Tiradores is one of Cuenca's old quarters, a slice of the hillside town where the steep lanes climb between tall, narrow houses and the sound is mostly footsteps and swifts. It is not a sight in the sense of a single monument. It is a neighbourhood, and that is why it is worth the effort: Cuenca's famous gorge-edge silhouette is made of ordinary houses like these, stuck onto the rock with extraordinary stubbornness, and the people who live here still carry their shopping up the hill.
The town as a whole was made a World Heritage Site in 1996, and the old centre has a medieval, almost Moorish density, with a few remaining fragments of the walls. Come on foot and be ready to climb. The reward is views over the Huécar gorge and across to the green hillsides beyond, and a chance to see the town without the crowds that pack the main square.
Riding out of Cuenca in any direction is a pleasure. West and south the land opens into the plains of La Mancha, with long straight roads and distant windmills, but north and east the Serranía de Cuenca offers forest, rock and curves. Spring and early summer are the best time, with flowers and green slopes; autumn brings mist and gold, and winter can bring frost, so check the tarmac before enjoying the corners.
Fuel is not a concern, since Cuenca has fifty-six thousand people and plenty of petrol stations on the approach roads. Food is hearty: lamb, game and cheeses, with the sweet pastry called alajú, made with honey and almonds, a good thing to carry in a tank bag for later. Be careful with the one-way system near the old town, which can trap the unwary, and park in the lower town where it is flatter.