Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)

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Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)

12th pictures

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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In the highest mountains of the Iberian Peninsula, the sky is quite close, and the built-up Costa del Sol on the Mediterranean is very far away.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Lonely upstairs.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Just because of the excellent Serrano ham, it is worth making a quick visit to the highest place in Spain – Trevelez in the Alpujarras.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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In the Sierra de Albuñuelas there are painting-like panoramas.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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White and blue, the colors on Calar Alto.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Where to go now? In the Sierra de Chaparral near Otívar, many attractive small roads meander through the mountainous landscape.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Magical curve surfing between flowers and mountains.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Rugged, romantic: the coast near Cabo de Gata.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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In addition to great coastlines and mountains, Andalusia offers many gastronomic highlights.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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You want the sea: deep-fried squid and a neat street atmosphere at the “La Oficina” restaurant in Granada.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Curve carousel and cacti at Sopalmo.

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Daams Klaus H.

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Welcome to the biker’s paradise.

to travel

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)

Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)
Curvy nirvana in Andalusia

The Sierra Nevada in Andalusia offers great curves, colossal landscapes and culture – a motorcycle trip to Spain from a picture book.


Klaus H. Daams

02/01/2020

Unless your parents dragged you along for a package holiday to Torremolinos or Málaga on the Costa del Sol, Andalusia seemed inaccessible to us. Back in the 1970s. And today? Are we on the road with a pimped BMW R 1200 GS, from the Black Forest through France to this part of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Empty motorways, cruise control, you can even drive a few kilometers hands-free. Then, moment of shock, shortly before Valencia: 36 euro toll, gulp! swam over it.

Sunny side of life

Mojácar Playa also prefers to forget, where apartment hotels grow like cancerous ulcers, and also not healthy: the 350 square kilometers of greenhouse fields sprawling along the coast, where wage dumping and slave labor thrive. But now finally to the sunny side of life. The AL-5105 near Sopalmo winds its way south as a light gray asphalt ribbon between the turquoise blue sea and green-brown cactus colonies. And after some zigzag it leads to Cabo de Gata to a long, unspoilt sandy beach, on which some boats are pulled ashore by hand winches, others are picturesquely rotten. Ingenious, beautiful! The last special stage for today leads the uphill rally GS up to the lighthouse Faro de Cabo de Gata – to an exciting duel for the last photo light with a ball of sun falling inexorably into the sea. In the hotel, the kitchen serves artfully draped calamares, and football is on TV.


Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)


Daams Klaus H.

Rugged, romantic: the coast near Cabo de Gata.

The next day, snow-capped mountain peaks appear on the horizon as dazzlingly white as the teeth of star player Ronaldo. Snow in Andalusia? We want to see, say goodbye to the many red lights in the provincial capital Almería and head towards the rugged Sierra de los Filabres. Many spaghetti westerns such as “For a Fistful of Dollars” or “Play Me a Song of Death” were filmed around Tabernas. But we prefer to ride on through the prairie ourselves. From Gergal via the A-1178 and AL-4404, Andalusia gives you a foretaste of what roller coasters it has to offer.

The treasure in the Silbersee

As lonely as the area is, so great the astonishment when, on the way up to the largest observatory in Europe, the Centro Observatorio Astronómico on the 2,168 meter high Calar Alto, a monster in orange suddenly comes towards us in a serpentine, from its steel mouth large white chunks fall. A snow plow! That can be cheerful. Cheerfully, the throttle valves of the BMW also open every second as you meander the Calar Alto downhill to Las Alcubillas Altas on the AL-3407, lined with gorse and crooked conifers, towards Gádor. Again and again the incredulous question: “Did these roads actually only be built for us?” On the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada lie the Alpujarras, a landscape unfolded with loess hills and deep valleys. Two great stretches run parallel from east to west. But what does parallel mean, because the well-developed A-348 between Benahadux and the A-44 near Lanjarón in the direction of Granada is a single curvy temptation, 120 kilometers long. To the north of it – and not so dangerous for your driver’s license – is the alternative route that has been scrawled as if by a child. At the stage destination in Capileira, daily kilometers: 315. Phew! Flat. Sleep.


Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)


Daams Klaus H.

In the Sierra de Albuñuelas there are painting-like panoramas.

In the past, at least with light enduros, you drove from Capileira all the way to Mulhacen, the second highest mountain in Spain at 3,482 meters, only surpassed by Teide on Tenerife. In the meantime, this can only be done on shoemaker’s pony. We prefer to put these on our motorcycle pegs, because below the Mulhacen, the enchanting Sierra floods the brain with happiness hormones. They look like sugar cubes, the white houses of Capileira and Bubión, Pampaneira and other villages that cling to the mountain flanks as if there was no gravity. Photo stops and the finely branched route network with an almost infinite number of alternatives to the two main routes through the Alpujarras drag the day’s planning out. A well-filled tank bag is recommended as there are often not enough places to stop for a break. If you, as a touring driver, still want to feed your sat nav or the analogue road book, you should definitely do that: Pampaneira, Órgiva, Almegíjar, Notaez, A-345, GR-5202, GR-6202 and the dam located in a frayed valley basin Embalse de Beninar. This grandiose setting for a remake of “The Treasure in Silbersee” is a must.

