From Pyrenees to the seaside It was very interesting to ride down from Pyrenees to France and observe the changes in the countryside: first clearly mountainous environment, which then changed into forests and fields that felt like at home in Czech. But after a while the countryside changed again into a typical southern French, sunny, full of vineyards, castles and the typical architecture. Through the vineyards I went to Carcassonne, where the famous fortress is actually a fortified medieval town rather than a castle. And from there I followed a very pleasant route around the astonishing Canal du Midi, which connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranian. I continued along the canal all the way to the coast. There I gave my last good bye to the sea at this trip…

After reaching Andorra by passing through a still active border control post, everything started to seem being built vertically. The capital, Andorra la Vella, is in the main valley, which is narrowly squeezed in between two steep mountain walls. Lot of petrol stations at the border and luxury brands in the city indicate a different taxation than in Spain. Otherwise is Andorra prepared mainly for winter tourism and skiing. However, even in summer, when one leaves the city in any direction – and therefore up the mountains – there is a lot to see. The only trouble is that the Pyrenees are composed of long continuous mountain ridges with no passes or lower sections – so to get a nice view one has to get at the very top of…

From Murcia to Valencia Starting from Almería and following the coast of Murcia and Valencia northeast one can find populated lowlands alternating with rarely populated places where the hill ridges reach all the way to the coast. First example of the latter is around Cabo de Gata, then in Sierra Cabrera, then in Calnegre etc. These areas have relatively low but steep ridges, where the environment looks once like in mountains, next time like in a different country altogether – making an impression of being in a desert or an arid steppe somewhere in central Asia. From Valencia to Catalonia Through Valencia I headed towards Barcelona. The countryside started to visibly change during the way: more of green colour, for the first time (with the exception of mountains around Granada)…

Along the coast to Málaga Towards Málaga is the coast getting more and more crowded: first seemingly unending satellite settlements for the rich, with one way only or even private and closed streets, so the only way to go is the busy highway. Later, around Fuengirola and all the way to Málaga, kilometres and kilometres of hotels for the proper mass beach turism. So it was refreshing to turn from the coast into the inland countryside, aiming for Granada. The countryside here has an interesting profile: from the shore the way goes up 1000 m and everything around makes an impression of being in the mountains. This continues to the top of the Zafarraya pass, which from one side offers truly mountainous feel: rocks, peaks, bending hairpin road, views all…

Over the border crossing and then by crossing the international airport I arrived to Gibraltar. The primary language changed, but also the architecture, or for example the city furniture (phone booths, postal boxes, litter bins all in traditional British style). The Gibraltar Rock is really steep and therefore offers beautiful views across the sea and into all directions. In this sense I was lucky already with my accommodation – which had a private terrace with a casual view at the entire city, two seas, three countries and two continents. The Rock itself is a natural park, offering all kinds of attractions: far views in all directions, forts and underground bunkers built since the Arab rule, throughout the Spanish-English wars all the way to the World War II. And off course…

I took a ferry again to get from Portugal to Spain, by a ferry over the river Guadiana. My goal was to thereafter continue south, to the southernmost tip of Spain. Theoretically this should have been easy: while compared to Portugal there were suddenly much more fields covered by plastic foil greenhouses, most of the way goes around river deltas, coastal lagoons and through natural parks. But the area of Sevilla turned out to be a major obstacle: in the whole are of approx. 150 x 150 km it is only possible to get across the local river Guadalquivir and the natural parks around it by bridges inside or very close to Sevilla city. There is no coastal track or e.g. a ferry connection by the sea. And Sevilla was…

Southwards along the coast From Lisbon, I first crossed by ferry to Seixal, then crossed the peninsula south of Lisbon to its other end at Setúbal, from there again by ferry to the local Troy (Tróia) and over the 18 km long thin stripe of sand protruding into the see I got to a proper land. From there I kept going south and where possible I kept close to the coast. In some places there was a difference of up to 10°C between the coast and a place just 2 km inland – and the coastal temperature was the more pleasant one. This whole part of Portugal had a rather peaceful rural feel, especially compared to the overcrowded Costa del Sol which I visited later in Spain. Here the Atlantic…

Last year I enjoyed the French Mediterranean coast. So what if I went the same direction this year, but even further – to the Iberian Peninsula? But that is already a serious distance, so how to get there within my holidays? By plane? What if the airport staff destroys my bike already at the start when they throw it off the plane? And won’t there be an unbearable heat for a bike trip? I’m going to find out.   The bike transport luckily happened to be without issues, including my exemplarily quick reassembling of the bike at the destination airport. However, the heat did surprise even the locals. In the middle of Portugal and Spain is the forecast up to very nice summer temperatures of 46°C. Even here in Lisbon,…