Extremadura - the hidden gem

Type: Invidual tour

Guidance: GPS

Cycling type: Leisure & Touring cycling

Difficulty level: 3/5

Luggage xfer: Included

Prices & Accommodations

Prices 2025

Tour info: 7 days, 6 nights, 5 cycling days
Start: every Sunday, Monday then 1st cycling day, prices are per person.
Possibility to start on Monday with the 1st cycling day on Tuesday – surcharge applies.
Period: mid-March to mid-June & September to November

Price per person, double room including breakfast (based on 2 travelers): € 790,-

  • Single room supplement: € 280,-
  • Individual traveler supplement: € 570,-
  • Monday departure surcharge: € 80 per person

 

Request a travel proposal for an exact price quote


 

Prices include:

  • 6 nights in a standard double room with breakfast
    • Of which 2 in paradors
  • Luggage transport from accommodation to accommodation
  • GPS files and/or mobile app
  • General tourist information about the area
  • Telephone assistance during the trip from 8:00 to 18:00
  • Reservation fees
  • Financial Protection through VZR Garant
  • Tourist tax

Prices exclude:

  • Bicycle rental
  • Transfer to/from the airport
  • Insurance

Rental Bikes & Extras

  • Hybrid bike, 5-day rental: € 95
  • Electric touring bike, 5-day rental: € 190
  • Helmet: € 20
  • Transfer Seville to Mérida, 1 to 4 persons: € 290
  • Transfer Talavera de la Reina to Cáceres: € 275
    (better to take the train)

 

Rental bikes come with a pannier, small handlebar bag, repair kit, pump, and lock.

Accommodations

During your cycling holiday, you’ll stay in cozy accommodations ranging from charming inns to welcoming family-run hotels and paradors. Three and four star hotels. Here, you won’t find cookie-cutter establishments but places full of character, offering a warm, personal atmosphere and unique touches that make you feel at home. Each location is carefully selected to ensure comfort and authentic hospitality. Rooms are en suite (your own bathroom).

In short

Extremadura is the hidden gem of Spain. It lies off the beaten path for most tourists, yet it is among the most beautiful that Spain has to offer, both in terms of nature and cultural history. Starting with nature: Extremadura is beautifully hilly and, in spring and autumn, surprisingly green. In spring, endless fields of flowers give the land a fairy-tale atmosphere. Here, you’ll find the typical Spanish dehesa landscape—olive trees and cork oaks amidst green fields.

  • Tour info: 7 days, 6 nights, 5 cycling days
  • 32 to 75 km/day

What sets us apart from other providers is our choice of a route that primarily follows peaceful, small roads. Instead of cycling along main roads to connect multiple Paradors, we take you through the most beautiful and tranquil parts of Extremadura. We combine stays in two stunning Paradors with unique, small-scale accommodations that add to the overall travel experience.

With this approach, we offer a journey that allows you to fully experience the diversity of Extremadura, with attention to both comfort and the region’s natural and cultural beauty. It’s a relaxed way to truly get to know this special part of Spain.

Bird enthusiasts from around the world come to Extremadura to admire countless rare species. As for culture… Extremadura is home to a great number of beautiful towns and villages. For example, Cáceres, and Mérida, the “Rome of Spain.” And Trujillo, the birthplace of famous conquistadors. And not to mention the famous monastery of Guadalupe.

In one week, you can’t see all of Extremadura, but we’ve done our best to connect as many highlights as possible. You’ll cycle along quiet roads and stay in charming, beautifully located villages. You’ll certainly encounter some challenging climbs, but the scenery is so stunning that you’ll quickly forget the effort.

Highlights

  • Peace, space, and stunning nature
  • 2 nights in paradors
  • Small roads with minimal traffic
  • The typical Spanish dehesa landscape
  • Comfortable and charming accommodations
  • The historic towns of Cáceres and Trujillo
  • The beautiful monastery of Guadalupe with its Black Madonna
  • Endless flower fields in spring
Day-to-day program

You can expand each day for more information.

  • Day 1 – Arrival in Cáceres from Madrid, Seville, or Mérida

    From Seville:
    From the center of Seville, you can take a bus or train to Mérida (3 hours travel time). Alternatively, you can book a taxi transfer with us.
    Mérida was the most important city in Spain during Roman times. Much has been preserved from that era, making it well worth an overnight stay.
    Then continue to Cáceres by train (about an hour’s travel) or bus.
    The old town of Cáceres dates back to the 15th century. A walk through the town will take you past beautiful palaces, churches, monasteries, and hidden courtyards.
    We’ll provide you with excellent walking routes for Mérida, Cáceres, and Trujillo.