Schnken for 70 euros

After all the curvy little ones, a long pass opens up over the 2,000 meter high Puerto de la Ragua, past the castle of La Calahorra, which towers on a hill above the village, to Guadix. Passing Granada on the GR-3201 and then back to Bubión and Capileira, whose homely yellow city lights finally greet us today after 325 kilometers. The next and last day in the Sierra Nevada will be a little less. “Jamón, Jamón” is the motto everywhere in the ham village of Trevelez, wherever we go for our second breakfast. On the other hand, you have to look more closely for a baker for the underlay of the tasty mess that has been advertised.


Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)


Daams Klaus H.

You want the sea: deep-fried squid and a neat street atmosphere at the “La Oficina” restaurant in Granada.

But formidable hams for 70 euros would be a truly original souvenir, is there still space in the aluminum cases? Via Nieles and Tímar, A-346 and Motril we want to get a taste of the Mediterranean again. Which we quickly leave in Almuñecar; Concrete dominates the coast, which is euphemistically baptized as the Costa Tropical. From the junction to Otívar: breathe deeply, switch through and again Stairway to Heaven into the mountains! First, lemons and apricots sunbathe on the fertile slopes of the Rio Verde, then the A-4050 saws its way through the Sierra del Chaparral and Sierra de Albuñuelas so that the tire gets very warm around the flanks.

At an altitude of 3,384 meters

Cool down then almost two hours later, and after a juicy serpentine cocktail up to Mulhacen, this time from Granada: the thermometer reports a measly two degrees on the display! We are at least 2,500 meters above sea level in the ski resort of Pradollano. Where the white of the clouds gradually merges with that of the mountains, where you can hardly tell which of them is on top. Or where the Pico del Veleta is hidden right next to it, the highest accessible point in Europe at 3,384 meters. However, only with a special permit or as a passenger in a minibus, because the Sierra Nevada mountain range has been a national park since 1989.


Motorcycle trip to the Sierra Nevada (Spain)


Daams Klaus H.

Lonely upstairs.

And finally Granada, right in the middle of the old Moorish royal city with a venerable history and a bustling today. With the Alhambra, a splendid example of Islamic architecture. After a short odyssey, the heavy motorcycle clothes were finally exchanged for airy civilian clothes in the hotel, in order to enjoy the cozy night sky in the restaurant “La Oficina” on Avenida de la Constitución with delicious Pulpo Braseado. Salud!

getting there

From Freiburg in southern Germany, via Lyon and Montpellier (France), Barcelona and Valencia (Spain), it is around 1,840 kilometers to the destination Almería. So you have to take into account a long distance, plus steep motorway tolls if you take the fastest route. If you have more time, you can enjoy driving on country roads instead; if you have little time, or if you like it, you’d better fly to Almería or Málaga and rent a motorcycle there. Daily rentals for a touring machine start from around 90 euros per day. Alternatively, your own machine can be brought to the travel region in advance by specialized service providers.

Travel time

At the beginning of May it is spring-like warm, only in the high areas of the mountains does the thermometer occasionally show single-digit values. In summer there is a risk of heat collapse on the coast, until late autumn the temperatures are ideal for motorcyclists again. However, if you come from the north on your own: Please pack warm and rainproof clothing for the sometimes cool and wet journey.

Accommodations

With a beautiful sandy beach right in front of the door, southwest of Almería, the pretty “Hotel las Salinas” on Cabo de Gata, Tel. 00 34/9 50/37 01 03, www.hoteldelassalinas.com scores. In the middle of the rugged Alpujarras and in the “sugar cube village” of Capileira, at the foot of the Mulhacen, lies the “Hotel Rural Finca los Llanos”, phone 00 34/9 58/76 30 71, www.hotelfincalosllanos.com. The Alhambra in Granada is still within walking distance from the functional hotel “Abba Granada”, Tel. 00 34/9 58/80 78 07, www.abbagrana dahotel.com.

Literature / maps / internet

The first choice was the “Andalusia” travel guide from Michael Muller Verlag for 24.90 euros. Also top are the Michelin road maps sheet 124 “Costa del Sol” on a scale of 1: 200,000 for 7.99 euros and sheet 578 “Andalusia”, scale 1: 400,000 for 8.99 euros. The following helpful addresses can also be found on the Internet for travel preparation:

  • www.spain.info/de
  • www.andalusien.de
  • www.andalusien-tour.com
  • www.andalucia.org
  • www.turgranada.es
  • www.alhambra-tickets.es

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