Santander & Picos de Europa

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Trip start
June 12, 2024
Santander & Picos de Europa Traveler
On board of the Pont Aven
June 13, 2024, Bay of Biscay ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
The trip from Plymouth to Santander was very smooth and easy. We spend plenty of time on deck and trying to spot the mammals of the sea but apart from one small porpoise or dolphin. Being well practised at the art of travelling on ferries economically we had our travel kettle at the ready for teas and coffee as well as our porridge in the morning. Whilst the prices on this vessel were reasonably we still prefer to make our own and safe money in the process! Some folk on the ferry travel 20 hours to Santander and visit the town for 2 hours to return back to Plymouth on the next afternoon ferry!Read more
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Via Verde de la Plas
June 14, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
64 km. Jose offered to take us on a bike ride today, a mixture of gravel and tarmac. We decided to take the tandem. It took us 6km to get out of Santander onto the Via Verde old railway. It would not have been easy without Jose to find our way. A great traffic free path winding its way up into the hills. Great bike ride with Jose along the old railway into the hills.Read more
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Tour de Bahia and Capa Mayor
June 15, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Being a fairly typical tourist makes a nice change from always being on a bike ( or tandem), in this case we toured the bay and beaches around Santander on a fairly small touring vessel that showed us it can cope with the ocean waves really well! Fortunately not too long to reveal the contents of our stomachs but we were nevertheless glad to be turning back and getting a following wind. The next part was a walk round Cabo Mayor followed by drinks at the Hotel Real on the cliff top and a late night supper in El Sardinero.
Spanish folk have a curious life style routine not usually followed by us westerns! Breakfast as normal, dinner or main meal at about 15.00 and supper not till 22.00 - 23.00 hrs, a time when not many restaurants serve food at all! This is made easier by a siesta at around 16.30 ish!Read more
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Exploring west of Santander
June 16, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌩️ 17 °C
50 km. Getting out of Santander is a bit tricky as some of the cycle paths are a bit hit and miss and you have to mix with some big traffic. But they are considerate drivers and pass you wide! Once on country roads its really nice and we enjoyed the ride a lot, good views and good tarmac! And the best tour guide we could get! (Jose Cayon)
Total 114 km.Read more
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7 things that are not the same
June 17, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
1. There are still many independent shops, some very small, doing g seemingly well.
2. They have large bins on the pavements for households to take their rubbish and recycling to, a bit of a mess at times!
3. The have lots of outdoor escalators, not sure if that makes anyone healthier?
4. The apartments have clever pulley systems to hang their washing out!
5. The young and the old all come out to walk, play and sit outdoors. Great community atmosphere!
6. All sorts of cables hang outside the appartements and building, sometimes up to 4 Internet providers! Interesting to sort out which cable is which!
7. There are more scooters then bicycles!Read more
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Barcena Mayor
June 18, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
This mideaval village fell into disrepair in the late 60s with an aging population and no money coming in. The village was given special status and additional funding which made it a tourist attraction. The villagers are allowed cars but anyone else has to park outside. There are also a number of restaurants with a local speciality cocido montañés, a type of game meat.Read more
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Start of Picos de Europa Trip
June 20, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Day 1 - 39 km. Made our way to a very cute campsite near de mountains called Camping Colombres to stay in a pink caravan. All the caravans had different colours and the also had safari tents (some on stilts) and tiny houses (chalets). On the ride we met a nice Dutch family with three children travelling around for 8 weeks. They shared their spare ice-cream with us! Yummie!
Total 153 kmRead more
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Colombres to Corao
June 21, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Day 2 - 53 km, leaving the car behind on the campsite and starting our mini tour. The first part followed the Camino de Santiago but we didn't see many pilgrims. After spending €1.30 on a coffee and the same on a baquette we climbed the first of two mountains, total of 1040 metres. Cycling up a mountain doing 5k in 40 minutes is not at all fast but you still get there and it is quicker and eadier then walking! First one was a proper zig zag up and over, second one more of a gorge pass. It did have a nice long wide descent to get a good 50k plus. We passed many Asturias hórreos, grain barns on stilts, to keep the family's food supply dry and free from vermin!
