After the Maratón de Badajoz: Elvas

The Route: Badajoz → Elvas → Badajoz Logistics: Taxi or cross-border bus from Badajoz, about 20 minutes each way. Portugal is one hour behind Spain. Marathon Month: March Duration: Day trip

Badajoz ──(20 mins taxi/bus, cross the Caia)──> Elvas
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   └──────────────(20 mins taxi/bus)──────────────┘

The Maratón de Badajoz finishes at La Granadilla in the south-west of the city, and the Portuguese border is a short drive to the west. Elvas is the town on the far side. It was built to face Badajoz across the frontier, and UNESCO lists it as the Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications. The day after the race is the time to go: the town is 15 km away and needs no planning beyond a ride there.

March in Elvas is spring on the Alentejo plain. Days are usually mild and the countryside is green after winter rain, but mornings can be cold and showers pass through. It is off-season, so the streets are quiet and café tables are easy to find. Portugal is an hour behind Spain, so a taxi that leaves Badajoz at 10:00 arrives at about 09:20 local time.

A taxi from central Badajoz is the simplest way to cross, and splitting the fare between two or three runners makes it cheap. Cross-border buses run from the Badajoz bus station on Calle José Rebollo López, but services are few and timetables change, so check the day's departures at the station before you rely on one for the return.

The aqueduct and the walls

The Aqueduto da Amoreira is the first thing you see on the road in. It carried water to the town across about 7 km of countryside, and its tallest arches stand beside the approach road on the edge of town. You can look at it properly from the flat ground at its foot without any climbing, which makes it the best first stop on sore legs.

The old town sits inside its bastioned walls on a low hill. The streets are cobbled and climb gently toward the central square, Praça da República, where the former cathedral stands. Take the gradient slowly and use the square as your base. Cafés there suit a long coffee while your calves decide how much more walking they will allow.

The two outlying forts, Santa Luzia and Nossa Senhora da Graça, sit on hills outside the walls. Santa Luzia is the closer and houses a military museum. Graça is higher and steeper to reach. On the day after a marathon, take a taxi to either one and back. Check opening hours before you go, since both keep limited off-season schedules.

Lunch

Alentejo cooking is built on pork, bread and olive oil. Look for açorda, a bread soup with garlic and coriander, or migas alentejanas, and for grilled black pork on menus around the square. Prices are lower than on the Spanish side. Portuguese lunch runs roughly 12:30 to 15:00 local time, which is 13:30 to 16:00 on your Spanish watch.

Getting back

Book the return taxi through your restaurant or at the rank near the square, and remember the hour you gain going west is taken back on the return. Aim to be back in Badajoz before dark if you are relying on a bus.