My Top 10 Travel Highlights from 2024
- Alex Johnson
- Jan 2
- 9 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
In 2024, I traveled more by motorcycle and visited more wine regions than any year before. These are my top picks of the year.
I was very fortunate to travel in Spain, Portugal, Andorra, France, Morocco, and Ireland by motorbike, as well as going to a few motorcycle festivals in the UK and a couple of separate trips to France and Switzerland. It was very hard to pick just 10 highlights, but here is my best attempt at that, in no particular order:
Austin Vince's "The VINCE", Burgos, Spain
My 6-week trip to Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and France was built around taking part in Austin Vince's "The VINCE" event. This is an annual trail riding orienteering event created by the charmingly eccentric world traveler and film maker - Austin Vince. 2024 marked the first "Apprentice" edition of the VINCE, for first-timers to the event, where we had an extra 2 days for map reading and trail riding training before the 3-day team event itself. The event is held in a different location in the Pyrenees each year, and for 2024 it was around the filming location for one of my favourite films - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. One of the checkpoints was even in Sad Hill Cemetery, where the Mexican standoff was filmed at the end of the film.
Months before the event, we received digital Ordinance Survey style maps of the area and a type of "tube map" designed by Austin, illustrating the network of trails we could follow to reach the various checkpoints in the region. Each checkpoint had a different point value, so we needed to come up with our own route for how to maximise our points for each day. We then marked our digital maps with these routes and printed them out so we could navigate on our bikes during the event.
Each day, all the teams had breakfast together and then headed off to get in as many checkpoints as we could before returning before 8 p.m. for drinks and dinner together. It was a lot of fun, and my team managed to come second overall. We've already signed up again for the "Master" edition for 2025, which will take place just west of Andorra. The Apprentice version will continue to be held in the same location where The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was shot, and I highly recommend giving it a go. Have a look at Austin's explainer videos if you need more encouragement, you might even manage to pick me out in them.
Riglos, Aragon, Spain
I ended up here by chance as I fled high winds further north in the Pyrenees. The Mallos de Riglos are a stunning rock formation, with excellent road and trail motorcycling options in the area.
I followed a great gravel trail on the Trans Euro Trail (TET), which leads into the hills behind the rock formations, passing the ruins of Castillo de Marcuello (see photo). You can take a slight detour from the TET to Mirador de los Buitres for views of the Mallos de Riglos from the other side.
I had a fantastic stay at the Hotel Boutique Real Posada De Liena (see my other article for more details) which overlooks the rock formations from a hilltop village. It features an excellent restaurant with wines from the nearby Edra Bodega winery.
Las Médulas, El Bierzo, Spain
Soon after departing from the Bierzo wine region, I traveled west to the UNESCO heritage site of Las Médulas, a ravaged landscape that used to be the Roman Empire's most important gold mine.
Las Médulas are best seen from the viewpoint of Mirador de Orellán. The ride up the mountain to the car park and the walk up the hill afterward don't give much away until finally, you see the unforgettable views from the mirador.
Laguardia & Ysios Winery, Rioja, Spain
After finishing up at the VINCE event, I headed to the Rioja wine region to meet my wife and relax for a few days. There's a reason famous wine regions are famous, and with the exception of a few industrial areas, Rioja is gorgeous. On my ride up through the region I saw numerous signs for the "Ruta de Motera", a motorcycle route exploring the Rioja region.
My favourite area in Rioja is the pretty walled hilltop town of Laguardia, with its cute little streets and views of the Sierra de Cantabria mountains to the north and down onto the Ysios Winery below. Bodegas Ysios, recently declared the 4th best vineyard in the world for 2024 (number 1 is the nearby Marqués de Riscal Winery in Haro), is very much worth a visit with its grand architecturally designed wave-shaped structure.
LaGuardia is definitely worth stopping for lunch at the very least, or, being less than 2 hours from the Bilbao ferry, it would be an excellent choice for your first or last night's stay.
Bodegas Ysios and the view from their vineyards looking up to Laguardia
Espui to Escart & Smugglers Trails, Pyrenees, Spain
Note: The trail routes links above are just to give you an idea, download the actual routes from the Trans Euro Trail app
I spent a day riding two excellent trails which are part of the Trans Euro Trail (TET) and take you from the area of Spain west of Andorra and then into Andorra Itself. There's nothing technical on either trail so you'd be fine on big ADV bikes.
The Espui to Escartis trail is an extensive (~45km) gravel path that my friend Noel suggested to me. In fact, he recommended it to several people, a group of whom I randomly met at a petrol station just before we all set out to tackle this trail. The scenery is stunning and progress was slow as I needed to stop for photos constantly. This led to a bit of comedy as there were two young women on a small road motorcycle behind me, and despite me being solo on a trail bike with knobbly tyres, they kept overtaking me.
Espui to Escart Trail
After the first trail, you pop up in the pretty mountain village of Escart before descending into the valley to Escaló to rejoin the main road. You're then nicely teed up to take the Smugglers Trail into Andorra. There's something cool about entering a new country by trail. The trail was a bit rutted in places from 4x4s passing through, but that didn't seem to deter the lunatic in the campervan I passed on the trail. It's best to book your accommodation before doing this trail, as it was a mobile dead zone, and when I crossed into Andorra, my phone didn't work, and data is outrageously expensive there.
