Cycling Calpe and the Costa Blanca:
your ultimate guide

Calpe cycling routes

Cycling Calpe and the Costa Blanca is all about the hills and mountains that form its craggy backdrop. Twisty roads weave up rocky mountain passes and offer far-reaching views over the coastal plains and valleys below. There’s little in the way of forest, so for much of every climb, you’re treated to fabulous panoramas.

This is not the place to come if you’re looking for flat, easy riding. Flatter areas do exist, but the geography means they’re along the coastal plains. The coast is densely populated; don’t expect quiet roads.

Want to get inspired?

Check out our Costa Blanca cycling routes, below!

Serra Gelada, Calpe

54km 830m

Coll de Rates (from Parcent) and Port de Bèrnia loop

119km 2260m

Cumbre del Sol, Playa de la Granadella and Dénia loop

110km 1663m

Guadelest and Vall d’Ebo loop, Calpe

138km 2560m

Puerto de Tudons and Coll de Rates (including the secret summit)

155km 3350m

And finally… don’t miss our top tips for cycling in Calpe.

Accommodation

You’ll want to focus your accommodation search between Dénia in the north and Benidorm in the south, as this is the part of the Costa Blanca that’s of most interest to cyclists. Just a few kilometres inland from the coastline you find cycling heaven in the magnificent natural parks and mountains.

This stretch of coastline is a huge beach-focused tourist destination during the summer months. This means there’s loads of accommodation and many of the hotels offer excellent deals in winter and spring.

So, where are you going to stay?

(For the in-depth low down on where to stay, read our article sharing the best cycling hotels in Calpe).

Large hotel on the coast?

Most people coming to cycle Calpe and Costa Blanca, stay on the coast in places like Calpe and Dénia. The advantage of these towns is that there is plenty of bike hire, you’re close to the mountains, accommodation is reasonably priced in winter and (if relevant) you’re close to the beach. However, be aware that you’ll inevitably have to cycle the coastal roads, which are busy with traffic.

Our selection of the best hotels for cyclists in Calpe is here.

Or small, inland hotel?

The alternative to a large hotel on the coast is a small hotel in an inland village: for example Guadelest and Benissa.

Many of these villages/small towns are very picturesque, with ancient winding lanes topped by a castle or pretty church. The hotels tend to be small and boutique, and you’re surrounded by quiet roads. The downside is that you’ll probably have to do a fair amount of climbing from the door at the beginning and end of each day.

Our selection of the best hotels for cyclists inland is here.

Our choice: Gran Hotel Sol y Mar, Calpe

We stayed in a sea view room on the seventh floor of the four-star Sol y Mar hotel on Calpe’s seafront. It’s a large, glassy structure, with a prominent location on the promenade adjacent to the beach.

What we loved

Downsides

Conclusion

We’d happily recommend the hotel to friends and would return.

Other accommodation in Calpe

If you’d like to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel, this would also be a great choice:

3 Bedroom apartment in central Calpe

Gill got in touch with us because she’s keen to host cyclists in her 3 bedroom apartment off the Avenida de Valencia, 50 metres from the main Arenal-Bol beach in Calpe (opposite the Sol y Mar hotel). It offers:

Lounge in Gill’s apartment

View from the balcony

One of the bedrooms in the apartment

Still not sure where to stay in Calpe? Read this in-depth article on Calpe’s best cycling hotels.

Costa Blanca bike hire

There is a good range of bike hire outlets in this area of the Costa Blanca. Not all of them are obvious from a quick google, but they’re there!

We hope that our list helps with your planning, but please note:

Undecided on whether to hire a bike or bring your own? Read this now.

Tips:

When to go

The Calpe region boasts more than 300 days of sunshine per year (or even 325 hours if you read some reports). The World Health Organisation says the Costa Blanca climate is one of the best in the world.

It’s somewhere you can cycle all year around, although the temperatures in summer mean you’ll need to head out early and plan your route carefully.

The most popular time for cyclists to visit Calpe is between February and May, with peak cycling season being March to the end of April or mid-May.

Between late January and early March, it’s almond blossom season and many valleys transform into a sea of pink.

It’s also worth considering timing your visit around one of the festival days. On 19 March it’s the Fallas festival. In many towns and villages, enormous colourful floats made of wood and papier-mache are paraded through the streets before they’re burned on a bonfire at midnight to mark the beginning of spring. This is accompanied by fireworks.

Tips and articles

Maps and books

We used Marco Polo’s Costa Blanca guidebook to help plan our trip. The section on Costa Blanca is only 21 pages long, but it packs in some useful information on the main towns.

If you like a physical map, Michelin’s Costa Blanca 1:130,000 may be what you need.

Good to know

Confused about the different names for some of the towns? Calpe is the Spanish name, Calp is the Valencian name. The same goes for Javea (Spanish)/Xabia (Valencian) and Jalón (Spanish)/Xaló (Valencian). Our guides stick with the Spanish names.

Parking spaces marked with blue lines means you need to pay. If you see yellow lines, parking is prohibited.

If you see free chairs at a table occupied by someone else in a busy restaurant/café, don’t ask to sit down. It’s not a habit that’s common in Spain and will make Spanish people feel uncomfortable.

It’s worth knowing that both Calpe and Dénia have attractive old towns hidden away behind the urban sprawl (more on their history, here). If you’re staying in one of the towns and have any time off the bike, it’s worth searching out the old towns. The castle in Dénia doesn’t close until around midnight in July and August, so plenty of time after your ride!

Enjoyed our guide?

We’d love to hear from you – comment below or drop us a line.

Want more? Don’t miss our guides to the best Costa Blanca cycling routes in the road rides section above.

Want to check out some other destinations? Don’t miss our overview of Spain for cyclists, our pick of the best cycling destinations in Spain. Also check out our guides to Girona and Costa Daurada to the north and Murcia and Almeria to the south. Or search by the month you want to travel or cycling destination you want to visit, here.

Clare Dewey is a road cyclist with a passion for travel. She set up epicroadrides.com to help make it easy for road cyclists to explore new places by bike.