CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 222 km round trip from Elvas - roughly 2 h 53 in the saddle. The stops in between: Alcantarilla Bridge, Thermal Baths at Alange and back through Alcantarilla Bridge. It crosses from Portugal into Spain - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 27 km this is Ruta de la Plata, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Climb through the gates of Elvas and the first thing you notice is how white everything is. Whitewashed houses with blue or yellow edging, wrought-iron balconies and doorways, climbing streets paved in small stones, with the occasional Moorish arch and the smell of coffee from a cafe. The old town sits on a hilltop inside its star-shaped walls, a place of narrow streets, small squares and churches, and its centre is much better kept than the usual garrison town. It was part of the UNESCO listing in 2012, and the old centre is the other half of the picture, the place that the fortifications protected.
Read the complete Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre is where the day begins. Next is Alcantarilla Bridge.
Mérida was founded by the Romans in 25 BC as Augusta Emerita, a city for veterans of the Cantabrian wars, and it grew into the capital of the province of Lusitania. Few places in Spain carry their Roman past so openly. The small Alcantarilla bridge on the edge of town is one piece of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, listed by UNESCO in 1993, and its name, from the Arabic for little bridge, tells you how many hands this landscape has passed through. It is a quiet, unassuming structure, and that is a good reason to start here before you tackle the big sights.
Read the complete Alcantarilla Bridge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Alcantarilla Bridge comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thermal Baths at Alange.
The Romans, who were serious about hot water, found a warm spring at Alange in what is now Extremadura and built a bathing complex around it, and the place is still used today. The Roman baths, about twenty kilometres from Mérida, include a domed chamber with stone benches and a pool fed by the spring, and the water comes out pleasantly warm, a gift in a dry country. The baths date from the time when Mérida, then called Emerita Augusta, was one of the great cities of Roman Spain, and wealthy citizens would travel here to relax and be cured.
Read the complete Thermal Baths at Alange write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Thermal Baths at Alange. Next is back through Alcantarilla Bridge.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alcantarilla Bridge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Alcantarilla Bridge, late in the day. Next is Historic Centre.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Historic Centre. That is the ride.
Historic Centre → Alcantarilla Bridge is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Alcantarilla Bridge → Thermal Baths at Alange is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thermal Baths at Alange → back through Alcantarilla Bridge is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Alcantarilla Bridge → Historic Centre is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.