Northern Spain

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clutchspring
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Northern Spain

Post by clutchspring »

Hi , looking at traveling to Spain in 2018 for a two week tour on the bike & was wondering what was the best time of the year to go , also any info on traveling down to Spain. our first stop off will be in the Pico's area so was looking at ferry to Santander.

Thanks,
Ian.
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WIBO
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by WIBO »

Rough idea of what month as this depends on how hot a temperature you like to ride in? Best time depends on what heat you can stick?

:D
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Spike941
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by Spike941 »

I've done it early July, September, October and early November. Always been lucky with the weather, dry and not too hot. I'm going again next year, opting for late September. Ferry to northern Brittany on the way out, 2 or 3 days riding down to Spain. 10 days or so riding in Spain, returning on the ferry from Santander.
wideparting
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by wideparting »

end of may or October,cheaper and not too hot.
Tonibe63
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by Tonibe63 »

We went in mid May 2016, had a couple of days of rain but not cold.
Went again in July 2017, had a couple of days of rain but way too hot.
So late May/June or September would be my choice and having ridden through France once ....... I am not keen to repeat the slog.
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AustinW
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by AustinW »

We just got back from a long trip to France Spain and Portugal via northern Spain twice. A few observations: the Spanish tourist season seems to come an abrupt halt around early September and is more or less over by the end of September. Lots of campsites were closing in the middle of the month and even more at the end. Hotels mostly stay open but some of the "resorts" we visited were dead. The very popular places - Potes, Santillana, Santiago, etc were as busy as ever. And Santander itself is a cosmopolitan year round place and well worth spending some time in.

The weather in north Spain when we were first there in early September was wet and cool and windy Its not called the Costa Verde for nothing. However we had a couple of days there before the ferry last Wednesday and it was quite pleasant - warm enough for a beach & sea day on the Wednesday before we got the 9pm boat,. although it had rained a couple of previous days.

The ride down the west coast of France was tedious. Maybe it was us and we hadn't got in the "groove" but it just seemed to busy with traffic on uninteresting roads through uninteresting places. If I did this again I would loop inland to pick out some more interposing places and roads, or just blast through on the motorways.

Its hard to go wrong for good routes and roads in the mountains in North Spain. The Picos de Europa mountains are amazing and the scenery and good roads continue all the way west to the Atlantic coast. Just keep off the coastal motorway. If the weather is a bit shitty on the coast a short run over to the south side of the mountains will have you in warm sunny weather in a semi-arid environment.

There's two campsites I would recommend in north spain and one on France. The first one is a bit sleepy and middle aged but it got grassy pitches with shade, a bar and restaurant and cleanest nicest toilet block you ever saw. Its also only about an hour from Santander and right on the edge of some great riding: Camping and Apartments El Molino de Cabuérniga. They also do cabins and apartments. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cam ... 6622?hl=en

The other is much further west and is high in the mountains of the Someido National Park (something like 4000 feet up.) Very rural with cows and stuff roaming the village streets. Cars & bikes parked away from the camping and again grass, bar, restaurant, but the toilet block was a bit decrepit. Pitch dark at night and only dogs and cow bells for noise. We loved it. Camping Lagos de Somiedo. They also so some grass riffed traditional shepherd style huts. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cam ... 6964?hl=en

The French one is a municipal site (so dirt cheap) with it most redeeming feature being it is in the grounds of a castle and with great views over the Gironde estuary. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cam ... 5182?hl=en Finding the entrance is a bit of challenge as its not signed and sat nav send you the wrong way. I am sure you will work it out - we did.
sven
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by sven »

I toured northern Spain in July 2013 and it wasn’t too hot except on one day when it hit 37C. The other days it was high 20’s.

It’s a fantastic place and relatively cheap too, apart from the ferry fare :shock:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread ... -July-2013
Last edited by sven on Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
RandG
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by RandG »

Just back from the Picos and Pyrenees, did the same last year at the same time also. Last year the weather was absolutely fantastic, roads were absolutely empty, probably the best biking holiday I've ever had. This year, the first 3 days in the Picos was wet and cool, didn't get rained on too much but the roads were wet but fantastic, I moved on to the Pyrenees and it was dry and slightly warmer than the Picos.

Last year and this year were the same week, so either I got lucky last year or slightly unlucky this year, September is a great time to go, Summer holidays are over and the winter season hasn't begun.
scouse
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Re: Northern Spain

Post by scouse »

Was there the first two weeks in September last year. rained every day and on the last day very strong winds and a rough crossing of the Bay ... bit similar to this years period for the tropical storm season - go end of September - still warm but less likely to get hit by the storms.
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