Claire recently took Louise, Douglas and baby Angus cycling along the Via Verde de la Sierra, they went from Puerto Serrano to Coripe and back which is a distance of 27km with coffee and ice creams at Coripe returning to the van just in time as the heavens opened. The Via Verde is a great place to take the family riding as traffic is not allowed. The route meanders through the valley from Puerto Serrano to Olvera following the Guadelete and Gaudalporcun rivers.

The landscape varies from rolling farmland to a mountainous region with a wide range of plants and wildlife to be seen en-route. Over the 36km the terrain rises 300m, so it's virtually flat, the terrain climbs from Puerto Serrano to Olvera.

The Via Verde 'Greenways' have been established throughout Spain by converting un-used railway lines into recreational areas for cycling, walking and horse riding thus bringing, much needed, jobs into rural areas. The one local to the Grazalema Natural Park runs from Puerto Serrano to Olvera covering 36km and has 30 tunnels, the longest one being the castle tunnel some 990m and of the 4 viaducts along the Greenway the one at Coripe is the most impressive at 237m long. There are 5 old railway stations along the route with the stations at Olvera, Coripe and Puerto Serrano being used as restaurants and accommodation.

At the Peñon Zaframagon the station is a nature centre dedicated to the Griffon Vulture, the Peñon is a large limestone outcrop of rock with a colony of Griffons, inside the centre you can watch webcam images of the Griffons amongst other things. The final station at Navalgrulla is yet to be restored.

Interestingly enough the original railway was built in the 1920's but never actually used, it ran from Jerez de la Frontera to Almargen. Again this was built to create local work.

Out of the 3 restaurants the one at Coripe is our favourite, Ramon the chef, prepares some fantastic local dishes and on a Friday and Saturday evening you can usually find him cooking on a BBQ.

There are many local sporting events held on the Via Verde, keep watching this space to find out more about them.

PS Rumour has it that the Fundacion Via Verde de la Sierra have received a further grant to restore 9km more of the old railway line from Olvera towards Almargen.

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