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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Local Forum and Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
428 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 50
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Mérida it runs 428 km to Mérida; allow about 5 h 50 of riding. It goes by way of Old Town of Cáceres, Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup and back through Old Town of Cáceres. The line favours views over speed.

Scenic road chapters

Local Forum → Old Town of Cáceres

Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 84 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.

Chapter facts
Length
76 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Local Forum

    Every Roman town had a forum, the place where trade, politics and religion tangled together, and Mérida's municipal forum sits right at the heart of the old centre. The remains are patchy, a platform of paving stones, a few columns and some fragments of a colonnade, but it is easy to read as a rectangle of open space once you know what you are looking at. This was where the city's councillors met, where merchants did deals and where local priests carried out the ceremonies that bound the colony to Rome.

    Read the complete Local Forum write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Local Forum is where the day begins. Next is Old Town of Cáceres.

  2. 2. Old Town of Cáceres

    Cáceres has an old town so complete that film crews treat it as a ready-made set, and walking its streets at dusk, when the stone glows amber and the crowds have gone, you can see why. Inside the walls, built largely by the Almohads in the twelfth century, are dozens of fortified mansions, towers, churches and palaces, many built by noble families who made their fortunes in the conquest of the Americas. The towers once had battlements, but Queen Isabella ordered most of them cut down to curb the nobles' power. UNESCO listed the old town in 1986.

    Read the complete Old Town of Cáceres write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Old Town of Cáceres comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup.

  3. 3. Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup

    Planning note

    about 213 km into the recorded legs you reach Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup. Next is back through Old Town of Cáceres.

  4. 4. back through Old Town of Cáceres

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Old Town of Cáceres write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Old Town of Cáceres, late in the day. Next is Local Forum.

  5. 5. Local Forum

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Local Forum write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Local Forum. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Local Forum to Old Town of Cáceres

Local Forum → Old Town of Cáceres is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Old Town of Cáceres to Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup

Old Town of Cáceres → Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup is 137 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup to back through Old Town of Cáceres

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalup → back through Old Town of Cáceres is 138 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

back through Old Town of Cáceres to Local Forum

back through Old Town of Cáceres → Local Forum is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

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