Viva V'España

Three weeks ago I flew to Madrid. Four days later, I flew back. Nothing unusual about that. But in between I didn't just see Goyas and palacios, hang out in Retiro park or the city's bars. Instead I saw snakes and vultures, mountain peaks and silent canyons. I tore up miles of empty road. I got burnt, scratched and knackered. I even conquered the Great Wall of China. I had, in short, a proper adventure. Oh yeah, and I fell in love.

Most epic journeys - west coast America, Paris-Dakkar, the Trans Siberian Express - take months of planning, and a bulging budget. But I managed to squeeze mine into a weekend.

New tour operator, Away From The Crowds specialises in ready-made miniature adventures in the Spanish heartland north of Madrid. Set up by Spanish brothers Javier and Jaime Bartolomé, it features an original collection of cycling routes, hiking holidays, treks with donkeys and their signature escapade, a four-day, peak-skirting circular lap by Vespa.

They call this area "the real Spain" - which bit of Spain doesn't? But it's true that, though the landscapes are the calibre of the Alpujarras, Brits rarely drop by. It's a sleepy, traditional region, where flocks of sheep are herded across the plains and some villages still don't have electricity.

Flowery meadows and crimped fields give way to the indigo barrier wall of the Guadarrama mountain range, soon to become a national park, which segments the region into the states of Segovia and Guadalajara, themselves veined by other smaller ranges - the Sierra de Ayllón and Sierra de Tejera Negra.

Only a few Madrilenos have been coaxed out of the smoke for the odd weekend in the black and blush-coloured villages by a growing network of stylish rural hotel conversions. "They don't really get our holidays," says Jaime as we clatter from the city in his van. "Most don't really see the point of adventuring only an hour from their home."