The Smugglers Trail
Serra da Estrela, Portugal
Serra da Estrela is Portugal's highest mountain range and a popular destination for bikers. Day 2 of the Adventure Country Tracks Portugal route finishes up here.
The yellow gorse-lined N232 mountain road from Gouveia to Manteigas is incredible and offers far-reaching views over Portugal. Manteigas, a pretty mountain town, is a great place to base yourself to explore the area. I highly recommend the lovely villa guesthouse of Casa Das Obras (read about it in my other article). From Manteigas, you'll be perfectly positioned to take the stunning N338 further up into the snowy mountains before taking the scenic ER339 down to Seia.
If I was to go back I'd spend a couple of nights in Manteigas and ride loops out from there. I'd be surprised if there was a bad road in the whole area so there's plenty to explore.
Douro Valley, Portugal
The Douro runs from east to west and essentially cuts Portugal in two, so it's hard to miss if you're riding down from the top of Portugal. The area that I had to see was the wine-producing region, which starts just west of Peso da Régua (midway across Portugal) and goes all the way east to the Spanish border. I explored most of this area, both riding the fantastic roads and taking the trails along the Adventure Country Tracks (ACT) route which runs through it. I was even chased by a pack of large, angry dogs along a trail through the vineyards, which certainly sped up my usual glacial trail riding pace!
The eastern area towards Spain is more rugged and wild; it certainly has a border frontier feeling to it. I particularly enjoyed the area across the river from Barca de Alva on the ACT route (see photos 1-3), where I rode around canyons and saw numerous nesting Egyptian Vultures around Quintana de Alva (photos 2 & 3) and enjoyed great views and windy roads around the Spanish border at Penedo Durão Viewpoint.
In contrast, Pinhão, which is where many of the top Port producers are based, is full of up market hotels and guesthouses and fine living is the order of the day. This is an excellent place to base yourself and I spent 2 nights here, one of either side of the river. I had a lovely tour and lunch at the Quinta de la Rosa winery here, after which I discovered my bike was badly leaking coolant after a crash into a tree a few days earlier.
Throughout my trip, I stayed in three different locations along the Douro, either within or next to wineries. These were among the top places I stayed on my trip. You can find more details in my accommodation guide.
The Atlas Mountains, Morocco
In October 2024, I ticked another item off my bucket list as I headed to Morocco to ride the roads and trails of the Atlas Mountains. Rather than traveling solo as usual, I joined a group tour organized by Vintage Rides called "The Berber Raid." The tour started from Marrakesh, and then we had 5 full days riding on Royal Enfield Himalayan 411s in the Atlas Mountains. The landscape of the mountains was absolutely stunning, and the guide brought us to places there's no way I would have found myself. The group of people I was touring with were lovely, and it was a lot of fun traveling with other people for a change. I highly recommend this tour, and I would certainly book with Vintage Rides again.
Saumur, Loire, France
I could easily have picked one of the many other, possibly more stunning places I visited in France in 2024—the Dordogne, the French Pyrenees, Annecy, or Chamonix—but I have a soft spot for Saumur. At the end of my bike trip through Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and France, I finished up by spending a week in Saumur with my wife. I've been to Saumur numerous times before, and it holds a special place in my heart. I got married an hour south of it, and we brought the wedding guests there to visit a winery where we bought the wine for our wedding. Saumur is particularly famous for its sparkling Crémant wine (made in the same way as Champagne), and it also makes some of my favourite red wines from the Cabernet Franc grape.
My friend from London, who's originally from Saumur, just happened to be visiting her parents while we were there, so we had some useful local knowledge to hand. We had further luck in that the day I arrived, there was a "Nuits de Bulles" event where you dress in all white and go to the Château for a sparkling wine event that runs until 2 a.m. The day after was Bastille Day, so we got to see fireworks and a military parade. During July and August, there's a weekly wine event on the roof of the theatre overlooking the river and the castle, so it's a great time to visit. Saumur is in the perfect location for a stop if you're getting the ferry to/from the UK/France.
Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
Despite getting thoroughly spoilt traveling in Europe, sometimes it's good to not forget about what's close to home.
The Wicklow Mountains have a special place in my heart. They're only 20 minutes from where I grew up in Dublin, and I've been riding these roads since I got my first bike back in 2001. Living in the UK now, I'm always delighted when I get a chance to ride them again. My dad got a bike for his 70th birthday (his first in about 50 years), so we're able to head off here together whenever I'm back home for a visit.
Travellers to Ireland often skip Wicklow as they gun straight to the west coast to ride the very en vogue Wild Atlantic Way.
I couldn't help myself, so I've included a short route passing some of my favorite spots. I usually start or finish with a coffee and cake at the Avoca cafe in Powerscourt House & Gardens (a large manor estate looking across at what passes for mountains in Ireland). Then it's on to the Old Military Road (R115) before stopping for a photo at Glenmacnass Waterfall. The final stop then is Glendalough (photo 6) with its two lakes and monastic 33-meter round stone tower. Glendalough is a great spot for a walk; park in the upper car park, or you'll have a long slog to the upper (larger) lake.
(1) Powercourt House, (2 - 4) Old Military Road, (5) Above Glenmacnass Waterfall, (6) Glendalough Upper Lake
