Chelva, Aras de los Olmos and Rincón de Ademuz

El Rincón de Ademuz is probably the strangest geopolitical curiosity in the whole of the Valencian Community. It is an administrative enclave: a small territory (just 370 km²) that belongs to the province of Valencia but is completely surrounded by the provinces of Cuenca (Castile-La Mancha) and Teruel (Aragon). It has no geographical continuity with the rest of Valencia and, for centuries, was practically cut off from the rest of the region. The historical reason for this peculiarity dates back to the Christian conquest of the 13th century, when King James I of Aragon conquered this area in 1259 and incorporated it into the newly created Kingdom of Valencia, although geographically it never had a natural connection with Valencia. That affiliation has endured for 750 years and still defines the identity of the Rincón today.

The result for motorcyclists is marvellous: the Rincón de Ademuz is one of the most sparsely populated, unspoilt and appealing areas for motorcycling in the whole of the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its roads are utterly deserted — you can ride for an hour without coming across another vehicle — the villages are medieval and virtually untouched, the landscapes alternate between high mountain ranges (with peaks over 1,700 m) and the river valleys of the Turia, and there is a constant sense of being in a forgotten corner of the world. Reaching El Rincón involves first crossing the Chelva Valley and the Serranos, already a little-travelled area in their own right, and then climbing up to Aras de los Olmos, at over 1,000 m.

Aras de los Olmos, just before you reach the Rincón itself, has a feature that is unique in the whole of the Valencian Community: it forms part of the Alto Turia Starlight Reserve, recognised by the Starlight Foundation in 2025 — the first reserve of its kind shared between two autonomous communities (the Valencian Community and Castile-La Mancha) — for the exceptional quality of its night skies. The combination of altitude (1,000 m), complete isolation from major urban centres and a clean atmosphere creates the best conditions for astronomical observation in the entire region. The municipality boasts four astronomical facilities: the La Cambra Observatory (AstroAras association), the Big History Centre (a public outreach centre run in collaboration with the University of Valencia), the Aras de los Olmos Astronomical Observatory (run by the University of Valencia itself) and the Alto Turia Astronomical Centre (Valencian Astronomy Association). Of the four, only the Big History Centre offers a programme of public stargazing sessions on a regular basis; the others mainly organise one-off open days. If your motorbike tour coincides with a new moon night in summer, spending the night in Aras and heading out to a viewpoint at midnight to see the Milky Way is an unforgettable experience.

Chelva, the capital of the Serranos and the gateway to the route, boasts a unique architectural feature: three completely distinct neighbourhoods — the Moorish, the Jewish and the Christian — which grew up side by side during the Middle Ages and still retain their distinct urban layouts. It is one of the few places in the Valencian Community where this historical coexistence (and tension) between the three cultures that defined medieval Al-Andalus is still visible. The Moorish quarter, in particular, retains a layout of narrow streets and white houses reminiscent of the villages of the Alpujarra region in Granada.

Motorcycling tip: this is a long (some 275 km out-and-back) and demanding route, which requires planning. The season runs from May to October; in winter, the mountain passes may be covered in snow. Fill up as much as possible in Llíria before heading up: within the Serranos and El Rincón there are very few petrol stations, and the most reliable ones are in Ademuz and Castielfabib, already in the Rincón. And a tip: if you have time, the detour to Castielfabib — a medieval village perched on a crag just 8 km from Ademuz — is one of the most photogenic spots in the Rincón and the whole of the Valencian Community.