Away from the Crowds

Reviews

an excellent holiday

We really enjoyed the tour, even though we did get wet when it rained (we now know how northern Spain stays so green!), we all thought it was an excellent holiday with lovely hotels and food and, of course, the cycling was great.

The extra nights we did in Bilbao and Santander were well worth it and we'd certainly recommend doing this to anyone looking to do the tour.

The two tours we have done with you (Land of the Conquistadors in 2014 and this one) have been great and we'll certainly do another one as soon as we can!

Thanks,

Neil Plant, UK.

organisation of a terrific tour

We had a fantastic cycle trip - everything went well with the arrangements and the bikes performed well .... a couple of us wished we had more gears on the 23k mountain climb out of Potes 😉

We all intend returning to participate in another bike tour soon.

Thanks again for your help and organisation of a terrific tour.

Ann Sherry, Australia.

The route far exceeded our expectations!

I'm writing to tell you how much we enjoyed our cycling experience in August. The route far exceeded our expectations! It was a great way to see some beautiful parts of the Picos. I thought that the route was very well planned, the route guide notes were excellent and all of the accommodation was faultless. Thank you for providing such an excellent service. I hope that we can book with you again in the near future.

Best regards

Ian Sowerby, UK.

some of the places we visited along with Spanish hospitality will live long in our memory

Once again we had a great holiday and I certainly needed the gel saddle cover climbing to Fuente De!

The organisation was brilliant as usual and some of the places we visited along with Spanish hospitality will live long in our memory: including the view from Cervera de Piscera and the hospitality shown to us by Jose in the beautiful hotel in Llanes, not to mention the vibrant and beautiful city of Bilbao.

If I had to complain I would say the hotel we stayed in and restaurant where we eat in Potes were our least favourite.

However, I am already looking forward to my trip next year and look forward to your tips on Seville and Cadiz.

Kind regards and thanks for everything.

Antonia Lanigan, Ireland.

...the long downhills were quite marvellous.

Just to let you know that we had a fabulous cycling holiday and were really sad when it ended on Thursday.

Everything was really easy and well planned, we enjoyed all the hotels, the route was great, and the long downhills were quite marvellous. I was glad to have an electric bike mind you!

We loved stopping at places suggested and spent lots of time looking at wildflowers and birds en route. The only thing we didn't do was the Funicular to Bulnes, we did a gorgeous out and back walk along the Senda del Cares instead (maybe this could be added as a suggestion, the views are great).

Thank you all so much for organising this holiday. It was well worth waiting for!

Very best wishes

Bridget and Mike Broadhurst, UK

...we may even go on this tour again!

We had a really great week in the Picos de Europa and thoroughly enjoyed all the cycling. We love the Picos de Europa so much (so much so that we may even go on this tour again!).

As always, the rides were really well-planned, had loads to see and all of the hotels were comfortable and clean. The scenery is spectacular, the bikes were good and the roads were perfect for cycling.

Some of the high points:The first day was surprisingly beautiful and tranquil. The undulating landscape, historic churches and lovely flowers in the fields made for a great start to the holiday. The hotel in the old monastery is amazing (the most interesting and beautiful hotel on the trip) and we wished we could have had another day there - perhaps next time!

All of the Picos de Europa landscapes are spectacular. The impressive gorges with the towering mountains, the views from above Fuente De, the small villages off the main routes, the blue of the Cares river, the green of the meadows and woods. We were fortunate to have clear warm (but not too hot) weather for all but one day so all the views were really clear. Even on the last day of cycling, when there was some rain and mist when we went across the Sierra de Cuera, before descending to the sea, the views were really atmospheric.

As well as the set routes we did some of our own exploring:

We found some great views from up past the cemetery in Cervera de Pisuerga. We also walked up to the Parador hoping to get some dinner and realised why it hadn't been one of our hotel stops - it was closed for renovation. We did manage to get a really nice meal at a place called La Galeria in the town - which hadn't looked promising but did great salads and sandwiches. #pWe also found a nice cafe just near the campsite called Restaurante TaxusOn the way down from the pass towards Potes we found a pretty stop at Pesaguero where there is a Casa de Naturaleza and a shaded shelter with a view across the valley.

We took up the road book's suggestion of the village of Mogrovejo as a lunch stop - it's a lovely, pretty village.On the Hermida Gorge day we cycled up to San Esteban and over the pass to see Cunaba - quite a steep ride but absolutely worth the effort.

We cycled up to Sotres from Arenas de Cabrales - a long ascent (and especially hard at the end) but we got the most jaw-dropping views from just outside Sotres - and a perfect lunch stop)

A couple of minor things:

The road book was really good, although the description of the Potes to Fuente De as a "short but hard climb" doesn't prepare you for what is actually quite a long (23km) ascent which also includes two fairly steep and long sections (approaching the turn off to Mogrovejo and out of Espinama). We still enjoyed it though.

The hotel in Cevera de Pisuerga was really friendly, clean and comfortable but the breakfast of a single slice of toast and a cup of coffee was a little unsubstantial for a long ride (we always take some emergency snacks, so it was fine). All the other breakfasts were plentiful and good, though.We will definitely be booking with you again - probably either this one or one of the Rioja trips. We had such a good time - thank you all.

Warmest regards

Simon Wilkins, UK

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