Picos - How many days??

Planning next years trip following the Pyrenees trip earlier this year in May - again, thanks to all those who assisted with our planning. Trip was awesome! It was our first tour and keen to get the next one organised.

Thinking of going to the Picos - and maybe further afield. We will have a week and happy to do 200 miles on the twisties -250 plus miles a day not so twisty! Will travel to Santander on 24 hour ferry, maybe return by road through France like last year.

My main question is - how many days do you need to ride and see the best roads in the area? The Pyrenees was a full on 5 day loop - is that the same for the Picos? Or is there less of it and a week would mean overlapping routes?

We enjoyed moving from location to location - having a start and finish point that were different. I've looked briefly at the RIDE week long route that goes from Santander west along the coast, then south and then through more of the Picos but not sure how much of it would be really good (it could be all of it, I have no idea!!).

If its excellent then we could return home via Santander - if we only need 3 days for the top routes, we could head for Pyrenees, do one pass over the west side and head up France on the west coast perhaps.

Spoiled by the Pyrenees last year so don't want to risk being disappointed!

Thanks in advance

Cheers

We were there for 8 nights last year and did not get bored, especially as you will undoubtedly want to ride many of the roads a couple of times at least.

We stayed in Ribadasella on the coast. if we did it again, we would probably split the stay between there and Potes, as the latter will help you do some of the roads to the SE side of the Picos.

We did the ferry from Santander/Bilbao both ways and can recommend it

Look at RIDE magazines Pico's tour. We had a great time using it.

Gargy's advice is as good a start as any.

But wait.... let's see... You ('we') went away for the first time this year, so (unlike last year) you now have a feel for things continental. That's great; you are already cooking on gas. You have near enough a year to get ready, so why not have a go at doing it yourself? There is more than enough stuff (to coin the oft heard term) out there for you to at least have a decent stab at it. How long to go away for? There is no perfect number but a very quick look at the pre-made trips on offer seem to be between 5, 7 to 10 days, some allowing perhaps for those vital 'Kickin back and chillin with like minded' breaks when you are off your awesome steed, resting from wicked hooning. If you can't spare ten but can do eight, you can maybe see what sort of conclusion you can draw for yourself. Yes? Great, up goes the temperature of the gas, we is rockin' mate.

How to start:

1. Cheat. Nobody will know. Google phrases like 'motorbike picos' or 'motorcycle holidays in the picos' and see what pre-organised tours come up. The organisers generally put enough detail (sometimes entire routes) into their sales pitch for anyone with an ounce of imagination to work out where the jaunts take them. This is where a good quality paper map or two really will be your best friend *.

Look at the maps of the routes you took on your first trip. What does the rendition of the roads look like? Map makers do not lie. Can you see any roads in the Picos that look like they might well be similar? Yes? Well, go and find them, ride them and you'll know. It really is the only way to learn.

Do not ignore sites or posts from bods driving cars. Some of them really do hurl their £350,000 Ferrari around the twisies just as much as bikermates on their £8,000 Adventure motorcycle, trust me.

Buy a half decent guide book and flick through its pages. Something from The Rough Guide or Lonely Plant or the Green Michelin guides. Of the three, the Michelin ones are good, often simpler and might well include quite neat suggestions as to routes to ride to join sites up. People produce these for a reason. Yes, they too are first hand accounts, just as good (if not often very much better) than a post that says "Me and me mates went, you'll have a blast, mate" which, whilst good to know, doesn't do anything when it comes to finding out how or why.

2. Cheat, again. Put the word Picos into UKGSer's search button. You ain't the first bods to go there. See what nuggets (or sometimes bloody excellent trip reports) pop up for you to surf through.

3. Cheat, some more. Look at the ADAC links that some kind fellow has provided. Look at the Portugal and Spain stickies some bod kindly put up, one of them even includes a book you (that's 'we' in your post) could easily buy.

In short, now is YOUR chance to have a go. Seize it. You bought an Adventure motorcycle, buying into the whole nine yards. It would be sad to sell yourself short.




* http://www.stanfords.co.uk/Asturias-Cantabria-Michelin-Regional-Map-572_9782067184152

http://www.stanfords.co.uk/Picos-de...s-25K-Adrados-Map-Paper-Edition_9788493317782

http://www.stanfords.co.uk/Picos-de...turias-Province-80K-Adrados-Map_9788492236329

Thanks for initial replies. Wapping, what you suggested is pretty much what I did for the Pyrenees trip this year. Huntef high and low, ended up using the RIDE route as my base and then altered for the time we had available as we were then off across France for home. Made lots of changes especially based on feedback from the Spanish Biker!

