Barcelona to Alicante

[barnesy]

Hi,

Im trying to figure out a route from Barcelona (well more precisely the Circuit de Catalunya just outside Barcelona) down to Alicante where i will fly home.

I know i cant follow the AP roads, the only other road that seems to run down the coast is the N-340, has anybody got any experience with this road? A quick google shows that it may not be suitable for cycling as alot of lorries use it and for alot of the time its a 100km limit and there isnt always a hard shoulder.

I dont need to go along the coast, although i dont want to make the route too long.

I may need to look at an alternative route that takes me in land on smaller roads then down to alicante.

I would however have liked to have seen Tarragona and Valencia

 

[ThePainInSpain]

I don't know that area, but I would avoid the N340 on a cycle at all costs.

The stretch of the N340 between Malaga and Marbella, was once known as the most dangerous stretch of road in Europe.

There is no way I would cycle on it, I sometimes have to use it on my Motor Scooter and that's bad enough.

I can't see that the N340 in the north would be any different to the south. After all they're all Spanish drivers, who are totally useless.

 

[stephenjubb]

The stretch of the N340 between Malaga and Marbella, was once known as the most dangerous stretch of road in Europe.

cycled the above in rush hour, Dec 2009 (as part of a trip from Alicante to Faro, Portugal) imagine cycling on the M25 and thats what it is like.

Parts of the N340 are ok, away from major towns, I found spanish drivers not too bad on the whole as long as your used to UK drivers, don't expect miracles however.

Picking quiter roads is more preferable in spain, but not always possible, avoid peak periods, and quite often spanish drivers can have a lot off if they think (sometimes incorrectly) you are not allowed on certain roads.

 

[MarkF]

Hi Barnsey, I have ridden that road, was there in September last. I left the City from the Llobregat area along the C245 thru Gava, this road is a great way out of the city, good surface and quiet. I had to join the C32 at the coast, Castelldefells area. Tarragona is worth seeing IMO.

It's not good tbh. You have got to be fit to avoid problems, I am 48 and had problems. It's busy, very, it's not that the drivers are bad, but it's full of business traffic, plenty of trucks, they aint got time to be polite and the road is often narrow. Worse, for me, was that often I'd be climbing (yet again) bonk out but couldn't stop, there is often, nowhere to stop, trucks brushing my left leg and a white line then mountain to the right knee.

I'd say you have got to fit to not need to stop very often (it's very hilly) and you've not got to be nervous of heavy, very close traffic. If you are fit and have balls of steel, it is a spectacularly beautiful ride.

 

[steph post]

Hi, Just wondering if you did the route from barcelona to alicante in the end Barnesy?
I'm thinking of doing it the opposite way.
How long did it take you?
steph

 

[barnesy]

I ended going a bit overboard and instead flew to Paris, I then cycled down to the coast at Narbonne and down to Barcelona for the Formula 1, then back up to Monaco for the F1 the following week. Amazing tour.

Next tuesday though i fly to Alicante and am debating going stright up or up to Valencia and over the Pyranees

 

[Yellow7]

Hi Barnesy
I cycled from Barcelona to Tarragona as part of my last tour, heading inland thereafter to head west. The road wasn't so bad, certainly a good surface. Plenty of campsites to choose from. I was initially concerned about that section whilst making plans at friends in Majorca but it wasn't as bad as I thought. My route is still shown [via umapper] on my blog.

To avoid some of the N340 maybe you could follow some of my section & turn left just before Alcaniz toward Morella, heading back to the N340, or stay on my route (avoiding more of the N340) as far as Montalban then Left on the N420 to Teruel, then back to the N340. That way there's a nice mix of coastal (fast) road & scenic (hilly) sections?

Fail to plan & plan to fail.....but the best made plans fall apart!!

 

[barnesy]

I had a look at your route there, its confusing now as this thread was brought back from the past, im still hoping for answers on my current thread a few threads below this one currently about whether i should follow the route up though spain towards Pamplona or whether i should head towards the Pyranees, id love to take on the Tourmalet but i know it may be closed at this time of year, or dodgy?