The Ebro takes a long turn through southern Catalonia before it reaches the sea, and in this stretch it flows wide and slow between orchards and dry hills, past old towns on rocky promontories. Miravet, with fewer than eight hundred people, is the most dramatic, a cluster of ochre houses stacked up below a Templar castle built in the twelfth century, with the river curving below. The castle was one of the main strongholds of the Knights Templar in the region, and in 1308, when the order was suppressed, its defenders held out for a time against the king's army. A small flat barge, the barca de Miravet, has long carried people across the river on a cable, and the crossing is a neat way to see the village from the water.
The country around is Terres de l'Ebre, a land of olive groves, almonds, carob and the odd vineyard, with the dry limestone range of the Serra de Cavalls to the west. Ginestar and Rasquera are small villages with farms and a quiet bar, and the pace of life is slow. Cova del Pi, the cave of the pine, belongs to the shelters of this region, and in the wider area there are painted shelters of the Levantine tradition, listed by UNESCO in 1998. As with all rock art, sites are fragile and access must be arranged locally.
The riding here is gentle and varied. Roads follow the river on both banks, with long straights and the odd bend, and rise into the hills with views over the water. Traffic is light, and the wind, the cierzo or the garbi, can be strong. Summers are very hot, and the best seasons are spring and autumn. A ride down the right bank to Tortosa passes orange groves and old villages. Take care at the ferry ramp, which can be slippery.
Fuel is the thing to plan. The nearest town of any size in the data is Mont-roig del Camp, about 23 km away, and the bigger towns of Tortosa and Móra d'Ebre are the usual places to stock up. Local food includes rice dishes from the delta, grilled snails, and olive oil of high quality, as well as grilled artichokes in spring. A small glass of local wine under the castle walls is a pleasant way to wait for the evening light.