The ride to Seville was one of the least interesting of the tour. After dropping from Arcos we angled northwest toward Seville across the broad Guadalquivir basin. Largely agricultural, it’s not the most interesting landscape; and the air was grey and smoggy, with poor visibility. It’s a fairly long ride, so we just ground it out.
The most satisfying part of the ride was our route choice - not having anyone else’s journal to blog, I stared hard at our map trying to imagine what would be the quietest route into Seville. The route I ended up with went a bit out of the way and crossed the river on a ferry at Coria Del Rio and then followed the river into the city along the quiet west bank. If I repeated this ride today, I’d go the same way.
Arriving in the city late in the day, it was more than a bit frustrating to find that our hotel would not allow our bicycles inside - the first time that had ever happened to us. We weren’t about to leave them chained up out in the alley, so we talked our way out of our reservation and walked down the street to the neighboring hotel.
We stayed two nights in Seville, and spent the layover exploring the city. We visited the cathedral, the Alcazar, and the Plaza de Espana.
Using one of our favorite ploys, we decided to save a bit of distance by taking this short cut through Arcos.
Northwest of Arcos. The first twenty miles are through attractive rolling terrain (which would have been even more attractive if it wasn’t so smoggy). Once we near the river though, it’s a pancake the rest of the way.
The ferry at Coria Del Rio. I was surprised to see that this ferry is still operating fifteen years later, and looks like still operates the same craft.
