Spain September 2025

[Phil Magill]

Around mid July I had a hankering for a road trip in the Autum, I couldn’t make up my mind between Scotland, France or Spain, so I started doing a bit of browsing on the internet and was surprised at the price of the Brittany Ferry from Rosslare Ireland, to Bilbao Spain, £360 return including a cabin, I had my destination.

Now to start planning the trip.





Day 1.

Because the ferry was set to sail at 9am it was an early start to travel the 200 miles to Rosslare and of course about 20 miles before Rosslare it started to rain heavily.

Getting to the port I was surprised at the number of vehicles booked onto this sailing in mid September, it was busy.

The bikes were parked very close together and well tied down by the crew.

I liked this fake window in the cabin, made it seem less claustrophobic.

The Irish ferries had to sit at the harbour entrance waiting on the Stena Ship to leave the harbour, it caused my ferry to leave 2 hours late, but it was impressive watching the captain reversing onto the berth.

And at last we have set sail, a smooth crossing to Bilbao.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 2.



The ferry docked in Bilbao at 4pm but we didn’t get off until 5pm, so it was straight to the hotel I booked for 4 nights, the Hotel Picos de Europa in Arrenas de Cabrelles. (GPS 43.302755 -4.816944).



I last stayed in this village in 2004 and the place has been developed with more houses and hotels but it’s still a lovely little village.

Part of the car park is reserved for motorbikes.

The swimming pool is heated by the sun.

The staff on reception are very friendly and helpful and speak English, which is a bonus.



A bottle of water was in the room. Very nice.

I was about to crack it open until I read the note beside it.

Got this bottle from the supermarket down the street for 60 cents.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 3

Put a random destination into the satnav for it to find a curvy route.

This morning started off at a nice 20 degrees and overcast, it didn’t take the sun long to show itself and the temperature went up to 37 degrees at one point.

The roads I was on today were very twisty with not many straight bits with very little traffic and stunning scenery.

Spotted this church on top of a hill so decided to take a look.

Covadonga Basilica.

I had hoped to have a look around the inside of the church but there were lots of people / coach parties and I wasn’t allowed to park the bike near the church and was told to use a car park down the hill, which was about 1km away and I couldn’t be bothered to hike up the hill in my bike gear in the heat, so carried on my meandering route.



Further along this road I came round a bend and seen a bike lying on its side, a Spanish rider dropped his bike going into the corner, luckily he was ok but we had to tie his right side box on with a spare strap I had but we couldn’t rig something for his right footpeg which had been ripped off, hopefully he was able to get to where he was going without too much trouble.

The reservoir at Riano was very low on water.





Further on the sky was looking hazy, smoke from the wild fires.





Nice Scenery.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 4



Today was another random destination entered into the satnav to create a curvy route and it was along some single track roads with lots of potholes and horses wandering loose, so had to be careful because you didn’t know what’s in the middle of the road around the next corner.

Also some very nice curvy roads with no traffic.

And again the water level is low in this reservoir.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 5



Another random location picked from a map and entered into the satnav to calculate a curvy route and again some lovely empty roads.



The weather today was a bit mixed, this morning was 12 degrees and overcast and a bit windy but the sun made an appearance for a while.

With the recent wildfires in this area there was thousands of square kilometers of land devastated, occasionally you would see a tree or a bush on the burnt hillside that escaped the fire for some reason.

The owner of this little house was lucky.





Old lucky balls Phil got caught in a torrential downpour about 10 miles from the hotel, same thing happened yesterday.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 6



Today was bit of a grim day weather wise, I left the hotel Arenas de Cabrelles it was 10 degrees and lashing down.

As I climbed higher into the mountains the temperature dropped further, I couldn’t see where I was going with the heavy rain and condensation on the inside of the visor and my glasses, so had to take the glasses off, then the temperature dropped to 3 degrees and the bikes onboard temperature display started flashing and warning of possible ice, then the rain turned to sleet and snow.

I started shivering and feeling really cold, so stopped at a café, I was the only customer, to get a coffee and warmed up, but alas after an hour there was no sign of the rain stopping, a shame because the route had lots of lovely curves.

I noticed that some of the high peaks had a fresh covering of snow.

I didn’t stop to take any photos today.

There wasn’t many bikers on the road today.



I eventually made it to the Hotel Ponferrada Plaza (GPS 42.549512 -6.607327) for the night, nice hotel with a secure underground parking.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 7



Left the hotel in Ponferrada this morning in lovely sunshine, although it was 9 degrees the temperature rose to 19 as the day went on.



Set the satnav to take a curvy route and it took me along stunning little country roads with minimal traffic and some lovely little villages with not much sign of life in them.