It sounds like there is plenty there to ride and enjoy. We prefer to travel target then have a base and will try to avoid repeating roads. So probably 4 days around the area and then two up through France heading home.

That's pretty much what we did around the Pyrenees.

Unless someone says that would be mad because there is so much to cover in the Picos, which is really the main thing I'm trying to understand so I can reserve the ferry which books up so quickly!

It sounds like there is plenty there to ride and enjoy. We prefer to travel target then have a base and will try to avoid repeating roads. So probably 4 days around the area and then two up through France heading home.

That's pretty much what we did around the Pyrenees.

Unless someone says that would be mad because there is so much to cover in the Picos,

Click to expand...

Picos area 249 sq miles

Pyrenees area.... um.... huge, really big, ginormous

You can 'do' all the Picos, comfortably.

Wapping said:

Picos area 249 sq miles

Pyrenees area.... um.... huge, really big, ginormous

You can 'do' all the Picos, comfortably.

Click to expand...

Sound advice Wapping. The 'Picos de Europe' is the name of the National Park, which is just a part of the Cordillera Cantabrica mountain range, which runs all along Spain's north coast from the Pyrenees to Galicia and some 100 kms - or more - inland all the way. Definitely enough for a six day trip!

Galicia itself is enough for the same ...

Regs

Simon

I'm lucky enough to have Spanish friends who live in the area. I go on my third 10 day trip there at the end of the month. I still discover new roads every time. As such, there's no recommended amount of time to spend there as it would never be enough.

Don't concentrate on "los Picos" as that's just the name of the national park in the area. It's like limiting yourself to the Dales and ignoring the rest of Yorkshire. Look at roads in the whole area, including Cantabria and Asturias. Also some of the roads up on the coast, like towards Lastres

Everyone bangs on about Potes, but trust me there are far better views, roads and places around there. Not that Potes is bad, I just don't get the hype it gets.

Unless I've missed it, you haven't said if you want fast flowing roads, or don't mind the smaller "B roads"

daesimps said:

I'm lucky enough.... I go on my third 10 day trip there at the end of the month. I still discover new roads every time...

Everyone bangs on about Potes, but trust me there are far better views, roads and places around there.

Click to expand...

.....just as good (if not often very much better) than a post that says "Me and me mates went, you'll have a blast, mate" which, whilst good to know, doesn't do anything when it comes to finding out how or why.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you should be telling the OP what and where they are? That's what he's asking for. Oh, and how many days he should set aside, too.

I spent a couple of days in Potes and then another 10 days or so exploring northern Spain before catching the ferry back from Bilbao.

I'd say you could easily spend 5-6 days exploring the area and there are loads wiggly roads either side of the Picos In fact, they were so wiggly I was getting wrist ache on my RT due to the constant braking and started longing for some straighter roads

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/347259-Northern-Spain-July-2013

If the OP eventually plans to only spend 4 days in the area, he will regret it. So much more to do.

Of all the regions along the northern coast of Spain, I would say that Cantabria is by far the nicest. Great roads, nice people, not too touristy, great scenery and weather usually good

daesimps said:

I'm lucky enough to have Spanish friends who live in the area. I go on my third 10 day trip there at the end of the month. I still discover new roads every time. As such, there's no recommended amount of time to spend there as it would never be enough.

Don't concentrate on "los Picos" as that's just the name of the national park in the area. It's like limiting yourself to the Dales and ignoring the rest of Yorkshire. Look at roads in the whole area, including Cantabria and Asturias. Also some of the roads up on the coast, like towards Lastres

Everyone bangs on about Potes, but trust me there are far better views, roads and places around there. Not that Potes is bad, I just don't get the hype it gets.

Unless I've missed it, you haven't said if you want fast flowing roads, or don't mind the smaller "B roads"

Click to expand...

Excellent feedback - that answers the question really. Plenty to see and do and explore. I was "concerned" that it was just a smallish area (Picos Park?) but we are more than happy to put together a bigger loop to cover the wider area of North Spain. more than happy with B roads! The Spanish Biker suggested some brilliant ones in the Pyrenees that were the best!!

The Spanish Biker said:

Sound advice Wapping. The 'Picos de Europe' is the name of the National Park, which is just a part of the Cordillera Cantabrica mountain range, which runs all along Spain's north coast from the Pyrenees to Galicia and some 100 kms - or more - inland all the way. Definitely enough for a six day trip!

Galicia itself is enough for the same ...

Regs

Simon

Click to expand...

