The Picos de Europa is a mountainous area in northern Spain, next to the Basque Country. In the middle is the village of Posada de Valdeon, which cannot be reached by motorbike from the north: you have to drive around the Picos via Potes or Sames. We stayed overnight in Posada de Valdeon in Hostal Casa Abascal. A great hotel with breakfast option. You can eat in a restaurant in the village with usually a choice of two menus.

There are all kinds of nature reserves around the Picos. These three routes take you through some of them. There are gorges to see, viewpoints, reservoirs and you can walk more than fine. If you like walking, bring your walking shoes.

But we come to ride and it's going great. Excellent roads with the occasional piece of unpaved so that you do not have to detour far for another attraction. You can eat delicious food and the people are very nice and hospitable. And because the route to Lourdes goes above the Picos, there are also pilgrimage sites and very beautiful churches and monasteries. The most beautiful thing in this area is the nature: breathtakingly beautiful with wild animals, rugged mountains and wild rivers.

All in all, you can spend at least 4 days here if you take a day of rest or go for a walk.

A tour with 9 routes that all link up, starting from the ferry port of Santander to Potes using lots of twisty roads. The next route is a truly memorable round tour from Potes of the ever popular Picos de Europa. Then the tour heads south and east past reservoirs and picking up the mighty Ebro river and follow it to Miranda de Ebro. Route 4 carries on east towards the Pyrenees with more twisty roads to the destination of Sos del Rey Catolico, a fantastic fortified hilltop village. The next route takes you over the Pyrenees with the chance of a cable car ride up a mountain for lunch. Route 6 is the first day in France and it is a pleasant ride past fields of sunflowers and maize, pine forests and through the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park. Then you cross over the mighty Gironde estuary by ferry and head to the finish at the popular costal town of La Rochelle. We stayed for two night in La Rochelle to sample the delights of this delightful town. Route 7 hugs the coast as it travels north and then crosses the mighty Loire river for a night in Saint Nazaire. Route 8 starts off with a visit to the U boat submarine pens in Saint Nazaire, then through the salt production 'fields' of Guerande and onto Concarneau, another historic walled city that must be visited. The final route takes you to Pointe du Raz then onto Locronan, a medieval village listed as one of the most beautiful villages of France. Then it travels over the Térénez bridge, the world's first curved cable-stayed bridge. Then you enter and travel through the Armorique Regional Natural Park to spend the night at a B&B hotel in Morlaix ready for a short ride in the morning to catch the ferry at Roscoff.