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Los Picos de Europa - 2017
The aim of our Summer 2017 tour to Northern Spain was to explore the regions of Cantabria and Asturius, but especially the Picos de Europa mountain region. The highlight was to ride the classic, Picos Triangle, that circumnavigated the National Park, marked by the towns of Panes, Riano, and Cangas de Onis at the vertices.
We travelled from Portsmouth to Bilbao aboard Brittany Ferry 'Baie de Seine' in early July 2017 and although it was quite a lengthy trip (29 hours), the weather was fair and the ship comfortable enough. We were impressed with the care taken by the crew to secure our bikes safely on the car-deck with ratchet straps for the voyage.
For this, our first adventure, we rode a Triumph Street Triple, a KTM 690 Duke 3, and a KTM RC125. Despite its diminutive stature compared to the two middle-weights, this amazing A2-rider bike more than held its own.
Aside from ensuring that the bikes were fully serviced and roadworthy, we did nothng extra to prepare them for the trip. We carried minimal baggage for our 9-day trip, with everyone's kit in rucksacks secured to pillions with bungees - nothing fell off!
We captured plenty of video footage with our two, GoPro action cameras mounted on the fronts of the bikes or on a helmet. The videos were processed and edited using GoPro Studio on a Mac and converted into stories with the GoPro 'Quik' app on an iPad.
We worked westwards from Bilbao towards the Picos with most days' rides providing a terrific variety of uncrowded roads along the coast and up into the mountains, with most of our overnight stops back at lively seaside towns.
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The riding was exceptional on well-surfaced, near-empty roads, punctuated only occasionally by an expedient autoroute drone, or a short coastal hop in holiday traffic. The Routes Overview summarizes each day, the grand map shows a trace of everywhere we went with the itineraries (below) providing the exact routes, details of our overnight stops, links to the videos we made, and detailed maps and routings for anyone who wants ro retrace our rides.
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Every day was exceptional, but the highlight was the Picos Triangle - not to be missed on a tour of Northern Spain.
our routes
en-route to Picos Tres Mares (Day 3)
Lunch at Potes (Day 5)
Day 0:
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Departure Portsmouth; 08:15 Brittany Ferry
Day 1:
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Arrival Bilbao 14:30 -> Playa la Arena, Isla
D​ay 2:
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Playa la Arena -> Cabanas -> Playa la Arena
D​​ay 3:
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Playa la Arena -> Reinosa -> Santillana del Mar
D​​ay 4:
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Day Off (Santillana del Mar & Suances beach)
D​​ay 5:
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Santillana del Mar -> Fuente De -> Potes
D​​ay 6:
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Potes -> Riano -> Llanes (part Picos Triangle)
D​ay 7:
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Llanes -> Panes -> Castro Urdiales
Day 8:​
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Castro Urdiales -> Bermeo -> Bilbao Ferryport
Routes Overview
Picos Tres Mares? Na - Picos Tres Motos!
Itinerary
Day 1 - Bilbao to Playa la Arena, Isla
From Bilbao Port we briefly took the Autoroute A8 towards Santander, exiting it again at Exit 131, signposted to Muskiz. We picked up the BI 2701 regional road towards Burgos which became the CL 629 at Balmeseda. A few km along at Bercedo, we joined the terrific N629 Burgos-Laredo main road. Downhill from here provided the first taste of what our trip would offer: long straights, terrific hairpins and fantastic views. Approaching the coast at Colindres, near Laredo, we turned left on to the N634 coastal route for a few km, then took little roads to Hotel Campomar, Playa la Arena, Isla. for our overnight stop.
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Day 1 ride = 131km; Hotel Campomar €131 for two nights in a room for 3
Balmeseda
Hotel Campomar
Balmeseda -> Colindres; Music: 'Song for Bilbao', Pat Metheny
Route & Map
Day 2 - Playa la Arena to Cabanas
From Playa la Arena we tracked back to the N634 coast road, heading west. At Vargas, a nothing-special-but-pleasant-enough small town on the outskirts of Santander we took the N623 to Puente Viesgo, stopping for an excellent lunch at the very pleasant, 'La Union', roadside restaurant.
Fully fed, we followed the N623 towards Burgos as far as the col at Puerto el Escudo, stopping for a photoshoot and to admire a spectacular view across the Embalse del Ebro reservoir towards the Picos in the distant north-west.
The Duke was running on 'reserve' by now, so we coasted downhill to a fuell station at Cabanas de Virtus, all filled up and retraced our route back to the hotel at Playa la Arenas, accommodating a short diversion to see the amazing prehistoric cave drawings at Cueva de el Castillo, and an alternative route back to Playa de Arena
Day 2 ride = 191km
Puerto el Escudo
Cueva de el Castillo
N623 Oritenada to Ebro; Music: 'Route 66', Spencer Davis Group
Route & Map
Puente Viesgo lunch stop
Itinerary
Street Triple at Pico Tres Mares
Hotel Santillana del Mar
Picos Tres Mares; Music: 'I Can See For Miles' - The Who
Espinilla to Tojo pt1; Music: 'Papasong' - Azymuth
Espinalla to Tojo pt2; Music: 'Untitled' - Deep Forest
Route & Map
Comillas
Suances
fuente De
CA183 Potes to Fuente De; Music: 'The Truth is ...' - Todd Rundgren
N621 Desfiladero de la Hermitage; Music: 'Cliffs of Dover' - Eric Johnson
Route & Map
Day 3 - Playa la Arena to Santillana del Mar
From Playa, we rode to Puente Viesgo but then cut across to Barros on the CA 170 - itself great fun - to head south on the N611 Torrelavega to Reinosa road for a terrific ride with a great surface on wide open bends linking together long straights.