Thanks as ever!!

force4fun said:

Excellent feedback - that answers the question really. Plenty to see and do and explore. I was "concerned" that it was just a smallish area (Picos Park?) but we are more than happy to put together a bigger loop to cover the wider area of North Spain. more than happy with B roads! The Spanish Biker suggested some brilliant ones in the Pyrenees that were the best!!

Click to expand...

Now I know that you're OK with the smaller roads, take a look at the following ones which are outside the Picos in the surrounding areas. No point suggesting roads inside the Picos as there's tons of information about them elsewhere:

CA-263 to Vega de la Pas and then on to BU-571 up to Arredondo
BU-642 around Embalse del Ebro
LLN-7
AS-115 north towards Posada
CA-183 to Alta Campoo (ski resort). Then go further up than the ski resort for a good view if it's not cloudy
CI-627 down to Cervera de Pisguera

To give you an idea, here is my Basecamp screenshot. Notice how much is outside the Picos (green area on the left bordered by the blue route)

force4fun said:

Excellent feedback - that answers the question really. Plenty to see and do and explore. I was "concerned" that it was just a smallish area (Picos Park?) but we are more than happy to put together a bigger loop to cover the wider area of North Spain. more than happy with B roads! The Spanish Biker suggested some brilliant ones in the Pyrenees that were the best!!

Click to expand...

Well have lived here for twenty years so ... !

Manwhile, a timely reminder to get myself back to the north coast, can't believe it's been six years!

Regs

Simon

Thanks for the excellent feedback, as always!

Ferry booked in early May 2018 for a week in the Picos and wider region. Will probably use the RIDE 7 day trip but enhance it based on recommendations and reports on the forum.

Thank again

Planning on doing similar but booked out to Santander on the 18th May, six bikes going so will keep an eye on the thread for inspiration. As has been said the |Pyranees are fantastic and hoping to find a way to fit in a return visit to the Monastry at LLeyre.
Anyone got a link for the ride route or is it one of the Ride recommended on motogoloco?

Heading to the Picos in 4 weeks time, kinda gonna wing it in regards routes as if it's anything like the Pyrenees, then there will be plenty roads to enjoy.

I have been looking at Google Maps of the area. What interests me is the roads that leads up the peaks and then changes to gravel roads to take you somewhere to the other side and connects with another tarmac road or just a dead end at the top. The Ride routes are just a guide but you cannot go wrong following it. Sometimes the road less ridden leads to a gem.

Next year hopefully would be the last of our France only tours. Brilliant place France is for sight seeing etc there is other places to go and explore. Just a shame I got to the party late.

Our six-day Picos tour frankly only scratches the surface of the great riding on Spain's north coast. It's six days long (and there's an even more abbreviated four-day version) to fit in with the tightest-turnaround ferries that were on offer when the guide was compiled (2014). However, the overnight stops are - with the exception of Leon – at the towns where additional day-trip routes were planned, so the trip can be extended to fill the time between other ferries - and as the day-trip routes use either completely different roads to the "tour" route or a bunch of additional roads plus the best of the roads on the "tour" route, but in the other direction wherever possible, you'll take in twice as much great riding.

And that would still only be scratching the surface of what the Picos has to offer: for instance, there are no dead-end roads on any of the routes but there are plenty of stunning rides on roads that lead to nowhere (or rather, just up to a tiny mountain village, or a dam, or a view point, but no further). And if you want to do gravel trails – of which there are plenty on that north coast – there's even more to discover, as I didn't include any unpaved roads (though I also did my best to avoid those with poor surfaces - because though many of the roads are like racetracks, there are still plenty that have genuinely filling-rattling, gravel-strewn, makes-the-ride-a-misery rough surfaces).

I would like to think that the six-day tour includes as many of the must-ride roads as it's possible to cram into only six days - especially given that the days are of moderate length so any one can tackle them, novice or pillion-couple as well as veteran tourist (solo high-mile riders who don't have to consider pillion comfort/patience could adjust it to do the full six days in four, especially as one day is a short one to allow a bit of time to mooch around Santiago). But it's not comprehensive, but it's not meant to be. It's meant to be a reliably brilliant ride for those who don't have the time to research and plan a route for themselves and a thorough introduction to the region. And it can serve as a starting point for people who want develop it to suit them, bolting on other destinations/detours/roads they've found out about.

But the question was, would it disappoint after the Pyrenees? I don't think so. Not even slightly. It's a different kind of riding, perhaps, with fewer high passes and tight hairpins, but I'd say more than half the riders I've spoken with who've ridden both (including some who've done the RiDE tours of both) prefer the Picos.