On arrival in Malaga, you'll be met by a member of the team and taken on the transfer to your accommodation for your stay in the beautiful mountain town of Ronda. There will be help to build your bike on arrival to make sure that everything is fully functioning. Now is the time also to chat with your representative about what routes you would like to try out during your holiday.

Today you set out of the historical town of Ronda for the first of many rides, passing through its beautifully preserved Moorish quarters towards the Puente Nuevo. This is the most recent and highest of Ronda’s 3 bridges that span the awesome El Tajo Gorge. You’ll cruise down some way before a steady climb up to the Puerto de la Calerilla. From here a terrific undulating back lane will take you through holm oak and wild olive groves towards the majestic limestone peaks of Tavizna and El Hacho that sit like 2 guardians at the entrance to the massive Hundidero cave system. The road twists and descends to Montejaque village, squeezed in between a mass of magnificent limestone, reaching into the Sierra de Grazalema above. The village square is a perfect spot for a mid-morning coffee, so it would be rude not to. A descent out of the village leads you to a beautifully undulating road that clings high on the side of the Guadiaro Valley, often with vertiginous drops down to the river way below. You’ll sweep past the entrance to the Pileta cave, housing beautifully preserved cave paintings giving indications of what life was like over 25,000 years ago. Another descent drops you into the fertile valley bottom. Of course, once you’re down there, the only way is up! You’ll begin the main climb of the route, passing almond and olive groves as the road twists its way up past the perfect white village of Jimera de Libar, from where the valley narrows and the road switches back, ascending steadily. At the top of the climb, you’ll reach the hilltop village of Atajate. The views are beautiful looking across the Serrania de Ronda, an area of deep twisted valleys cloaked in chestnut and oak. Atajate is a perfect spot for a relaxing lunch with a view so here you can choose to stop for lunch if you wish. Re-fuelled you can set off again along the ridge road as it climbs into a desolate landscape of shattered limestone and dramatic views across hillsides dotted with isolated white villages. On reaching the Encinas Borrachas pass it’s a smooth, fast descent down to your hotel for a cold beer or maybe even a cup of tea!

This route includes one of the most iconic cycling passes in Andalucia, Puerto de las Palomas (the Pass of the Doves). If you have opted for this ride you will ride out of Ronda as the rising sun illuminates the dramatic orange sandstone cliffs and after a long switchback descent take on your first climb, the steady Puerto de Montejaque. From the pass, the splendor of the Grazalema mountain range comes into view for the first time, a mass of complex limestone towering above pastures and pine. The road ahead is as smooth as silk as you drop down to the bright turquoise waters of the Zahara reservoir. The road hugs the bank as it winds its way, undulating upwards to the impressive hilltop town of Zahara de la Sierra topped by its dramatic 12th-century Nazari castle. Zahara has a clutch of inviting bars with terraces for a quick coffee before you begin your climb up the imposing Palomas Pass standing at 1,347m. It’s a challenging ride up through memorable switchbacks on the flanks of El Torreon, the highest mountain in the range, clad in the rare pinsapo or Spanish fir. It’s an interesting climb, which twists and winds giving ever-changing views and perspectives from this fantastic road. The view from the summit is sublime, looking north and west to the lowlands. The ride from the pass down to the town of Grazalema is one that should stay with you for a long time. As you drop from the immense limestone massif, the pan-tile roofs of the town come into view nestled in a valley below the iconic Penon Grande peak. Grazalema is an idyllic ‘pueblo Blanco’s (white village) and has long been a haunt for nature lovers and artists. There’s an ideal picnic spot above the village to contemplate the beauty of the area and give those well-worked legs a rest. After a wander through the winding lanes head out of the village on a curving lane that passes under huge cliffs to the Alamillos Pass. The road then dips in and out of a vast cork oak forest as it descends back towards Ronda.

