Motorycle Coastal Routes in Malaga and Andalucia

‍

The first rule of thumb about holidays in Malaga in general - and motorcycle riding in particular - is that the coast to the east of Malaga generally offers better experience than the area to the west. As we head to the east from Malaga along the coast we are going through some smaller, local villages. 

‍

From Malaga up until Nerja the road is still going through many seaside towns. While those are cute, it doesn’t have the feeling of “open empty road” - even though it’s still significantly less busy than its western counterpart. What we tend to do though is to take the A7 motorway until just after Nerja and then take a coastal (N340) route to Salobrena. There are a couple of bigger towns on the way, such as Almunecar - but for the rest of it the road is curvy, empty and very pleasant to ride.

‍

What follows is a slightly less exciting, straight piece of road that by-passes Motril which is still fine to ride - it just pales a bit in comparison to the previous one. However, after you arrive in Calahonda the fun starts again! Continue to follow the N340, pretty much always staying on the coast, and you’ll be rewarded with some excellent riding! The road occasionally goes through small seaside towns with great spots for a breakfast, lunch or dinner (and prices way lower than around Malaga). The road isn’t busy at all, apart from a little town traffic, as most of the vehicles go on the A7 motorway. Even at the height of the summer you can sometimes have the road to yourself.

‍

One can follow the coastal road all the way to Adra - or just before Adra at junction 384 of the motorway - before either turning back and doing it all again or jumping on the motorway for a decision where to go next.

‍

The area between Adra and Almeria isn’t that great for motorcycling - it’s heavily industrialised with not much to see and quite a bit of traffic, so we suggest doing this part on the motorway if you want to keep heading east.

‍

There are 3 options that one can take from here:

‍

1. Head on the motorway beyond Almeria and, having done the Tabernas desert route, jump back to the coast and follow it all the way to Cartagena. This forms part of the Coast, Desert and Mountains itinerary.
2. Head north towards Sierra Nevada and do the A-337 mountain pass before heading back to Malaga or exploring the inland areas.
3. Just turn around and do the coastal route in the reverse direction completing a (long) day trip.

‍

2. Costa Del Sol: South-West from Malaga

‍

As we have mentioned before, the area to the south-west from Malaga along the coast is generally not so nice for motorcycle riding. The whole coast from Malaga pretty much all the way to Gibraltar and even beyond to Algeciras is a heavily built up residential area filled with either hotel resorts or residential condos and businesses. There aren’t any nice views either.

‍

There are 2 main roads passing through the area - AP-7 which is a toll motorway and A-7 which is a free quasi-motorway. The A-7 road is usually very busy and in fact we consider the part from Fuengirola to Marbella and beyond to be very dangerous. The road is built in a way that the traffic can’t merge onto a motorway properly due to a lack of proper entry slip roads. So the vehicles end up just jumping right into the flow of fast-moving traffic in a hope that others will brake in time. Be careful!

‍

Unless you absolutely have to cover that stretch of the road quickly, or need to go along the coast for another reason, it’s much better to go through the hilly area a little inland. The inland route offers way calmer traffic and much more exciting roads. One option is to take A-357 out of Malaga towards Campillos and turn to Ronda just after Ardales on A-367. Have lunch or a coffee in Ronda and continue on A-369 and A-405 that will bring you to just before Algeciras. Sure it will take longer but it’s a way more pleasant route.

‍

The road becomes quieter and more pleasant after Algeciras - it climbs some hills on the way to Tarifa with some great views before descending to the port town of Tarifa. The stretch between Tarifa and Cadiz, even though not super-exciting in terms of motorcycling, offers some of the best beaches in Andalucia. Unless one wants to continue to Cadiz and then to Seville, it’s a good option to then turn inland towards Alcala de los Gazules before wandering into the hilly areas of Sierra de Grazalema (great riding, but narrow roads!) and heading back to Malaga.

‍