We left the campsite near Pamplona probably around 10:30am and started our journey back toward the coast. For the trip north I'd organised a ride up and around Cangas de Onis to visit the famous Roman bridge over the river Sella. I guess by now we were all a bit tired and jaded after the festival and lack of quality sleep. It was quite a challenge to park the bikes Lindsay and Peter couldn't find a place to park because the place was so packed, Lindsay being a tired bunny by now was 'grumbling' with frustration. I guess following two Harley-Davidsons was taking its toll in that heat so he decided to sit on his bike fold his arm, snooze and wait while myself and Mark had a quick walk across the bridge.
Now in the stunning region of Asturias the next part of the planned ride took us up the windy road to the incredible
Covadonga to visit the Basilica de Santa Maria and look across to the tiny chapel built in to the cave within the hill itself: Cueva de Santa Maria. A fascinating place to visit but being on a schedule now to make it to our final night we skipped a tour of the Basilica and settled for a break sat in the main square outside.
Eventually we made it to the main coastal road and our lunch stop was in
Santillana del Mar a stunning medieval town that features as part of the pilgrims route on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James). Again a busy tourist destination and we parked up in a car park unsure if we would require a ticket and made our way near the
Parador hotel. I'd heard about the government run Paradores before and quite fancied staying in one sometime, but this one did seem quite pricey given its touristy location. We settled on lunch and I had some wonderful Sardines Pimentos (Peppers and Olive Oil), definitely worth the stop.
Earlier en-route before heading back into the Picos we stopped in Bilbao and visited the world famous
Guggenheim Museum. I'd planned a stop here but surprised to find there was now a
David Hockney exhibition displaying many of his famous paintings. We paid our entrance fee to include the exhibition despite none of us being modern art buff's, but since Peter was the token Yorkshireman he could recognise some of the locations depicted. A most enjoyable hour or so wandering around. Speaking to my Uncle Dave before I left he explained how I must visit the Guggenheim if near Bilbao, and was fascinated when I called him up to explain about the Hockney exhibition.
After wandering around in and outside the museum looking at other exhibits we made our way back along the main road to our bikes and continued our ride on. After stops in Cangas de Onis, Covadonga, and Santillana we found the Hotel de Ancla in Laredo. At some point on the trip I do recall stopping in the pretty coastal town of
Saint Vincent de le Barquera an old fishing village with the Picos de Europa mountains as a backdrop recommended in the Toby Ballentine book mentioned earlier. Beautiful location I must return sometime, we enjoyed riding over the bridge/causeway looking at the boats stranded by the tide.
I do recall myself and Peter having our long awaited Seafood Paella and Lindsay settling on a Burger and Chips. I can't recall what Mark ate that night but eventually we headed back to the hotel for a few beers to celebrate. The proprietor was a short stout fellow with moustache who let us park our 'moto' in the garden area. We all agreed it had been a superb tour with the San Fermin being the real highlight along with those amazing roads in the Picos mountains. The bikes performed well and for the most part the navigation and pre-prep' paid off with few mishaps along the way with our group riding.
The first time across the Bay of Biscay with our bikes and the Pont-Aven was superb with facilities almost like a mini-cruise ship although a bit crammed in the four berth cabin. The return was spent sleeping off the late nights and resting up. This final picture of Peter dozing off summed up how we were all feeling after our ten days away riding some great routes and having a lot of fun in the evenings!
Routes & Accomodation
All planned Routes can be found hosted on My-Route-App by clicking the folder link below:
- Monday 2nd July – 3 Nights Camping.
Carretera de Santo Toribio
España Telf: 942 73 20 21 / 942 73 21 01
Latitude: 43.15443 Longitude: -4.64352
- Thursday 5th July – 1night Hotel, in Laguardia, Basque region.
Paseo de San Raimundo, 15
- Friday 6th July to 7th July (2 nights) Camping
Camping & Bungalows ETXARRI
Paraje Dambolintxulo, s/n
- Sunday 8th July 1 Night Hotel, near Santona on the Cantabrian Coast
Hotel El Ancla, Laredo nr Santona
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