Grand Tour of Northern Spain NC6
North coast, Picos de Europa & the interior
Based on 14 nights self-drive independent tour in Spain
A circular route following the pilgrim paths towards and away from Santiago. You’ll find surf washed beaches and high arid plains, Cathedral cities and tiny villages lost in time, lofty snow capped mountains and soft rolling hills – the stark contrasts which make touring in northern Spain so exciting!
Constant throughout are a sense of tradition, superb food & wine and a friendly welcome wherever you go.
The full tour takes two weeks but you can do as little, or as much, as you like.
- Tour Highlights:
- The ways of St James, steeped in history
- Monumental Leon; Cathedral & San Marcos
- Spain’s best surf-washed beaches
- Lofty peaks, high plains, verdant hills
- World class food & great wines, a tapestry of regional tastes
- Fly or Ferry – the choice is yours
£1375 p/p
*Indicative mid-season price for 14 nights (including car hire – flights not included) in our suggested hotels. Ferry-drive based on 2 people from £1525 p.p. for 14 nights.
Days 1 to 3 – Asturias: Picos & Dinosaur Coast
- Picos de Europa soaring directly above the coast
- The Spanish Cornwall? Cider country
- Beautiful beaches with Jurassic footprints
- Canoe down the Sella or get out on a fishing boat
- Oviedo’s fine Pre-Romanesque architecture
Day 4 & 5 – Western Asturias
- Cudillero & Luarca; pretty fishing villages to explore
- Beautiful beaches & breathtaking cliff-top coastal walks
- Celtic tradition; bagpipes and ancient settlements
- National Park of Somiedo – you might see bears!
- Futuristic Niemeyer Centre in Avilés
Day 6 & 7 – El Bierzo
- Historic crossroads; Camino de Santiago & Via de Plata.
- Up and coming reds made from the local Mencia grape
- Knights Templar Castle at Ponferrada
- Las Medulas, undulating red rock formations
- El Bierzo, lost in time, steeped in history
Day 8 – León
- Santa Maria Cathedral. Gothic style with stunning stained glass
- Founded in 29 BC. Europe’s first parliament city
- Tapas & fine dining in ‘the wet zone’ in Leon old-town
- Monastery of San Marcos plateresque renaissance architecture
Days 9 to 11 – Picos de Europa
- Activities for all; spectacular mountain scenery
- Wildlife; butterflies to birds of prey, bears too!
- Make a pilgrimage to Santo Toribio
- Fuente De cable car whisks you up to 1800m
- Potes, Cangas and Arriondas, historic yet full of life
- Local mountain gastronomy, cider & Orujo
Days 12 to 14 – Western Cantabria
- Historic seaside towns of San Vicente, Comillas or Santillana del Mar
- Sandy beaches and craggy protected coves
- Carmona, Barcena Mayor in the beautiful valleys
- Prehistoric cave paintings at Altamira and many more
- Wonderful walks along the coast or in the rolling hills
& why not...
- Go your own way, the tour can be tailor-made to suit your time and travel arrangements
- Ask about superior rooms, a larger car or better cabins on the ferry
- or more economical options if you're on a budget
- Take a look at our Premium North Spain Tour NC6A
- or, if you only have a week, our Premium Short North Spain Tour NC6B
- Add a stop in Bilbao, La Rioja or Galicia
- Or head further south into Castilla y León
- Call us to talk through all the options - we'd love to hear from you!
The itinerary includes the following:
- Accommodation in our listed hotels – 2 sharing 1 std. double ensuite, B&B
- Economy 4dr car hire
- or ferry crossings with Brittany Ferries (car + 2 berth interior cabin)
- Guide book to Northern Spain
- Personal Travel App including highlights, weather forecast and restaurant suggestions for all areas en-route
- Instructions to find all accommodation
Not included:
- Flights – but we are able to advise
- One-way car hire charges, where applicable (see your quote email)
- The following car hire extras – these can be added at pick-up point
- extra driver
- child seats
- GPS
- Garage parking where applicable (mostly city stops) – please ask us about parking charges
Getting there
A circular route, this itinerary has excellent access by air and sea:
-
- Flight connections from-to:
- Stansted: Santander with Ryanair
- Gatwick: Bilbao with Vueling or Easyjet / Asturias with Vueling
- Manchester; Bilbao with Easyjet
- Dublin: Santander with Ryanair / Bilbao with Aer Lingus
- Edinburgh; Santander with Ryanair
- Flight connections from-to:
- Ferry: if you wish to bring your own car, classic car or motorbike we can include the ferry crossings as part of the package
Getting around
For passengers travelling by air we will include a hire car as part of the package. Normally we include a 4 door economy class car but please let us know if you would like something different.
