Carmona – Ecija/Rio Palma
Distance: ~ 65 km
We continue through the Campina of Seville, a soft hilly rug of fertile farmland. Sometimes the Campina is interspersed with inland lagoons that are fed with ground water, with spots of Mediterranean oak woods and jagged formations. Marchena, a typical country district in Campina, is located on a hill over the Rio Carbones. Ecija is the capital of horse breeding. Renowned stud farms are known for their Andalusian (the local thoroughbred), Arabian and English full-blooded horses.
Day 4: Ecija/Rio Palma – Cordoba
Distance: ~ 58 km
We reach Cordoba on the old Roman connecting road in the wide valley of the Guadalquivir. The Sierra Morena surrounds Europe’s former cultural capital with its foothills. Orient and Occident: you can discover traces of the glamorous cosmopolitan past at every corner of Cordoba’s old part of town. Moorish architects created wonders – the Mezquita and the Alhambra, Europe’s mightiest Moorish architectural buildings. Especially beautiful: the “forest of the thousand pillars” and the artfully designed prayer rooms. If you had chosen Half-board, there is no dinner this day.
Distance: ~35 km
In the morning you have the possibility for sightseeing and a guided city tour in Cordoba. After a short transfer by train we cycle along on the old railway – track past huge olive groves to Lucena. This is one of the most important olive-oil producing areas worldwide. The famous olive – oil is pressed in oil – mills.
Day 6: Lucena – Antequera
Distance: ~68 km
Again we follow the old railway – track and cycle through the breathtaking landscape. The historical Antequera waits to be discovered.
Day 7: Antequera – Malaga
Distance: ~48 km
Transfer to the Torcal de Antequera – one of Andalausia’s most extraordinary and suggestive nature landscapes – south of the town of Antequera. The slopes at the edge of the plateau are barren because of goat herds grazing there. The most spectacular place, the Torcal Alto, is alive with an unspoilt flora and fauna. The view expands from Mirador de las Ventanillas to the Mediterranean. A long exciting descent takes us into the Bay of Malaga. The old part of town, the Moorish fortress and the cathedral bear witness to the riches of former times. One of the most famous Spaniards of the last century came from Malaga: Pablo Picasso.
Day 8
Distance: 0 miles.
Return journey by train to Seville and individual departure bus transport, approx. $45 or € 35, per person, reservations must be made in advance.
Tour includes:
- 3 - 4 star Hotels and pensions
- Breakfast buffet and Dinner as listed - 3-course evening meal
- Luggage transport from hotel to hotel while biking
- Experienced Guide and Detailed tour descriptions
- 21 speed cross-bike
- Travel materials (route maps, places of interest, etc)
- All entrance fees and tours according to the program
- City tours in Seville and Cordoba possible and Guided walk through Malaga
- Usually a visit to a stud farm in Ecija
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