Cuenca is built on a spur of rock between two gorges, and the Barrio del Castillo is its highest quarter, the old castle district at the narrow tip of the ridge. The Huécar river runs along one side and the Júcar along the other, each in a deep cleft with limestone cliffs, and the old town clings to the top between them like a ship's prow. The castle that gave the quarter its name has largely gone, though a gate and a few walls remain, and the Torre de Mangana, a clock tower that was once part of the fortress, stands nearby. The whole walled town is on the UNESCO list as an unusual example of a medieval fortress city that kept its shape.
Tourists come for the Casas Colgadas, the hanging houses, which overhang the Huécar gorge on wooden balconies. One of them holds the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, started in the 1960s by the painter Fernando Zóbel, which is a surprising and rewarding thing to find in an old stone town. The cathedral, a Gothic building with Anglo-Norman touches, stands in the Plaza Mayor, and the narrow lanes, steps and viewpoints reward slow exploring. The walk across the suspended footbridge, the Puente de San Pablo, gives a famous view back toward the houses.
The ride up from the plain is good. Roads climb through pine forest and open scrub with gentle bends and a few tight sections, and the air is clear and cool at about a thousand metres. The Serranía de Cuenca, to the north-east, is a wild upland of pine, rocks and river canyons, with the strange rock formations of the Ciudad Encantada, an enchanted city of limestone shapes, about 30 km from town. Winter is cold, with snow on the higher roads, and summers are warm in the day but cool at night.
In the old town, the cobbles and steep streets make riding hard and parking is difficult, so leave the bike outside the walls and walk. Cuenca, with about 56,000 people, has fuel stations, supermarkets and many restaurants. The local dish is morteruelo, a rich paste made of game and liver, and the sweet tooth should look for alajú, a cake of almonds and honey from the Moorish tradition. Early morning, when the light is soft and the streets are quiet, is the best time for the old town.