The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

White Villages of Andalusia 2026

April 17th to May 3rd

Ride Coordinator: Ron Scheiblauer
Report by: Ellen price

Exploring the white villages of Andalucía was breathtaking, historical, and exhilarating. Sixteen days is hard to distill into 600 words, but here's my best attempt.

We began in Granada, immediately awed by La Alhambra — its glorious gardens and intricate Moorish architecture left us speechless. Before the riding even started, we climbed into the Sierra Nevada mountains to tackle a section of the Vuelta de España route, marveling at Spain's highest peaks while testing our legs and our bikes.

Our longest day — 105 km — took us to the beautiful hilltop town of Iznájar. Along the way we passed through Santa Fe, where a medieval festival was in full swing and a man playing a hurdy-gurdy serenaded us in the street. This was also where Boabdil, the last Moorish sultan of Granada, surrendered the city to Isabel and Ferdinand in 1492. We also passed the birthplace of Federico García Lorca, the celebrated poet assassinated by Franco for his leftist beliefs. Red poppies and spring wildflowers lined the roads as the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas faded behind us.

Our most demanding day brought 37 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing at a punishing 15% grade. The reward was Priego de Córdoba, with its medieval Alcázar and sweeping views from the balcón of the Sierras Subbéticas. We spent that night in Zuhero, a charming village with a castle dramatically fused into the mountain rock.

The next ride delivered endless olive groves, red poppies, and oleander before we crossed a Roman bridge into Córdoba — our rest day city. We wandered whitewashed alleyways and stood humbled inside La Mezquita. At its 10th-century zenith, Córdoba was the leading city of Western Islam, a cultural hub rivaling Baghdad and Constantinople, with a population of 250,000 and a reputation for medicine, astronomy, and architectural brilliance.

Continuing south, we spotted storks nesting on every power line between Córdoba and Lucena. A rainy stretch brought us to Antequera, where we visited the Dolmen de Viera — an astonishing feat of engineering from 5,000 years ago, with megalithic stones weighing up to 200 tons.

El Chorro offered our most bucolic ride, winding through countryside above a stunning gorge. The highlight was hiking the Caminito del Rey, a vertiginous hanging trail carved into the walls of La Garganta canyon — originally built for workers accessing a hydroelectric plant, now thrillingly safe but not for the faint-hearted.

Ronda was our next rest stop, perched dramatically above a gorge. We explored La Casa del Rey Moro, a remarkable water mine with a hidden staircase the Moors used to maintain their water supply — and their advantage — over Christian besiegers for centuries.

Grazalema, our highest and wettest village, had been entirely evacuated by flooding just four months earlier. We descended its slick mountain roads in steady rain without incident, thanks largely to our guide Agustín, who appeared with dry clothes and hot coffee — an act of heroism we won't forget.

Arcos de la Frontera brought one of our finest group dinners, and Medina Sidonia — one of Europe's oldest cities — gave us a stunning castle sunset. A flooded reservoir near Barbate had swallowed trees whole, creating an eerie and beautiful landscape. Bull ranches dotted the hills.

We ended in Vejer de la Frontera, a lively, stylish village with excellent shopping, fine cheap sherry, live music in the Plaza de los Pescaitos, and perfect people-watching cafés.

We finished in Tarifa, said our goodbyes, and immediately started hoping for the next BAC ride.