Thousands of square kilometers in this area have been devastated by the wildfires, I’ll bet there was some panic in the little village in the valley, luckily it was spared.

I did notice that out of the devastation young green shoots were sprouting from the base of bushes.

The wind turbines on top of the hill are still working.



Spotted this lovely fortification on top of a hill in Puebla de Sanabria, Spain.

Remember when I said that I set the satnav to take a curvy route, well it turned me onto a forest road, everything was going fine for about 15km when the road surface changed from tarmac to broken tarmac and large potholes and gravel, I thought to myself it’s only bad for a short distance, then it turned to bigger potholes and lots more gravel, this road went through 2 small villages, I think it might have been a proper road about 20 years ago, so it was standing up on the pegs for 10km or so, then the satnav turned me onto a tarmac road then it wanted to take another gravel road, it was getting late so I decided to change the satnav to the fastest route to Ciudad Rodrigo.

This was the best part of the forest road.

I was glad to get to the hotel in Ciudad Rodrigo, ( GPS 40.601968 -6.532404 ) I was absolutely shattered.



The La Bodega Hotel is a lovely little hotel close to the old walled city, it has underground parking but care needs to be taken on the steep ramp into / out of the garage with a sharp turn.

I decided to go and do a bit of shopping, this shop has bits of dead animal hanging from the shelf.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 8



Today was a non riding day, had a wander around the old town.

I like that this medieval town is inhabited by the locals, it’s not a tourist attraction like Mont San Michele in France.



A bit of town history.

The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo was the successful investment of the French -occupied city of Ciudad Rodrigo by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army from 7–20 January 1812. Wellington's army, which numbered up to 40,000 men, faced a small French garrison of 1,800 troops under the command of Jean Léonard Barrié. After two breaches were blasted in the city's walls by heavy artillery units of the Royal Artillery, the successful storming of Ciudad Rodrigo[1] was conducted by British troops on the evening of 19 January. After overcoming the French defenders, the attacking troops went on a rampage for several hours before order was restored. The Anglo-Portuguese Army suffered casualties of about 1,700 men, including two generals killed. Strategically, the fall of the city opened the northern gateway into French-occupied Spain from Portugal.



I wouldn’t fancy attacking up this hill.

A plan of the old town.

The streets in the old town are quite narrow, you would have to know the width of your car to drive around.

I love these old buildings still in daily use.

The Parador Hotel.

Walking back to the hotel I spotted this car, a cunning way to cover up damage to the bumper.

 

[Arsey]

Good stuff.
With regard to that bottle of water -are you sure that the water wasn’t free, but if you wanted to buy the actual bottle to take home with you then it’s €12 ?

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 9



Today I will be crossing the border into Portugal, I packed my stuff onto the bike and went for breakfast in the hotel, when a bearded person came into the breakfast room wearing smart casuals and a pair of bright red stilettos with 6” heels, how strange.

It’s a strange old world, I’m just stuck in my old fashioned ways.



I set the satnav to take a curvy route to Manteigas in Portugal and off I went along almost traffic free country roads, it was a lovely day for riding.



It’s lunchtime and this is a lovely place to stop for lunch in a small café.



Not much water in this reservoir also.

Arrived at the Serravale B&B in Manteigas (GPS 40.395259 -7.538166) and was welcomed like a dear old friend by Elsa, the owner, a really lovely woman, who helps all her guests get the best out of their stay, giving advice on where to eat in the village or what walking trails to take and she makes sure all of her guests have her phone number in case they need help anywhere in Portugal.

The B&B has 2 double rooms and 2 twin rooms and the breakfast is all local produce.

Parking is on the pavement at the side of the B&B.

If you can’t move it then make a feature out of it.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 10



A meander through the hills today and some areas here were visited by the wildfires.

After the devastation of the fires the green shoots of new life sprout.

As I was leaving the B&B this morning, Elsa gave me a small packed lunch.







Cracking roads in this area of Portugal, Serra da Estrela.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 11



The weather today was a bit windy but it was another meander around the cracking roads.



Riding along I spotted this castle on the hilltop in the village of Linhares da Beira.

The village streets were steep narrow cobblestones, a bit of a maze.

A nice well-preserved castle.

It was a bit windy up here.

 

[wessie]

Glad you liked the Ponferrada Plaza. As you found, the roads south of there towards Puebla de Sanabria are excellent.
Good to confirm the garage is in use again as they were doing some renovations when I was there in 2022.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 12

It’s time to move on from Manteigas in a northernly direction.



The day started off with rain and low cloud over the hills, the weather app said it would clear up at around 10am, it didn’t until mid afternoon.



