Mérida is one of those places where you can trip over two thousand years of history on the way to buy bread. The Archaeological Ensemble is the UNESCO name, dating from 1993, for a cluster of Roman monuments spread through the modern town: a theatre, an amphitheatre, a circus, bridges, aqueducts, temples and a forum, all preserved to a degree that is rare outside Italy. The Guadiana flows past below, wide and slow in summer, and the town sits on its north bank among olive groves and plains of wheat.
It all began in 25 BC, when Emperor Augustus founded a colony for veterans of his Spanish campaigns, and the city became capital of Lusitania. It had a population in the tens of thousands and was linked by Roman roads to the rest of Hispania, the same routes that carried silver and olive oil toward the coast. Two reservoirs and aqueducts supplied the city, and the arches of the Los Milagros aqueduct, built of granite and brick, still stride across a field on the edge of town like a piece of stage scenery. It is worth riding up to just to see it with the evening sun behind.
On a bike, Mérida is a comfortable base. The old centre is partly pedestrianised and the one-way system is confusing, so aim for a secure car park near the river or the theatre and walk from there. Fuel is easy to find, since the town has some fifty-six thousand people, and there is food at every price level. Extremadura is known for Iberian ham, strong sheep's cheese and hearty stews, and almost every bar will give you something decent for a few euros. The roads around Mérida are long and fast, and the real fun begins toward Guadalupe, where the terrain rises into the Villuercas hills and the corners tighten.
Summer here is fierce, often forty degrees by afternoon, so either start at dawn or save the sightseeing for the evening. Spring and early autumn are kinder, and from late March the verges are full of wildflowers. In July and August the theatre hosts a festival of classical drama, a pleasure for anyone who wants to hear old Greek and Roman plays in the setting they were written for.