In mid-May, five experienced riders from the Algarve Senior Bikers (ASB) set out to explore the Spanish province of Extremadura.
This region is renowned for its natural beauty and diverse landscapes, which include Monfragüe National Park, the Jerte Valley, and parts of the Sierra de Gredos mountain range.
The tour was made even more memorable by sunny weather, empty winding roads, fantastic culinary delicacies and several cultural highlights.
The group’s first stop was Arraiolos, a charming town in the Alentejo region renowned for its long tradition of producing woolen carpets, which can be admired in the excellent carpet museum.
We finished the day with a sumptuous dinner at the O Alpendre restaurant, which specialises in large servings of traditional black pork dishes from the Alentejo region.
On day two, we crossed into Spain via the Ponte Internacional de Marco, actually a wooden pedestrian bridge linking Portugal and Spain. We then travelled across the vast, windswept plains of Extremadura to Alburquerque, where we found a memorial dedicated to a popular motorbike mechanic.
We then travelled on to Cáceres, the capital of the province of Extremadura and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city boasts a blend of Roman, Moorish, Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture.
Here, we had the chance to sample a variety of Spanish tapas in one of the many open-air restaurants. The following day, we were fortunate enough to observe many birds of prey, including enormous vultures and eagles, alongside professional birdwatchers in Monfragüe National Park.
One of the tour’s highlights was a leisurely hike to Los Pilones, the famous pothole formations located in the stunning Garganta de los Infiernos nature reserve in the Jerte Valley. The area is home to thousands of cherry trees, which form the backbone of the region’s economy.
From the Jerte Valley, the route continued along winding, narrow roads with steep gradients and many hairpin bends through the Sierra de Gredos Regional Park down to the Tajo Valley (Tejo in Portuguese).
Further on, more scenic roads led us to the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in 1337.
After riding for a week and covering around 1,000 kilometres, we arrived in Évora, where we enjoyed a final Alentejo-style dinner and reminisced about our wonderful tour.
By Walter Kollert