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A good lunch later, at 'Meson Las Fuentas' in Reinosa, we headed into high ground to Pico Tres Mares to be rewarded with a most spectacular view. In the winter months this is a ski resort but in July, it was eerily deserted.
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Tracking back downhill to Espinilla, we then climbed steadily across wide open upland on the CA280 to the col at Puerto de Palombera. On the other side, big open views gently became a forested valley an we stopped for coffee at the Mirador de Pena Colsa at Tojo and a kind of chat with some locals which left us none the wiser.
Refreshed, we completed the downhill run in spitting rain passed slowly through the attractive small town of Cabezon de la Sal, full of history and fine buildings which we stopped briefly to admire, pressed on to our next overnight stop as Santillana del Mar to beat nightfall. All in all, a great day.
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Day 3 ride = 218km; Hotel Santillana del Mar, €182, two nights in a room for 3.
Lunch at Reinosa
Day 5 - Santillana del Mar to Potes
After a rest day on the beach at Suances, we headed for the Picos Triangle that has the towns of Panes, Riano and Canges de Onis marking its corners.​
From Santillana del Mar, we followed the Cantabrian coastline pausing to view the architect Gaudi's bizarre house at Comillas (he, of the stunning unfinished cathedral in Barcelona). Heading inland, the N621 took us towards Panes and from here, our 'Picos Triangle' started with a terrific ride through the Desfiladero de la Hermida gorge, carved out by the Rio Deva.
We arrived at Potes by early afternoon to check in to the Hosteria Picos de Europa, a popular stopover for bikers touring the Picos. After a terrific lunch in town and with the bikes light of baggage, we took a blast up the valley to the cable car at Fuente De, rising to a peak of 1926m, well worth the trip.
Day 5 ride = 124km; Hosteria Picos, €77 for a huge suite for 3, great value.
Itinerary
Day 6 - Potes to Llanes
From Potes we climbed to Puerto de San Gloria, the col on the N621, before dropping downhill for a terrific blast to Riano for lunch. This is what the Picos Triangle is all about, amazing roads, jaw-dropping views and endless stops for photoshoots, such as the Mirador del Corzo, just short of the col.
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After a pleasant lunch at Riano, on the shores of the lake, we were back on the Picos Triangle heading towards Canges de Onis on the N625. Setting aside the huge truck pounding round a blind bend that spooked the Duke into an unscheduled off-road moment, this was a spectacluar ride through the Desfiladero de los Bayos, a gorge carved out by the Rio Sella far below - an amazing, almost traffic-free road of tunnels and balconies following the course of the river.
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At Cangas de Onis we headed east on to the AS114, the final leg of the Picos Triangle, finding time for a short diversion to see the gothic cathedral at Cuadonga, before heading back to the coast at Llanes for our overnight stop.
A brilliant day on the Picos de Europa Triangle.
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Day 6 ride = 175km; Gran Hotel Paradiso €113 for our large room for 3
Desfilareo de los Bayos
Llanes
N621 uphill from Potes; Music: 'Devotion to You' - Spinning Motion
N621 Puerto de San Gloria; Music: 'Walk on the Moon' - José Gonzales
Lakesside to Riano; Music: 'Ca plane pour moi' - Lou Deprijck
Duke in the Dirt; Music: 'Won't get fooled again' - The Who
Desfiladero de los Bayos; Music: 'Go' - Public Service Broadcasting
Route & Map
Day 7 - Llanes to Castro Urdieles
For our last full day in Spain we headed back to the the AS114 where we'd left it the previous day at La Robadella to finish the final part of the Picos Triangle to Panes. Although a busier road, it still didn't disappoint, following the valley of the Rio Cares through these southern slopes of the Picos.
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But we were 200km west of Bilbao (for our ferry home tomorrow) so we opted to reluctantly pound out most of these km on the A8 autoroute. The RC125 even took this in its stride on the throttle-stop most of the way at 130 kph!
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We left the autoroute just west of Bilbao at the delightful seaside town of Castro Urdieles for our final overnight stop in Spain - it proved a good choice as the old town was home to some of the best Tacos bars we'd found.
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Day 7 ride = 208km; Hotel Sercotel, €142 for our suite for 3
Castro Urdieles
AS114 over Rio Cares , Panes
AS114 towards Panes; Music: 'Swoundosophy (Ras remix)' - Re:Jazz
Route & Map
Castro Urdieles
Day 8 - Castro Urdieles to Bilbao
Our ferry departure at 17:00 allowed time to explore a little of Bilbao and the locality ahead of checking in, mid-afternoon. So we headed out of Castro Urdieles on the N634 coast road towards Bilbao, a rewarding ride that skirted small coastal bays and small seaside communities. After a short autoroute detour around the south of the city, we found some rewarding local roads threading through wooded countryside to the coast at Gaztelugatxe, an impressive castle built on a rocky islet barely connected to the mainland.
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Back in the city, there was just time for a brief stop to admire the stunning Guggenheim Museum, but with check-in fast approaching, our tour was nearly done. We set sail on schedule, arriving in Portsmouth the following evening.
Day 8 ride = 141km;
Picos 2017 Team
Guggenheim, Bilbao
Bilbao and locality; Music: 'Lazy' - X-Press 2 ft. David Byrne
Route & Map
