Northern Spain (not Picos or Pyranees)

[RJC]

Lucky me this is my plan in June. Other half has retired from the rear seat (happy days !) and I am winding my way down through Spain as i have done almost every year and meet up near Malaga where i stay. I have never done the far west of Spain (Galicia ?) and dropping down into Portugal and for Xmas daughter bought 3 detailed Michelin maps of Portugal to aide my trip. Seems to be mountains in centre Portugal, anyone has any nice pointers for places to stay will appreciate heads up !

If you need any help about Portugal I can help you.

 

[sidestand]

If you want a place to stay in Galicia, Trotts - I can recommend the place we stayed at last time.

Absolutely brilliant - friendly, great food ( the lamb was the best I've ever tasted) & total peace & quiet after a day's riding

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...aradela-Ourense_Ourense_Province_Galicia.html

Then the trip down into Portugal is fantastic

 

[Peirre O`Bollox]

This is the route I took from Faro to Santander this year, riding up through the centre
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhesm7zm5hm03r/Faro 2014.gdb?dl=0

 

[trotts]

If you want a place to stay in Galicia, Trotts - I can recommend the place we stayed at last time.

Absolutely brilliant - friendly, great food ( the lamb was the best I've ever tasted) & total peace & quiet after a day's riding

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...aradela-Ourense_Ourense_Province_Galicia.html

Then the trip down into Portugal is fantastic

Many thanks, will certainly add this place as a stop off

 

[trotts]

This is the route I took from Faro to Santander this year, riding up through the centre
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhesm7zm5hm03r/Faro 2014.gdb?dl=0

Many thanks, sadly cannot open 'dropbox' file on my mac ?

 

[Simon_100]

Asturias and Gallicia are great - but essentially you're in the Picos still. Great riding and, when you get to the far west, as well as the fabulous riding, Santiago is a definite must-see (especially the cathedral - even if you're not Catholic, it's a helluva place).

An alternative: Reus, which is south of Barcelona but still just about in the north... The riding in the hills there is just fantastic. Plus Reus and Tarragona are great cities/towns to explore.

Of course, there's excellent riding along the coast to the north of Barcelona, through Lloret and Tossa de Mar, as well as in the hills behind the city (around Manresa)

Well I live in Tarragona so won't give too much credit to Simon's claims about Reus - the two cities are serious rivals! - these are a bit OTT unless you are fanatic about modernists architecture. And although the mountains just inland, the Sierra de Montsant to be precise, are indeed brilliant they are only really good for a day's ride.

Aaaahhh, but to get there - and dip your toes in the Med at Tarragona - think of York but on a cliff top overlooking the sea - ride down the 'Sistema Iberico', that is the mountain range the runs to the east of Madrid and west of Zaragossa.

Unmissable places to aim to ride through and/or stay: Soria, Albarracín, Cantavieja, Falset and then you're on the coast.

I wouldn't go as close to Barcelona as Manresa as it's really within the Barcelona conurbation and there's just too much traffic. But instead head from Altafulla to Igualada and from there zig-zagg until you are in the Pyrenees - maybe the C1412a. It's worth trying to avoid the north-south Arterial roads C-14, C-16 and C-17 - these are congested and literally death traps in places.

After that just follow your nose - you can ride through the Bardena Blanca on road tyres if it's dry and if you head from the Pyrenees and wanting to go back to Santander/Bilbao maybe stop at Logroño - just west of the Bardena - which is a nice small city with a university that seems to accept students based on their good-looks and, being the capital of the La Rioja region, the wine's not at all bad

Regs

Simon - the other one

PS

Bardenas Reales is quite nice.

It certainly is.....

Just to clarify - there are two 'Bardenas's', the Blanca or White and Negra,Black. The Bardena Blanca is the famous desert zone that everyone talks about and the Bardena Negra is a forest region just to he south.

 

[westride]

La Alberca, is a must, lovely place, nice roads up to La Alberca, more than one road to reach this lovely place. Make sure you look/ride them all, worth spending 2/3 nights hear.

 

[Simon_100]

Another good region is the Sistema Central west of Madrid, especially the Gredos mountains and the Sierra de la Peña de Francia; roughly between Avila and Ciudad Rodrigo. Handy for running into central Portugal, where the same geology continues as the Estrella mountains . . .

Regs

Simon

 

[ralphy]

In the past I’ve enjoyed the Picos/Pyrenees so much on the bike that I’ve not ventured any further in N Spain.

But for this year I’ve just plotted up a tour further west in Spain: Santander-Gijon-A Coruna-Cangas del Narcea-Potes-Santander, most of which is out of the Picos. The route could easily be changed though, so i’m enjoying some of the suggestions here.

R

 

[Simon_100]

All really fantastic but don't underestimate how much time these routes will take - nor the weather, even in July!

You can dip inland and out all along the coast - it's a good idea to watch the local weather forecast as very often it's drier inland side of the coastal ranges - or the other way around - and never ask Galician, who'll just say, 'Weeeeeeellllllll, yes or no!"

Regs

Simon

 

[same0656]

It's really nice !!!

 

[ralphy]

In the past I’ve enjoyed the Picos/Pyrenees so much on the bike that I’ve not ventured any further in N Spain.

But for this year I’ve just plotted up a tour further west in Spain: Santander-Gijon-A Coruna-Cangas del Narcea-Potes-Santander, most of which is out of the Picos. The route could easily be changed though, so i’m enjoying some of the suggestions here.

R

Just to update this, we're here now and having a really great trip: so glad we 'pushed on' further west and are really taken with Galicia: fantastic roads, great hotels, friendly people. A bit of a different feel to the central Picos area, most noticeably the roads are almost deserted.

Rode from Cederia via Lugo to Cangas del Narcea yesterday and at one point on the latter half of the ride we travelled 27km and throughout that we saw a total of 3 walkers, 1 dog, 2 other bikes and 1 car.

Mind you, the sat-nav's interpretation of a road on some occasions wasn't exactly ours:

R

 

[Simon_100]

Just to update this, we're here now and having a really great trip: so glad we 'pushed on' further west and are really taken with Galicia: fantastic roads, great hotels, friendly people. A bit of a different feel to the central Picos area, most noticeably the roads are almost deserted.

Rode from Cederia via Lugo to Cangas del Narcea yesterday and at one point on the latter half of the ride we travelled 27km and throughout that we saw a total of 3 walkers, 1 dog, 2 other bikes and 1 car.

Mind you, the sat-nav's interpretation of a road on some occasions wasn't exactly ours:

R

Yup, they can be funny like that - believe it or not this place is a 'road' too!

Regs

Simon