Blogs from Cantabria, Spain, Europe

After the long overnight journey from Cadiz, it was lovely to soak up the Christmas atmosphere for a few hours in Bilbao. I was tempted to stay the night, but decided to press on and get to Santander to try and avoid any last minute mishaps. The boat to Ireland sails from Bilbao for the summer season and from Santander in the winter. For a while now, I've wanted to travel on the narrow gauge railway that links cities along the north coast of Spain. This was my opportunity to try it out. In the tourist office I asked for information about the train to Santander. The lady behind the desk tried to persuade me that it was better and much faster to use the bus. She didn't really seem to grasp that I wanted to ... read more

I decided to stay a second night at Camping Virgen del Mar. I spent an easy day exploring Santander and getting together the last few bits and bobs I need. First priority was to book the train out of here. I managed to struggle through in Spanish. Explained what I wanted, it wasn't pretty, but it worked. Maybe in four weeks time I'll be a bit more refined So me and the bike are now booked on the 0714 train to Quintanilla de Los Torres. Gonna be an early start. My alarm is set for 5.30am as I really don't want to miss it. That journey will take me pretty much through the Picos de Europe and avoid a lot of climbing. I'll save that for another time. From there I'll head towards Alar del Reys ... read more

TOUR 2 – Great Iberian Tour – TUE, 07 JUN 2022 – Day 8: Fantastic landscapes. Altamira National Museum. Panoramic city tour of Santander. We will travel to Picos de Europa. We will visit Basílica de COVADONGA, which is surrounded by beautiful scenery. Then, we will resume our journey following the coastline to SANTILLANA, one of Spain’s most beautiful towns, and we will visit its well-preserved medieval quarter. We will also visit the National Museum and Research Centre of ALTAMIRA (ticket included) located in the vicinity of this town. We will later travel to SANTANDER, the region’s capital, a coastal city with amazing views and beaches. We will explore and learn about this elegant city and beautiful bay on the included panoramic city tour. NOTE: On some high difficulty dates (especially in summer from May to ... read more

We’re off again, this time revisiting our Honeymoon exactly 25 years ago. Then we toured Paradors in Southern Spain, now we’re heading along the north coast from Bilboa to Santiago de Compostella - not quite the ancient pilgrims’ route (which went slightly further south), but along the Atlantic coast instead. We flew from Southend (great) to Bilboa on Ryanair. What a joke outfit... we declined paying for allocated, seats, got random seats, 10 rows apart and I end up with loads of room down the back and a spare seat beside me. Oh well the flight was fine and on time.... We arrived in rain, hired a decent car and drove 1 hour in the rain to Limpias in time for late supper ..in the rain. Paradors are a state owned and run chain of hotels ... read more

Vous l'aurez remarqué, le blog a pas mal de retard... L'internet ne suit pas... tout comme en France et mon problème de routeur français Orange, prend du temps à se régler... une fois que nous repasserons la frontière française, je pourrai à nouveau l'utiliser, peut-être sans modération ??? ...Nous n'y sommes pas encore. ! Ceci dit, notre voyage a déjà bien avancé et tout doucement nous allons rejoindre la Méditerranée... Pour ce faire il nous faut affronter des chaleurs très fortes... Sur la route nous avons parfois l'impression de nous trouver au milieu de rien, ou presque dans un désert où poussent tout de même oliviers et amandiers !!! De belles campagnes se dessinent avec en toile de fond de petites montagnes... L'Espagne a enfin supprimé le péage de pas mal d'autoroutes et lorsque nous devons ... read more