Away from the Crowds

Reviews

We will never forget our first sight of Peniscola

Overall - the route design was absolutely perfect. We spent two days and nights exploring Valencia. We added to the bike route that you had selected by cycling in the main park/river bed that runs through the centre of the city.

We then followed your route to find the best Paella we have ever tasted. The NH Las Artes hotel was really nice and the NH breakfasts were up to their usual excellent standard.

Jesus transported us and the bike up in to the mountains on the next day where we enjoyed the Via verde cycling followed by the steady climb up to Mora de Rubielos. Our hotel host was an wonderful lady who made us really welcome. We had lunch and dinner at her restaurant and she insisted that we share our wedding pictures with her. Her hotel accommodation and specially prepared garden breakfast were both exceptional.

The next day we enjoyed the undulating ride to Montanejos. We added a bit to this route, so that we could see the remains of a Roman Aqueduct. The lake-side scenery was some of the best we have encountered. The hotel accommodation was good an the bike parking and maintenance facilities were really appreciated.

However, the breakfast in this hotel was a bit of a busy affair, due to the hotel being full of a bus party who were leaving at 9:00. This could not be avoided, but if it were possible to book a smaller hotel in this town, it may suit more of your guests.

The cycle to Castellon the next day was really interesting and the location and quality of the NH in Grau de Castellon was very good.

The next day cycle route was fantastic and we are very envious of the quality of cycle lanes you have in Spain. The route book provided great information for us to navigate to Alscoceber.

We loved our Saturday night in Alcoceber, as it coincided with a festival, bands playing and a firework display at the beach. The Sancho III was perfectly adequate for our night and we enjoyed using the pool.

Our last day cycling was again on a lovely route - a minor feedback issue here - some of the route was quite bumpy/rocky and whilst we like this type of cycling, a mountain bike would have been the better option for this route.

We will never forget our first sight of Peniscola, as we rounded the hillside. This was a truly exceptional final stop on what was a great cycle tour. We loved exploring the old town and did not want to leave the next day. The RH Portocristo was a very good hotel, and we enjoyed the evening buffet meal.

So, overall, our sixth Away From The Crowds adventure was great. What a way to spend our honeymoon. And thanks again for the lovely present you provided for us in Valencia.

Ged Bell, Scotland

Thanks Ged and Audrey. Always a pleasure to host you. It´s great to see you enjoy our country so much.

Jaime, AFTC.

This was our fifth holiday with you

This was our fifth holiday with you and we will probably come back for number six - so, overall we are very happy with you.

One possible improvement would be to reorganise the first cycling day is it did not see very varied. To spend the night in Rubielos de Mora instead of Mora de Rubielos also could be an opportunity.

Hallgeir Aalbu, Norway.

Thanks for your suggestions Hallgeir. We will study them carefully. Improvements are always welcome.

Jaime, AFTC.

The city of Valencia is lovely and we would have spent at least another night there

We are home now and I am looking at our trip pictures. We had a great time in Spain and really enjoyed our time cycling in the countryside. We especially loved the time in the mountains.

The city of Valencia is lovely and we would have spent at least another night there if we had known. It would have been nice to cycle the length of the greenway there. Next time...

All of the accommodations were comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful. We skipped the half board offerings about half the time even though we had paid for it. We don’t like buffet dinners so we chose to go to other restaurants. Next time we won’t take the half board.

The hardest day of riding was the Barracas to Mora de Rubielos leg. We had headwinds all day and the Via Verde was impassable in one area because of mud so we had to divert around. We were very tired at the end of that day. The other days had some challenging climbs but were more manageable.

Thanks for all,

Vicki Grandy and Steve Hoffman, USA

The ride through the hills was so beautiful and spectacular.

We had a great time as ever. A few comments:-

The hotel in Peñíscola was particularly lovely. The hotel in Montanejos was ok but not as good as expected- the hotel across the road (Rosaleda ) looked much better.

The bikes were fine but not as good as the ones we had earlier in the year. Jon’s wasn’t set up properly ie not all gears weren’t working on day 1. This was resolved the next morning and Jon was able to help Jesús to do it. My battery didn’t work on my bike on day 2 - luckily as we had a transfer we were able to go to the Hardacho depot and swop it over.

Jesús was very good at keeping in touch and communicating.

It was great to have a mix of hills and coast although in general we both prefer trips without transfers- especially when you have to wait in the afternoon. We found ourselves trying to spin out the day and Onda wasn’t that great. We did completely understand there would be transfers so not a criticism. The ride through the hills was so beautiful and spectacular.

I will forward some photos separately. Thanks for all your help in arranging the holiday.

Best wishes

Rona Nicholson, UK

CO₂ footprint offsetting