Santander to Canil - Advice please...

[jonothan]

Mrs J has a good friend living in Canil in Southern Spain. Her friend was a work colleague, a fellow nurse in the general practice in which Mrs J works.

Anyway, she and her husband moved to Canil in Southern Spain, and Mrs J is very keen to go and visit her. Her husband is a top bloke too, so I'm more than happy to go along.

I've suggested that we take the ferry to Santander and ride all the way down, Mrs J on her Breva 750ie and me on my new GSA. Mrs J is well up for that and we're going to take two weeks off next year for this trip.

Has anyone here any advice on the ferry crossing, or the route we would be best taking, and any advice on accommodation? We're looking for small friendly hotels and want to see a bit of Spain as we ride down and back.

I have a Zumo so if anyone has any routes or waypoints, this would be helpful to say the least.

Daily mileages? No more than 250 miles a day as Mrs J likes to wander about looking in gift shops and stuff, doing all those lady-things that ladies abroad love to do.

Any advice, guidance or help much appreciated.



J

 

[jonothan]

Well, I've looked through as many threads as possible. Some useful tips there, thanks!

The ferry's now booked (Portsmouth to Bilbao).

We'll take three days to ride down from Bilbao to Conil, and three to ride back.

Should be fun!

J

 

[Gipsy]

Did Spain several times before getting my Zumo, so no recorded routes, but I can heartily recommend a couple of places worth looking at, but not sure where Canil your final destination is, so if a little out of the way my apologies.
Firstly Merida. Stuffed full of Roman and Moorish remains. Check out the Roman Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre, and the Roman Circus, together with the castle overlooking the river. We stayed at the Parador, which is a converted nunnery ( not sure how old ) with Roman and Visigothic pillars in the bar. It has secure parking. Not cheap, but right in the centre of town and the remains are stunning.
I could go on at length, but wont. If you want any further info send a PM.
By the way approve of your choice of passage. The Pride of Bilbao is a superb vessel, and the whale watching and such is worth checking out.

 

[bladerunner]

Alistair sawday's "Special places to stay - Spain" well worth buying. There are small lovely hotels you would never just come across by accident.

Pick your hotels
Buy Michelin map
join the dots via as many green edged roads as you can find

enjoy

The weather over the Picos can be interesting so don't forget your waterproofs!

 

[Yorkie]

We had a great trip down through the centre of Spain this year. We tried to stay up in the hills whenever possible to keep in the twisties and avoid the heat on the plains. We took 4 days going down and the same again coming back - so the mileages we did were a bit easier than you will be doing - but there is so much to see, you need to allow time to see it.

These are the hotels we used - all great and fairly cheap apart from Trujillo - but that was worth the money.

Covarrubias
hotel rey chindasvinto
http://www.ecovarrubias.com/es/turismo/index.asp?idsec=25
Plaza Rey Chindasvinto, 5
09346 Covarrubiras - BURGOS
Telf. 947 40 65 60 - Fax. 947 40 65 43

Salamanca
hotel torre del claverro
http://www.hotel-torredelclavero.com/
C/. Consuelo, 21
37001 Salamanca - Spain
Tel.: + 34 923 280 410
Fax: + 34 923 217 708

Toledo
hotel sol
http://www.hotelsoltoledo.com/main.english.html
C/Azacanes, 15
45003 Toledo
Spain
Tel: +34 92 521 36 50

Cordoba
Hotel maestre
http://www.hotelmaestre.com/principalingles.html
C Romero Barros 4 y 6
14003 Cordoba
+34 957 472 410

Trujillo
http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/spain/trujillo/nh-palacio-de-santa-marta.html
Nh Palacio De Santa Marta
Calle Ballesteros, 6
Trujillo
10200
SPAIN
Phone:
+34 92 7659190

Segovia
Hotel los linajes
http://www.loslinajes.com/ingles/hotel_eng.html
C/ Doctor Velasco 9. Segovia. (Spain)
Phone (+34) 921 460 475

Santo Domingo de Silos
Hotel santo domingo de silos
www.hotelsantodomingodesilos.com
C\ SANTO DOMINGO (Calle Principal)

Telf. 947 39 00 53 - Fax 947 39 00 52


I have routes that I could send you if interested - PM me if you want them.

Peter

 

[BegesRus]

Try this
Out of Bilbao on the A8 take the AP68 Autopisa south
Come off at the B 625 (about the first exit) and follow this south over the massive cliffs in front of you
Get onto the N124 still going south
Get onto the N111 near Nalda follow this as far as you can
Pick up the N 204 (at the A2) and follow this south
Join the N 320 still going south
Get onto the N420 at Cuenca still going south
After this I was getting numbum and got onto faster road A31 heading south
I finished at Mazarron = 850 Kms in 12 hours - on my Harley
The roads above are beautiful through forests and mountains
I hope that you can pick up some of the route from your maps
p.s. never saw anywhere for Desayuno (breakfast)
enjoy

 

[Daniboy]

Hi Jonathan, it looks like you are going to cross my country from north to south. When are you planning to do so? This is a critical question as roads in the north at this time of the year. I live in Madrid but I come from Bilbao, and let you know that if the weather is good, the coast, and the food there are magnificant. I will follw this post to find out more about your trip and se how I can help you.

 

[jonothan]

Hi Jonathan, it looks like you are going to cross my country from north to south. When are you planning to do so? This is a critical question as roads in the north at this time of the year. I live in Madrid but I come from Bilbao, and let you know that if the weather is good, the coast, and the food there are magnificant. I will follw this post to find out more about your trip and se how I can help you.

Hi Daniboy

We arrive in Bilbao on Monday 4th May. Route is still not yet finalized. We were planning on three days to ride to Conil and three back but we might stretch that by a day one (or both) ways and reduce the daily mileages. Not quite made up our minds yet.

Cheers

J

 

[Daniboy]

Hi Daniboy

We arrive in Bilbao on Monday 4th May. Route is still not yet finalized. We were planning on three days to ride to Conil and three back but we might stretch that by a day one (or both) ways and reduce the daily mileages. Not quite made up our minds yet.

Cheers

J

Plenty of time then. Conil and its surroundings are beautiful, there are a lot of diferent routes to get there depending wether you are looking for motorways or national roads. If you decide to go motorways from Bilbao to Burgos you have to pay around 18 €, after that is free up to Sevilla where you have to pay again to get to Cadiz, and that is a bit less than 10 €.