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Olive trees dominate the landscape of Andalusia in southern Spain, stretching out as far as the eye can see on either side of our path.
And when Antonio Bermudez tells us how many there are, all jaws drop: 66 million gnarled and twisted trees, some of which are 600 years old, grow in the region.
“They were here before Columbus set sail for America,” he says.
The area we are traversing in the province of Jaen, one of the eight that make up Andalusia, is known as the sea of olives, and is one of the largest olive growing regions in the world.

Bermudez’s job is to navigate his guests through this sea, by bike along the Via Verde del Aceite, or Olive Oil Route, a 128-kilometre hiking and cycling trail that leads from the provincial capital, also called Jaen, to the town of Puente Genil, about 70 kilometres south of Cordoba.
On this route travellers can discover Spain’s quieter side, away from the big cities and busy coastal resorts.












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Bermudez gets on his bike. Many of his guests, who come from all over the world, go on day trips that they combine with hiking or sightseeing. In the city of Jaen, which is the start and end point of the route, there is a grand, Renaissance-style cathedral and Arab baths that are among the best preserved in the entire Iberian Peninsula.
Others decide to cycle along longer stretches of the route, booking a luggage shuttle service. Bermudez says the section from Martos, a small mountainside town with medieval fortifications, is “particularly beautiful”.
It is around 60 kilometres from there to Cabra and 75 kilometres to Lucena, two small towns on the edge of the Sierras Subbeticas mountain range.
“You can look at the route as a sports challenge and do the whole thing quickly,” says Bermudez. But he suggests taking your time to get to know the original Andalusia. “After all,” he says with a grin, “it has much more to offer than just olive trees.”
There is the town of Alcaudete, for example. Accessible via a 6-kilometre side road, it is home to one of the best restored fortresses in Spain, a commanding castle of the Calatrava Order.

Or the mountain village of Zuheros, whose whitewashed houses are perched on a rocky cliff above the cycle path. The village regularly makes it onto a list of the most beautiful villages in Spain.
Right next door is the Sierras Subbeticas Natural Park, which is famous for its rugged peaks, waterfalls and the Cueva de los Murcielagos, a prehistoric cave that is home to different types of bat.
It is open to visitors, making it ideal for a change from a morning sitting in the saddle.

Along the Olive Oil Route, ponies turn to look at the tourists as they cycle by and the scent of rosemary and wild flowers fills the air. You pass flocks of sheep, while cuckoos call down from the treetops.
“Nature is one of our greatest treasures,” says Bermudez. It is something you realise over and over again while cycling along the route.
The Via Verde del Aceite is one of Spain’s Via Verdes or Green Routes. These are former railway lines. Around 30 years ago, disused lines across the country began to be turned into hiking and cycling trails that are closed to motor vehicles.

Trains could not handle major climbs, which means today’s cycle paths are fairly flat, making them ideal for all age groups, from families with children to senior citizens.
There are now more than 3,400 kilometres of former railways throughout Spain that you can explore by bike or on foot, divided into around 135 sections or connecting routes.
Under the patronage of the Spanish Railway Foundation, care has been taken to preserve the traces of railway history. Around 125 former railway stations now house bars or guest houses, tourist information centres, museums and bicycle hire shops.


Along the Olive Oil Route in Dona Mencia, the station building is now a restaurant. Next door is Antonio Camacho’s bike rental business, located in a former oil warehouse.
From the end of the 19th century onwards, the railway line that is now the Via Verde del Aceite was mainly used to transport olive oil from the production areas of Jaen und Cordoba to the ports on the Mediterranean.
“The last railway line was taken out of service in 1985,” says Camacho. Since the turn of the millennium, different sections have gradually been transformed into cycle paths.
“The great thing is that cyclists can discover traces of the past all along the route,” he says. At Cabra station, for example, preserved locomotives and wagons are a reminder of the line’s history. In other sections, cyclists can expect tunnels, bridges and viaducts from the 19th century – these are among the most beautiful.
“If you find yourself cycling high up on one of the steel bridges, pause for a moment and take in the landscape,” Camacho says. The views are of rivers, rugged mountains and whitewashed villages – and above all the sea of olive trees that give the route its name and powerful appeal.


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Tourism

Not a wine route but Spain’s Olive Oil Route, a hiking and cycling trail in Andalusia

A cyclist on the Olive Oil Route trail in Andalusia, Spain. Photo: Instagram/fabian_bici

A signpost for cyclists to the Olive Oil Route natural trail next to a former railway station in Andalusia, Spain. The hiking and cycling trail is part of a 3,400km network of trails that uses disuses railway lines. Photo: Shutterstock

Workers harvest olives in Jaen, Spain. Travellers on the Olive Oil Route in Spain will see plenty of olive trees, but a whole lot more besides. Photo: Shutterstock

Alcaudete Castle, built between the 13th and 14th centuries, in Alcaudete, a town 6km off the Olive Oil Route natural trail in Andalusia. southern Spain. Photo: Shutterstock

The town of Zuheros is perched above the Olive Oil Trail in Andalusia. Photo: Shutterstock

Olives from Jaen, the province in which the Olive Oil Route begins. It uses a disused railway that trains once plied carrying olive oil to ports on the coast. Photo: Shutterstock

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Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Easy cycling and hiking trail through a historic and scenic part of Spain is part of a 3,400km network based on former railway lines


Easy cycling and hiking trail through a historic and scenic part of Spain is part of a 3,400km network based on former railway lines.


Travel Destinations

Spain

Not a wine route but Spain’s Olive Oil Route, a hiking and cycling trail in Andalusia

Easy cycling and hiking trail through a historic and scenic part of Spain is part of a 3,400km network based on former railway lines

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