    From Madrid:
    There are about four trains daily from Madrid to Cáceres. The travel time is approximately 4 hours. It’s best to purchase your ticket at least three weeks in advance at www.renfe.com

  • Day 2 – Cáceres to Trujillo (45 km, 500 m elevation gain)

    This first stage is not too difficult. You’ll mostly cycle along an old national road, which is almost traffic-free since everyone uses the highway. This leaves you with plenty of time and energy to explore the unique overnight destination, Trujillo. This charming town is the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro, Orellana, and other conquistadors.
    Enjoy a walk along the 13th-century city walls, with expansive views over the surrounding high plains. Wander through alleys, squares, and gardens, where old colonial-style mansions stand at every turn. Dining on the beautiful Plaza Mayor makes the evening perfect.

  • Day 3 – Trujillo to Berzocana (56 km, 820 m elevation gain)

    The second stage is more challenging and consists of two distinct parts: first, you cycle through the Llanos de Belén, a rolling steppe famous among bird enthusiasts. Even without binoculars, you’ll spot many species. Further on, past the only village along the way, you enter a different landscape as you begin to ride through the rugged, hilly dehesas. Dehesas are meadows dotted with holm or cork oaks, an ideal habitat for livestock and wildlife. Various animals might cross your path here, like the large, light-green lizard or the Egyptian mongoose with its elongated, dark shape. Colorful birds, such as the hoopoe, bee-eater, and roller, flutter along the road. Your destination is a quiet village set in a beautiful backdrop on the mountain’s slope.

  • Day 4 – Berzocana to Guadalupe (32 km, 780 m elevation gain)

    Today will be truly spectacular: you’ll cycle (and sometimes walk, if you’re not an e-biker or a climbing hero) to the top of the sierras. First, you’ll pass through lush Mediterranean forests, then ascend higher through broom and heather, surrounded by rock formations. A long descent follows, offering beautiful views along the way, with birds of prey soaring above.
    The final stretch of the descent brings you into the valley of Guadalupe, a charming village and a pilgrimage site for the entire Spanish-speaking world. In the afternoon, you can visit the famous monastery with its Black Madonna.

  • Day 5 – Guadalupe to Navatrasierra (39 km, 790 m elevation gain)

    After a short climb, you leave the valley of Guadalupe and ride along a gently descending, rolling road. Next comes the delightful climb and descent of the Alto del Hospital. The climb takes you along a winding road with mild gradients through a beautiful forest. You then descend into a quiet valley filled with white and pink citrus shrubs and strawberry trees. Much of the ride passes through a nature reserve, with ancient cork and holm oaks, and you’re sure to spot deer along the roadside.
    This ride is not only about stunning nature; your overnight stop, Navatrasierra, is also charming. It’s a small but lively village where you’ll see locals tending their vegetable gardens and orchards. On weekdays, you’ll likely be the only visitor.

  • Day 6 – Navatrasierra to Talavera de la Reina (75 km, 600 m elevation gain)

    The longest ride (but certainly not the most difficult) takes you through a very diverse landscape. You start with a gentle climb and descent over the last mountain ridge of this cycling tour. Leaving the sierras of Extremadura behind, you enter the lower areas of the Toledo province, with a mix of *dehesa*, steppe, and Mediterranean scrubland. Part of the route follows the most beautiful section of the Via Verde de la Jara. This cycling/walking path, set along an old railway line, leads you through hilly terrain with stunning views of the Tagus River.

    The stage’s destination—and the endpoint of your cycling week—is Talavera de la Reina. Known for its ceramics, the town also has a beautiful ceramics museum. Talavera is a lively Spanish town without tourists, the perfect place to celebrate the end of your journey in one of the many bars you’ll find here. The prices are modest, and you often get a free tapa with each drink you order.

  • Day 7 – End of the Journey

    From Talavera, you have several options to continue or return to the starting point in Cáceres.
    The options are:
    – Madrid by train (1.5 hours)
    – Toledo by bus (1.5 hours)
    – Cáceres by train (2 hours)

    For train tickets, see www.renfe.com (purchase e-tickets in advance), or for bus tickets, visit www.autocarestoletum.es (tickets can easily be bought at the bus station just before departure).

Practical
  • Difficulty Level Explanation: 3/5 – Trekking Tours

    Trekking tours with a difficulty level of 3/5 are suitable for the average touring cyclist. These tours are not overly long but may involve some elevation gain. The routes can include extended sections of unpaved terrain (gravel) but are always passable. There may be 1 or 2 days that are somewhat longer and more challenging. Average daily distances range between 30 and 50 kilometers, with 200 to 400 meters of elevation gain per day.

  • Combination with the Don Quichot route

    This tour can easily be combined with the Route of Don Quixote. If you’ve completed the Don Quixote route first, you can take the 15:35 train on Saturday from Alcázar de San Juan to Mérida (6 hours 40 minutes, €30—be sure to get a window seat to enjoy views of the vast Spanish landscape).
    On Saturday, you’ll spend the night in Mérida, and on Sunday, continue by train (€8 and 50 minutes travel time; see www.renfe.com) to Cáceres to begin the Extremadura cycling tour.

Extremadura – the hidden gem of Spain

7 days from € 790 p.p. Request tour proposal

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