Road Jávea/Xàbia (P.N. Montgó)

 

etapa de carretera
02

Xàbia

​We'll start our route at Jávea's (Xàbia in Valencian) promenade. The first part won't really give us a chance to catch our breath, since we'll begin the climb to the Montgó Nature Reserve almost straightaway. Right after leaving La Grava beach, we'll turn onto Calle del Santísimo Cristo del Mar until we get to a small section of Avda. de Lepanto that leads to Avda. del Rey Juan Carlos I. Before completing the second kilometre of the route, we'll find the turn onto the CV-736 road (also known as Carretera de Dénia) on our right-hand side. In any case, the simplest way to find it is to follow the indications to Parque Natural del Montgó.

While this ascent to the Montgó Nature Reserve from Xàbia, also known as Les Planes (Category 3), is quite short, it's also quite demanding, with a total elevation gain of 138 metres in less than 3 kilometres and an average gradient of 6.53%.

The scenery on this road is amazing, and we recommend stopping for a while at the Chapel of Santa Lucia and Santa Barbara, so you can enjoy the views of the town, the valley with its orange fields and, of course, the Mediterranean Sea.



Les Valls

​Once we've finished the first climb of the day, we'll start our way down to Dénia, with the magnificent Montgó on our left and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance. We'll go through the town of Dénia and we'll continue on the CV-725 road towards Ondara. 

When we reach the town of Beniarbeig, we'll take the CV-729 road. We'll follow this road, which gets more and more demanding as we go through Benimeli, El Ràfol d´Almúnia and Sagra and, just before reaching Orba, we'll turn onto the CV-721 road and we'll begin the climb to La Vall de Laguar, first, and to Coll de La Garga (Category 2) after that. The Vall de Laguar valley region includes the villages of Benimaurell (the Poble de Dalt or "Higher village"), Campell (the Poble de Baix or "Lower village"), Fleix (Poble d'Enmig or "Middle village") and  Fontilles. All these villages make up just one municipality.

This is a very tough climb. We'll be covering a distance of 10.80 km, with an elevation gain of 654 m and an average gradient of 6.1%. However, the hardest point of this ascent comes after the town of La Vall de Laguar. From there, we'll come across segments with gradients that rarely go under 9-10% and which reach a maximum of 17% at some points. Our efforts will be rewarded by the views from the top of the Coll de La Garga which, despite not being the highest (765 metres of altitude), offers breathtaking sights, especially if we take into account that we started the route at sea level. We can stop for a snack at the mountain top or go back to Fleix to regain our strengths and refill our water bottles. At this point, we'll have completed the hardest climbs for the day, even though we'll still have 45 km left to cover and the road won't give us much of a break until we're back in Xàbia.




Murla - Xàbia

We'll leave Fleix and we'll follow the road down towards Murla, where the descent ends. From there we'll take the CV-719 road towards Benigembla in order to start the way back to Xàbia. We'll then take the CV-720 road that goes through Parcent, Xaló and leads to Alcalalí. From Alcalalí, we'll follow the CV-750 road to go through Llíber and arrive at Senija.

This section we just described is really enjoyable for two main reasons:

The first reason is that it's one of the most popular biking areas in the region, especially in autumn and winter, when many professional teams and cycling tourists from all over Europe visit the area, due to the fact that the ascents we described above and the Coll de Rates are very well known and can be accessed from there.

The second reason is the scenery, since the valley is full of vineyards, which makes the views differ completely from the ones we've enjoyed so far. Xaló belongs, together with the villages of Alcalalí y Llíber, to the subcomarca (sub-county) of Aixa, famous for the production of wine and, more specifically, the local sweet wine called Mistela.

Once we've crossed the Autopista del Mediterráneo motorway and after a small ascent that leads to the town of Benissa, we'll get back to the classic Mediterranean landscape. To reach the end of our route, we'll go across the towns of Teulada and Benitachel / El Poble Nou de Benitatxel in order to arrive at the beautiful El Arenal beach and finish the day with a short walk by the Mediterranean seashore.

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Curiosities

What to see

Apart from its excellent beaches, Xàbia has a really well preserved old town that includes a remarkable number of stately homes. However, one of the most popular attractions in Xàbia is the "Ruta de los Miradores de Xàbia", together with the "Ruta dels Riuraus".

And, of course, a visit to the Montgó Nature Reserve is a must.

What to eat

The best way to find out about Xàbia's gastronomy is through the town's official website. One of the most important characteristics of Xàbia's cuisine is that it reflects the local culture, closely related to both the sea and the huerta (the agricultural land in the area). It's because of this that we'll find dishes that combine different kinds of seafood, commercialised under the certification mark "Pescado y marisco de la bahía de Xàbia" (Fish and shellfish from Xàbia's bay), with legumes, rice, cereals, spices like saffron and nora peppers and dried fruits such as figs, tomatoes and raisins. The result of this combination is tapas like esgarrat (a red pepper and cod salad), cocas (savoury pastries), snails, "capellans" (poor cod), boiled green beans and sang amb ceba (pig's blood with onions), as well as some stews like putxero (meatball stew), the polp amb penca (octopus and cardoons), the madroc (cod, cauliflower and potato stew), borreta (fish, potato and nora pepper stew) y la fava pelada (peeled green bean stew).

Did you know?

There is a millenary olive tree in Xàbia, located by the base of the Montgó mountain. History has it that it was planted in 1023, when Xàbia was a Muslim hamlet. The tree trunk is admirable for its huge size and its gnarled shape. It's completely hollow and it features many big roots, most of which are dry and cracked. It's pruned regularly and it has been grafted with three different varieties of olives.