Picos de Europa and Northern Spain Tour

Meeting at 17:00 in our Hotel in Bilbao for greetings and taking the motorbikes. We will make the briefing of the tour and then we will have the welcome dinner in a Txoko, a private Basque Gastronomic Society. Free time in the evening to walk around Bilbao. Accommodation in a hotel in Bilbao.

At 9 am we leave Bilbao towards the Picos de Europa area. On the road we will stop to visit the National Monument of Ojo Guareña a karst complex composed of over 90 kilometres (56 mi) of galleries and passages.  Then we will keep riding up to the Park of the birth of the Ebro River, one of the most important rivers of the Iberian Peninsula. After that we will ride the Palombera Pass and stop for lunch. After lunch we will do another pass, the “Puerto de Piedras Luengas” that will lead us into Potes, in the Picos de Europa.  Accommodation in a hotel in Potes. 

Today is a big day as we will ride around the Picos de Europa Natural Park through some of the best twisty roads ever! We will start in Potes and after just a few minutes we will be dancing in the Spanish roads. We will make a stop in Cain de Valdeon and then keep riding through the “Desfiladero de Los Beyos” (Gorge of the river Sella) to the Santuario de Covadonga con Cueva Santa y Basilica (a Catholic sanctuary built in a cave, dedicated to the Virgin of Covadonga, where the first battle of the Reconquista took place in 718 under the lead of Don Pelayo). After visiting this amazing location and having lunch, we will continue our ride stopping to see the peak of the Naranjo de Bulnes, the most spectacular of the Picos de Europa. Accommodation in a hotel in Potes.

Today we will leave Potes towards Oviedo and we will cross the coal mining basin of Asturias, now a protected area, that used to be the main activity of the local economy. Nowadays the mines are closed but we visit one of them to understand how live was just some decades ago. Some very nice technical roads such as the Alto de La Cobertoria will lead the way to the Unesco World Heritage site of the Pre-Romanic Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of Asturias. After this visit we will ride to Oviedo to visit this wonderful city and enjoy its fantastic food and cider. Also, Oviedo is the home town of Queen Letizia of Spain. Accommodation in a hotel in Oviedo.

We salute the beautiful Oviedo and we keep our trip riding the great roads of Asturias. We will make a stop at the Museum of Antiquities and Curiosities Las Ayalgas de Silviella and then we will ride through the magnificent Somiedo Pass, another fantastic technical road perfect for having fun. After lunch we will do another crazy pass, the “Pozo de las Mujeres Muertas” (Well of the Dead Women -what a name!-), which is one of the best roads you’ll ever do. The last stop of the day is Cangas del Narcea, in the heart of the Natural Park “Fuentes del Narcea”. Accommodation in a hotel in Cangas del Narcea.

We leave Cangas del Narcea towards the North, to the Cantabrian Sea, through the “Gold Valley” of Navelgas, a very interesting area with great great turns! Once we get to the coast, our first stop will be in Luarca famous for the whaling port and the cemetery with the best views on the sea. Then we will go to another beautiful Spanish fisher town, Cudillero, where we will stop for lunch. The last town we will visit today is Ribadesella in the “Coast of the Dinosaurs”. Accommodation in a hotel in Ribadesella.

On the last day of the tour we will keep riding along the coast to visit a very particular beach, the nice little town of Comillas and Vega de Pas, a medieval town before entering in Castilla y Leon through the “Puerto de las Estacas de Trueba” Pass and then to the Basque Country again up to Bilbao.