Granada
Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2027 · 7 days
Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2027
7 days
Up to 14 participants
Gravel Cycling
The challenge
The Alhambra glows gold as the sun drops behind Granada. Bikes come off the van. A mechanic tunes each one…
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The Alhambra glows gold as the sun drops behind Granada. Bikes come off the van. A mechanic tunes each one while you shake off the travel. Then dinner in the old town, the mountains dark above us. This is where it starts.
I'm Chris Hall, and I ride and film these roads for a living. Gravel is my thing, and Granada holds some of the best I've found. Over seven days you'll join a team of riders and we'll take on the white gravel of the Sierra de Huétor, roll past olive groves in the Vega, then climb hard toward Guadix and its caves. This is a hard trip. Day two alone climbs 1,300 metres over 65 km. Day four is bigger still, 70 km and 1,400 metres of up.
We ride into strange country too. Gorafe, with its old dolmens and towering rock gullies. San Torcuato, a church carved down into the ground. Sandy riverbeds. Canyons shaped over millions of years. Some days are shorter, built so your legs can recover before the next big one. But the effort is real, and it is the point.
A guide rides with us every day. A van follows with food, tools, and help if you need it. You sleep in good hotels and eat well. All you bring is the will to keep turning the pedals.
The last day drops us through quiet white villages, desert on one side, snowy peaks on the other. Two worlds meeting under your wheels.
Apply to join
We read every application. Small group — and I want to get the group right. If this sounds like you, apply below.
Day-by-Day
Day 1
You land in Granada, and I meet you with a quick van ride from the airport. My mechanic tunes your bike while you settle in. Then we roll out for a short warm-up loop, 20 km of gravel and tarmac, 500 m up. As the sun drops, we share dinner in the old town. The Alhambra glows above us.
Day 2
Day 2 is our first big ride. You'll join the team for 65 km of gravel and tarmac, climbing 1,300 m. We wind through pine forests under the Sierra Nevada. Smooth white gravel carries you from one viewpoint to the next. Mountain views wait at every turn. It's hard work, but the peaks make it worth it.
Day 3
Day three is your recovery ride. We head west of Granada, 40 km of gravel and tarmac, with 500 m of climbing. The land shifts here. You will roll past farms, crop fields, and hills full of olive groves. It is a shorter, easier day. We keep the legs fresh before the big one comes. Green hills, quiet roads.
Day 4
Today is the big one. We ride 70 km from Granada to Guadix, climbing 1,400 m over gravel and tarmac. The land shifts as we go. Open plains, strange rock, geology like nowhere else in Spain. Guadix is old, a Roman colony from 45 BC. It holds over 2,000 cave homes, still lived in today.
Day 5
Day 5 is one of my favourites. A short 30-minute transfer brings us to Gorafe, a village of cave houses and over 240 dolmens. Then we ride 55 km with +1,100 m of climbing. You'll roll through towering gullies, sculpted sandstone, and rock in wild colours. Layers of earth, stacked like time itself, all around you.
Day 6
Day 6 is 48 km with +650 m of climb. We ride back into the desert. You'll cross sandy riverbeds and rough gravel tracks. Rugged canyons, carved rock, and wide valleys, all shaped by time. We finish at the Hermitage of San Torcuato, a place cut into the ground. Then you'll transfer to your airport. Cool clay, quiet, and stone.
Day 7
This is our last ride. We roll 45 km to the white villages below the Sierra Nevada. Quiet gravel roads link the desert of the Granada Geopark with peaks above 3,000 m. You'll climb 670 m across two very different worlds. Then we head back to Guadix. One last sky, two landscapes, one team.
Day 8
This is it. The last morning. You will wake, then eat a good breakfast together. After that, a private van takes you to Granada or Málaga Airport. No riding today. Just quiet, tired legs and a head full of Spanish gravel. The desert, the caves, the white villages. All of it, still with you as you go.