Peniscola was on our list of most beautiful towns and villages to visit here in Castellon province as it renowned for its historic old town, nestled close by the Mediterranean sea.

Some friends had suggested we should take the bikes but we didn’t really go into to much detail regards the best cycle routes. As we planned out the day, we figured out they had probably cycled around the nearby National Park – Serra d’irta.

We loaded up the maps and plotted a circa 10 mile round trip through the National Park.

What we hadn’t appreciated is that this national park is in a very hilly / mountainous coastal region. This was a route designed for proper mountain bikes – not our hybrids – although in the end, the bikes performed just about ok at the extremity of their capabilities.

The route out of Finca del Moro was brutal. Now, our bikes have electric motors and without them we wouldn’t have gone beyond 500m, but in the end, the track up the mountain was just too steep. Too much power and the front wheel just skidded around. We had to walk our bikes up the track which is no mean feat because with all the add-ons, they are really heavy.

A Spanish couple were very helpful in pointing out the bike route, avoiding our chosen path which turned out was suitable for hiking only.

After the initial climb, things settled down somewhat and we enjoyed a fabulous 2.25 hour ride – covering all of 9 miles – but ascending over 1000 feet.

These were the final statistics of the ride.

Next we loaded the bikes on the car and headed to Peniscola old town.

Known as the City in the Sea, Peniscola is officially one of Spain’s most beautiful towns watched over by its Templar Castle and medieval walls which are enchantingly surrounded by the sea.

The province of Castellon has three such beautifuls towns. Other than Peniscola, there are Villafames and Morella. We have already visited Vilafames here https://www.caravanramblings.co.uk/?p=3194

The town is well known as a film location and in 2015, filming for Games of Thrones took place in Peniscola. Scenes from El Cid were also shot here.

This seashell clad house can be seen on the ascent to the castle.

The current form of the castle, sitting atop of the old town, is essentially that developed by the Knights Templar, who planned to develop a kingdom centred on Peniscola. James II of Aragon gave the castle to the Templars in 1294, together with the nearby castles of Pulpís and Xivert. The Templars began work that year, demolished the Muslim fortifications, and completely rebuilt the castle; the work being completed in 1307.

If that wasn’t a high octane day, then it was a pleasantly warm evening and time for a BBQ!