Cycling in Spain is superb, for numerous reasons, great climate, great scenery, loads of space, great uncrowded Cycling from Marbella to Istan roads with miles and miles of scenic on and off road routes.
Here in Marbella, the Istan road is a superb spot for road cycling. The road from Marbella to Istan is hugely popular with road cyclists, who climb around 400 m on the 14 km route from Marbella up to the small whitewashed village of Istan, before heading back down.
Apart from two fairly severe climbs, unfortunately one immediately after the other, about 3 km into the ride as the road goes under the A7 Toll Road, the rest of the road is a long and gentle winding climb with the odd gentle down hill thrown in. The last 1 km is downhill into the village.
The pretty village of Istan itself has a few bars and restaurants to enjoy a pit stop once there!
But the highlight of the ride has to be the stunning views over the La Conception reservoir, the Mediterranean, Gibraltar and the north coast of Africa as you make your way up the road, and the superb tight turns for the speed freaks as you make your way down the hill!
But a note of caution, in humid conditions the road can get wet even if there has been no rain. But you see this on the way up at a slower pace!