Alpujarras Loop

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Granada

   Granada lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountain range on the Spanish mainland, and the snowy ridge is visible from many streets, which is a surprise in a city that is baking hot in August. The Mulhacén, at 3,479 metres, is the highest peak of the Iberian Peninsula, and the summits stay white well into spring. Between the mountains and the plain, the city spreads across three hills, with the red towers of the Alhambra on one side, facing the whitewashed lanes of the Albaicín on another. The two hills look at each other across the river Darro.

   Read the complete Granada write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Granada sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Pampaneira.

2. 2. Pampaneira

   Pampaneira is the first of three white villages that cling to the sides of the Poqueira gorge, and it looks like something from the Atlas mountains, which is not an accident. The houses are flat-roofed cubes, whitewashed every year, with chimneys shaped like little pots, and their roofs are made of a grey clay called launa, laid over slate and beams, a building method brought from North Africa by the Moors. The village is steep, with narrow alleys and stepped streets, and the sound of running water from the channels that bring meltwater down the mountainside is everywhere.

   Read the complete Pampaneira write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Pampaneira comes up 30 km in. Next is Trevélez.

3. 3. Trevélez

   Trevélez is one of those places that people tell you about long before you see it. It hangs on the southern slope of the Sierra Nevada at around fifteen hundred metres, among the highest villages in Spain, below the bulk of Mulhacén, which at 3,479 metres is the highest peak on the Iberian mainland. The village is split into three barrios, one above the other, with whitewashed flat-roofed houses that look from the road like a staircase of sugar cubes. Above them is a valley of terraced orchards and chestnuts, and the cold, clear river that carries the snowmelt down toward the Mediterranean.

   Read the complete Trevélez write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   60 km in you reach Trevélez. Next is Ugíjar.

4. 4. Ugíjar

   Ugíjar is one of those places where the history is heavier than the village. It sits on the southern side of the Sierra Nevada in the Alpujarras, the series of valleys where white villages stack up the hillsides in terraces. The Alpujarras were the last refuge of the Moriscos, the Muslims who stayed in Spain after the Christian conquest, and the Morisco revolt of 1568 to 1571 began and burned across these hills. Nearby Válor was the home of Fernando de Válor, who took the name Aben Humeya and was chosen as king of the rebels. Ugíjar saw dreadful scenes in that war.

   Read the complete Ugíjar write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ugíjar, late in the day. Next is Granada.

5. 5. Granada

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Granada write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Granada sits at 238 km, late in the day.

Recorded source links

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