Segovia and Navacerrada Pass + Ávila Walls and Mountain Roads

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Madrid

   Madrid sits higher than any other capital in the European Union, around six hundred and fifty metres above the sea, on a dry plateau with the Sierra de Guadarrama as a blue-white wall to the north. That height explains the light, which is hard and clear, and the winters, which can be sharp, and the habit of the place, which is to stay up very late. The city was a modest town until 1561, when Philip II moved his court here, more or less because it was in the middle of Spain, and it has been the capital ever since. Everything grand about the centre, the palace, the Plaza Mayor and the Prado, grew out of that decision.

   Read the complete Madrid write-up.

2. 2. Segovia

   Nobody forgets their first sight of the aqueduct. Coming into Segovia, the road suddenly opens onto the Plaza del Azoguejo, and there it is, a double row of granite arches striding across the square, nearly thirty metres high at its tallest point, built by the Romans around two thousand years ago without a trace of mortar. It carried water from the Sierra de Guadarrama into the city for centuries, and it still stands, perfectly balanced, one of the most impressive Roman monuments anywhere.

   Read the complete Segovia write-up.

3. 3. Navacerrada

   The village of Navacerrada sits at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, about fifty kilometres north-west of Madrid, and it takes its name from the pass that looms above it. The Puerto de Navacerrada, at 1,858 metres, is one of the classic mountain passes of central Spain, and on any sunny weekend it draws riders from Madrid in large numbers. The village is where many of them stop for breakfast or lunch before or after the climb.

   Read the complete Navacerrada write-up.

4. 4. Ávila

   Ávila announces itself from a long way off, a tawny line of granite wall on a bare plateau with the snowy edge of the Sierra de Gredos behind it. At roughly eleven hundred metres it is the highest provincial capital in Spain, and you feel that in the air: bright, thin, and cold enough in winter that frost on the approach roads is a real hazard even when the sun is out.

   Read the complete Ávila write-up.

5. 5. Madrid

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Madrid write-up.