Stopped here for break near Castro Daire, Portugal.

I eventually arrived at the Hotel B&B in Braga. (GPS 41.552569 -8.395053 )



A nice hotel with secure underground parking and a big comfortable bed, a good buffet breakfast and free unlimited hot drinks in the lobby.

I went out for a meal in a nearby restaurant, it was dark when I returned so decided to check on the bike in the underground garage, when I walked in the light came on, next thing the guy on reception came running down the ramp to check who was in the garage. Nice to see.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 13



Today was a non biking day, I was out early so that I could beat the crowds.

I could have rode to the place but then you have the faff of the bike gear and securing it.

Of course it was all uphill ( the best places usually are).

Google maps did the job getting me to the place and back to the hotel.



Todays trip is to the Bom Jesus Basilica, apparently there is almost 1000 steps up to the church and on Good Friday some people climb the steps on their knees as an act of penance.

The stairway with the Basilica at the top.

The Basilica.

Inside is very nice.

There are also a few hotels near the church.

There are lovely landscaped gardens to wander around and also the usual cafes and gift shops.

The view down the hill towards Braga.

I took the steps down towards the hotel, however, if you don’t fancy climbing almost 1000 steps up and down there is an old water powered funicular that will take you up and down for €4-50.

I wonder does that hand brake still work?

Here’s someone’s short video of the place.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 14



I had a scenic route planned for today but things didn’t go to plan.



Whilst having breakfast the fire alarm sounded in the hotel and everyone was evacuated away from the hotel and the fire brigade were called.

Just over 3 hours later everyone was aloud back into the hotel which had me running behind plan so a motorway route had to be taken to get to my next hotel in Llanes Spain at a reasonable time. Although it was mostly motorway but what a motorway, A66/AP66 very little traffic, great surface, lovely sweeping bends and mostly awesome scenery.

Made it to the Hotel Montemar in Llanes as it was getting dark, I’m going to stay 2 nights here.

Very nice room with a free mini bar.

There was no aircon in the room but the Spitfire propeller on the ceiling kept the room at a reasonable temperature.

I was curious what was in this wee sealed bag, had someone left me a present.

It was the tv remote.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 15



Today was a gentle stroll around the lovely seaside town of Llanes, a busy little town with plenty of bars / cafés and what seemed like a lot of shops owned by Chinese people that sold every bit of tat a person would ever need.

It was very nice around the harbour area, the water looked clean and plenty of fish swimming.

Some lovely picturesque back streets.

Spotted these thick soled boots and I thought, that’s just the job for my wee short legs, I would be able to flat foot the bike around.

But they didn’t have my size.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 16



My final day of this trip, I’m booked on the 1800hrs sailing from Bilbao to Rosslare.

I leave the hotel Montemar at 12-30 and take a meandering route to Bilbao, stopping for something to eat.

I get to the Brittainy ferries check in at 2pm only to be told that the sailing had been cancelled due to storm Amy and the next sailing I could get would be the following Thursday, 7 days away but I had to be back in Ireland before Wednesday.

A search on the internet and I could get a sailing on Monday from Cherbourg to Dublin which would get me to Dublin on Tuesday, so I booked that.

I checked google maps and it was onto the motorway north.

Just south of Bordeaux I was starting to feel tired, I stopped and did a search for a nearby hotel in a small town so booked it on Booking.com and made my way to it.

Hotel La Cabane in the small town of Belin-Beliet, ( GPS 44.516920 -0.794699 ) owned and operated by the elderly mother and her 2 very mature daughters, no English is spoken, so it was out with the Google Translate to get booked in.

Very Bates motel. The rooms were clean and the bed comfortable.

It has a reasonable restaurant attached.

 

[Phil Magill]

Day 17



Went to breakfast, I didn’t expect much and I wasn’t disappointed, 2 small slices of baguette, a tiny bit of cheese a small yoghurt and slightly warm coffee served from a jug. I think I will have to do a bit of shopping later.

I set a meandering route north towards Cherbourg, on route I spotted a road sign for La Rochelle and decided that I would stop here for a couple of nights, so pulled into a layby to search for hotels in the town and settled on the Hotel B&B near the harbour ( GPS 46.147176 -1.152958 ) which is about 15 minutes to the old town and has secure parking at the rear of the hotel.

Once booked in, washed and changed then went looking for somewhere to eat, it soon became obvious that there must be plenty of money in this town judging by the number of yachts around the place.

Spotted this cute little electric car.

I don’t think the Landrover Defender wing mirrors come as standard fitting.

 

[TYKEBBS]

Great pictures, they reminded me of summer...thanks for sharing