Total 210 kmRead more
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Campo de Tiese (Lagos de Covadonga)
June 22, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Day 3 - 63 km. Cycling 12km up a 1200m mountain is not everyone's cup of tea, on a tandem as well takes an extra hour for sure. On top of that there was a Vespa rally going on and 150 sewing machines on wheels came buzzing past on the way up as well as on the way down!
The great thing about this road was that it was closed to regular traffic and only minibuses, coaches, and other permitted traffic were allowed up the mountain. As well as vespas! The Basilica was an interesting place, heaving with mostly Spanish sightseers that suddenly had got interested in churches, Maria altars, lighting candles and even throwing coins into the fountain of the 7 spouts that might help young ladies getting married! Services were announced over loudhailers to persuade you to come in for mass or indeed stay out!
Total 275 kmRead more
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Corao to Villaviciosa
Jun 23–29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Day 4 - 62 km. After two days in a Casa Rural on Corao we moved on towards the coast but not without another 1300m of elevation. Unfortunately the mountain at the top was shrouded in low cloud and left us guessing what the view might be. The route down made it all worth it on good quiet roads and lovely Spanish villages. Some of the roads komoot had selected for us resembled river beds and we had to walk/ push the tandem! We also rejoined the Camino Santiago and saw many walkers with their pilgrim shell on their ruck sacks. We finally arrived at our destination which in this case was a very cute boat in a marina near the coast. Every convince included such as toilet, shower, cooking facilities, double bed and a roof terrace with panoramic views! Couldn't be better!
Total 337 kmRead more
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Villaviciosa & Tazones
June 24, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Day 5 - 23 km. cyclists never have a rest day, they still end up cycling even if it is only 22km. In our case we manage to find a decent baker and the supermercado. Prices are very reasonable and we can cook our own meal on the boat.
After lunch on deck we went to Tazone, an old fishing village were Prince Charles of Habsburg arrived in 1517 from Belgium and he went on to become the most powerful monarch of the 16th century. They re-enact this event still every year
Total 360 kmRead more
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Puerto del Punto to Rebadesella
June 25, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Day 6 - 50 km. Rather an eventful day. We use Komoot for navigation and it sometimes suggests routes to us that go slightly off the beaten track but should be cyclable. Well this one outside Colunga probably tops the charts for the most impassable! At one point we had to choose between us or the bike having to go through deep mud. I am afraid the tandem lost! The back axle was covered by mud and both wheels were brown. Once we got to the road we had to find a way to get the bike cleaned . Fortunately we made it to a beach with a shower. We took both wheels off and cleaned the bike, one hour later we were back on the road! 15 more km to our destination, fortunately uneventful but very scenic!
Total 410 kmRead more
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Ribadesella to Colombres
June 26, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Day 7 - 56 km today will take us back to where we started which is Colombres. Again it was a beautiful and mostly quiet coastal route with some nice views over the ocean and the beaches/rocks.
We did also meet another couple on a tandem, unfortunately they had to get back to their car near Bilbao as the stoker had hurt het knee and the swelling stopped her from cycling. They had a lot of luggage with them including a trumpet clarinet and a kitten! We hope they got back safely!
Llanes was a beautiful old city with lots of busy restaurants may have to revisit.
Manage to get a swim in at the campsite before returning to Santander to a warm welcome by Ana and Jose! 466 km in total.Read more
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Going home!
June 27, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
After one more wonderful meal with Ana, Jose and their daughter Laura we packed up and were given some local delicacies for our journey home. This with a locally sourced tortilla pan and a pisto recipe we will for sure be tasting a bit of spain at home. And don't forget the rioja and toscana beer!
One more swim on the Sardinero beach and the ferry beckoned. Will we see any whales or dolphin's this time?Read more
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Trip end
June 28, 2024