For those coming on the ferry you will use your own vehicle but in either case we will provide full instructions to arrive at each hotel, complete with GPS, as well as a map of the area
5 stars! Our initial conversation with Casas Cantabricas resulted in them providing us with an itinerary which we found very helpful. In addition all the accommodation suggestions turned out to be exceptional locations in each of our chosen locations. We have already recommended them to friends and family members and hope they will follow up on their current interests in using the services of Casas Cantabricas.
Everything worked as planned - briliant
Great organisation, everything worked a treat and the Vamoos website was great to use with all the information in one place, brilliant.
Well organised, great choice of hotels, suited all our requirements.
Everything was spot on. The hotels were good with car parking.
We have already recommended to friends Casas Cantabicas for a holiday to Northern Spain. .
Everything was well organised. Would not hesitate to use them again.
Splendid
Good hotels, useful mapa, Andy on telephone helpful, enjoyable cities and itinerary
Excellent route providing some great driving experiences and interesting city locations.
Very attentive to our needs and requirements, we were kept informed about what was happening both before and after we left. Lots of information about our destinations and support whilst we were away. Friendly and personal service.
Well balanced tour with excelent hotels.
Excellent service and courteous
We had excellent service and courteous staff
All our hotels were lovely , the company provided us with detailed itinerary and maps and suggested good places to visit and see on the way. They booked our ferry crossing and the whole tour went seamlessly from start to finish. Thank you so much.
Fantastic service from start to finish.
The team was very helpful from the first point of contact and helped us shape our holiday to Northern Spain, creating the holiday we were looking for.
Brilliant!!
Everything: Excellent hotels with good locations, facilities and staff. Good suggestions about where to visit. Very useful advice in advance documentation that we could download - an excellent system. My wife does not eat gluten and was very impressed by the information passed to the hotels who provided appropriate food.
Excellent range of places and interests. Superb for our Motorbike / Trike group!!
Combination of fantastic routes, cities and hotels. Shoed the very best of Northern Spain
Could not be faulted.
Excellent organisation, quick response, quality support information, rapid replies to questions. Hotels and travel plans were first class in all respects. We will most likely use them again and have already recommended them to friends. It was obvious that all destination hotels had been thoroughly checked out.
Interesting holiday
Plenty of pre travel information from maps to weather updates.
Enjoyed the hotels, towns visited & scenic drives between places.
The Hotels were all perfect: located where we wanted them to be, and very comfortable and easy to find.
Casas sorted everything very well. I presented a route and plan for accommodation and they came back with the holiday. Everything then went to plan.
Northern Spain with Casas Cantabricas – first class holiday.
The holiday itself was marvellous, hotels were great, journeys well planned with lots of excellent suggestions to see along the route.
Everything was perfect. The hotels, although all different, were lovely and the food in most was brilliant. Driving was not too tiring and the distances between hotels just about right. The mountain views, countryside and beaches were spectacular.
All hotels were really good and the food where offered, was excellent. The route was beautiful …. I can’t thank Casas Catabricas enough for everything and making our holiday so enjoyable.
It was a perfect mix of coast and mountains and the scenery was amazing. The Picos de Europa has scenery to rival the Rockies! We particularly liked the fact that we seemed to be the only English people there.
Our holiday was tailored to fit all our requests/requirements and the information provided to assist us before and during our trip was detailed, interesting and extremely useful.
It was highly enjoyable – culture and gastronomy across the regions memorable. Itinerary well planned, with lovely accommodation.
Useful and helpful mobile app of our itinerary, specific places and recommendations from Casas Cantabricas.
We had a fantastic 3 week trip … Stunning views of the Picos de Europe, attractive seaside villages and beautiful Cathedrals, monasteries and castles.
A wonderful variety of experiences – from dramatic coastlines and beautiful beaches, through the mountains and gorges in the Picos and on to historic cities and grand cathedrals. On many occasions following the various Camino routes and at all times enjoying the excellent food and wine of northern Spain.
The perfect 14 day tour
There is nothing, repeat nothing but excellence re this holiday. From our initial idea and phone conversation with CASAS Cantabricas to viewing the itinerary….to experiencing the tour, was a totally fantastic trip controlled by ourselves, which was important.
… all I can say is “what a holiday”!!!!
The driving distances were just right……the Hotels are little gems…..the restaurants are exceptional (sea food to die for)…..the wine (well what can one say)…..the hospitality is generous….the scenery beautiful……I’m now struggling to add anything else!!