Today you can ride this route which takes an easy road that climbs up into the Parque Natural Sierra de las Nieves. As you climb over the Puerto de la Ventilla a whole new world is opened up to you. Down to your right, you’ll see the immense Alto Genal, the head of the Genal Valley. The higher reaches of the valley are cloaked in a vast chestnut forest and give way to steep-sided ravines with precipitous terracing for olive, almond, and citrus groves. Above on your left is a vastly different landscape of huge pine forests reaching up to shattered limestone and bulging peaks. As the road levels out you are offered views of the Med, Gibraltar, and even Morocco’s Rif mountains! Now you will take a twisting narrow descent which will lead you to the inviting village of Pujerra, a hidden, whitewashed mountain village of Moorish origin, seemingly lost in time. The village square offers you a chance to meet the local people whilst grabbing morning refreshments. Winding out of the village past flower-filled patios you will cruise onto Igualeja, sat at the source of the Rio Genal. A stiff climb on a narrow lane drops you onto a fantastic descent with some undulations and numerous corners. It’s a fun ride that will take you down past the village of Cartajima where weird and wonderful limestone shapes sit on the hillside. The lane continues to descend, twist and curve around the mountainside until you arrive at the next village of Juzcar. Traversing the valley side, an undulating road takes you through more chestnut orchards to the beautiful village of Alpandeire, sitting with open views of the entire Alto Genal region, with its magnificent 16th-century church protruding from the whitewash. From the village, it’s a good 300m climb to the Perdigones Pass from where a fast descent out of the Serrania takes you to the door of your hotel for some well-earned refreshments.

The first few km today will put you onto the first climb, the beautiful Puerto del Viento (Pass of the Wind), and it’s a smooth 12km up to the 1,100m pass where olive groves give way to the open mountainscapes of the Sierra de las Nieves. In this wilderness, it’s possible to see wild goats leaping effortlessly over the rocks and golden and booted eagles soaring high above. From the pass the view back down to Ronda and into the Grazalema mountains beyond is awesome. As you roll on, the road begins to drop through a moonscape of scattered rock before entering a pine tree-spotted landscape on a brilliant narrow descent that winds you down to the village of El Burgo. The views into the Turron valley are fantastic with the deep blue river meandering in the distance. The Sierra de las Nieves are the highest peaks in the Malaga province reaching a height of a little under 2,000m with la Torrecilla. The range is rugged and complicated with twisting barrancos, deep ravines, caves, and hidden valleys, which have offered many a refuge in days gone by. Next up is the Puerto de la Vibora (Viper Pass) starting straight out of El Burgo. It’s a stiff 400m climb that snakes its way up through pine and undulates along a ridge before a sharp drop down to the village of Serrato for a well-earned lunch stop by the picturesque river. After a siesta, you can press on through a series of back lanes, through wheat fields, and past villages topped by dramatic castles. It’s a delightful ride to Canete la Real, where you can watch griffon vultures soaring effortlessly over the 11th-century castle of Hins Canit. Then you cruise onwards in the shadow of the limestone cliffs of Padrastro before a beautiful descent on a narrow lane to the villages of Alcala del Valle and Cuevas del Becerro. The last leg to Ronda takes you over the steady Saltillo Pass and through an area of majestic dehesa (sparsely forested pasture land) before dropping gently down to the city.

A short train ride will bring you to the cork cutters village of Colmenar setting yourself up for the first climb of the day up to Puerto de los Pinos. The road is narrow and winds its way into this vast forest, offering beautiful views of hillsides clad in thick forest. Other trees in abundance in the forest are cebiche (wild olive), holm oak, and wild strawberry, which shade rare ferns, rhododendrons, and holly along its many watercourses. Topping out at the Penon del Berrueco, an impressive limestone dome is revealed, and the towering mountain of Los Reales, is glowing orange in the southern sunshine. The forest is much sparser and accommodates an abundance of Iberian pigs, foraging for acorns which give their meat a distinctive sweet flavor. The road is undulating smooth tarmac and rolls onto Puerto Galiz and it's lonely, isolated ‘venta‘, an ideal spot for a late morning coffee and maybe a slice of cake! From the Venta Galiz, you take a fantastic road that undulates through stunning scenery to the ruined settlement of La Sauceda which was once a refuge to bandoleros and smugglers! Today it is used as a recreation area and can provide an interesting, shady refuge for your picnic. After lunch, the road ahead is a classic that follows the virgin Hozgarganta River valley and drops for nearly 9km before it undulates on a narrow twisting roller coaster of a road all the way to the white hill-town of Jimena de la Frontera, the end of this splendid ride in time for a refreshing beer before catching the last train home.

It’s time to pack up your bags one last time and sit back while you go back to Malaga for your onward journey home.