Touring Northern Spain, Santander - Andorra - Roses via.N260

Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

Hi folks.

I've got an idea for a trip when i've got my DAS done and a nice big bike for later this year. I wanted to do it last year by car, but ended up driving to Nice and Monaco via. the Alps instead.

Plan is to ferry from Ports to Santander, and pick up the N260 after Pamplona, divert through Andorra on the way and stop in Roses for 2-3 days for some R&R - book an apart-hotel with a pool, then back. So round abouts 10-12 days all in

Just wondering if anyone's toured the area before and can recommend/advise things like decent camp sites, cheap motels etc. Always wanted to explore the Pyrenees as never been there before.

Heard good things about the N 260, but any other nice passes along the route, thinking panoramic views, switchbacks, the squigglier the better.

I'm intending to go around September time as it seemed a good time to go weather-wise and a less busy period (kids back at school)

c-m · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :

Did it in November.

From Santander I went West into and over the Picos via Leon.

There's nothing to see much in the western side of the country on my way to Salamanca (great student party town) and Seville.

If you are heading down south definitely take the A-375 and A-374 to Ronda then enjoy the excellent A-397 down to the coast.

Head up to Granda and ride the Sierra Nevada the highest road in Europe.

After that there isn't much to see again. I went via Mercia to Valencia. Valencia was great.

Then via Zaragoza to Bilbao. The Aragon region was horrible. Mainly open desert, and windier than the weather we've recently experienced in the UK.

The Basque country was nice though once we got there.

Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

Blimey that must have been a trek... how many miles altogether?

c-m · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :

Around 3,000

I was with pillion a F650 Dakar.

Had about two weeks to tour.

The timing wasn't great. We left the 2nd week of November. I remember sitting there at work in the week before checking the weather and seeing that it was 22-26c pretty much everywhere I wanted to go (bar Salamanca), then the week we went temperature plummeted.

-4 in Salamanca (at night), -6 in Zaragoza (when we were leaving). It was in the 20s in Seville, but even that didn't feel warm, and around 19c in Valencia.

Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

Tough balance to get weather right I guess. I imagine 3000 miles was proper knackering on a bike! I did 2000 miles in my Mazda round France last year and that was a bit tough.

I'm into my mountains, driven/ski'd the Alps plenty of times and was always curious about the Spanish mountains, heard they're nice but a bit less dramatic than Alps?

Edit: ON topic... what kinda price would we be looking at for going from Ports or Poole - Santander? two bikes, two adults. Ferry websites aren't too helpful as far as I can see.

Bofh5 · World Chat Champion Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Karma :

i'm planning on getting that cheaper ferry from poole to gijon and riding some of the twisty mountain roads.
Can see from google maps there are several national parks to explore.

whats it like for cheap hotels ?

Planning on going april / may time.

Ta
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Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

garth · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Karma :

I'm going Le Havre - Catalunya - Bilbao via the hilly bits in June, can't wait.

Except I'm going by C90 so it might take a while. Laughing

F1's in france, no idea what I'm doing for Spain. Got an apartment in La Garriga for three nights when the GP is on, 225E for three, not too bad. Thumbs Up

Bofh5 · World Chat Champion Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Karma :

Sorry it was to santander Embarassed

I've pm'd the person who said about it in another thread.
Will let you know when they reply.

I'm in maintenance mode at the moment making sure the old girls up the task.
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P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

Did pretty much that route with 2 wangs on here.

If you go through the Pyrenees and end up in France... Shifty

https://www.camping-narbaitz.com/ is pretty nice, the guy speaks english and its real quiet, has swimming pool for those that care Mr. Green

EDIT : Camping/hotels etc...

In Sabiñánigo, Huesca there is one called Hotel Mi Casa, pretty good actually for the 3 of us, was about 20 euros each sharing a 3 person room.

Obviously Narbaitz, can't remember price, was about 15 euros each, camping, not sure about the bungalow things.

I would advise ignoring Asolaze, total fucking rip off Laughing

I say that, might just be customary to do that but they say its 5 euros to camp, then 5 euros per tent, then 5 euros per vehicle. I'd avoid as it wasn't that great, not any good floor camping wise.

If you go to Andorra and stay somewhere, avoid Hotel Barcelona unless you enjoy the smell of dog poo and a guy that says "I speak a little English"... which is the only english he speaks. Laughing

If you head back to Santander a day early, Camping Cabo Mayor is fairly decent, spent 3 days there Thumbs Up

Erm... if you end up in Bujaraloz, Bar Buffet Espanol is also pretty good, decent food and think again around 60 euros for 3.

Twisty roads - https://goo.gl/maps/5zAFr

Good run to Andorra that Thumbs Up

Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

Holy shit paddy, some epic photos! May I ask how much you paid for ferry prices and where you went from? can't seem to find anything half-reasonable

P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

So £300 is about as cheap as it gets... Suppose you weight it up against having to travel through dreary North France + fuel and overnight stays it kinda makes sense... Tis a large wad of wonga though!

P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

It is, the entire trip for me was circa £1000.

I could have done it cheaper, but I couldn't be bothered Laughing

I rode like a girl to Plymouth, was getting ~200 miles to a tank on an R1, that is granny riding. In Spain however, massive sweeping corners and long straights (talking 2 miles long...) its hard not to go fast Laughing

I did hit the limit on the R1, fully loaded up with soft panniers and top box, tshirt and converse, 307kmh indicated. Laughing

Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

https://goo.gl/maps/n16ex

This is the route I had planned, I guess Paddy, you went more north of this route to Vielha towards Andorra.

£1000 sounds about right, Paid about twice that last year driving thru France.

nerald · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 25 Oct 2012 Karma :

I have booked Plymouth - Santander returning Dunkirk - Folkstone with 14 days in between. Intending to ride the Pyrenees over to the Alps and up. If time allows try and fit in the Grossglockner and others.
So I will be keeping an eye on this thread for ideas.
1st ferry was £230 with a cabin and return leg £13.60.
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Ammoman · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 04 Nov 2012 Karma :

I have booked Plymouth/Santander Return a week later Roscoff/Plymouth End of July cost of Ferry 2 bikes and Cabin £735 Sad

Lucky for me I live in Plymouth Smile

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Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

Hmm. Debating wether $300 is worth it for Spain vs. 2 days to get to the interesting part of Europe via France

John933 · Crazy Courier Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Karma :

J.M. · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Karma :

Monkeypony · World Chat Champion Joined: 21 Sep 2011 Karma :

It y be a bit out of your way, but if you head south from Santander toward a crap hole of a town called Miranda De Ebro, There are some breath taking mountain passes and a little gem of a road called the BU-530 which run through a gorge next to a river.

In 2000+ miles of riding, this was the most spectacular little section we did! Going from sunshine to pitch black as you enter the unlit tunnels carved through the rock is a bit unnerving at first though!

https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm52/monkeypony/606_zpscf5b0ae4.jpg

https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm52/monkeypony/IMGP1455_zpsc1606d66.jpg
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P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

Edited J.M's link to show the route n shit.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Santander,+Cantabria,+Spain&daddr=San+Sebasti%C3%A1n,+Gipuzkoa,+Spain+to:43.2187573,-1.9045066+to:43.0847678,-1.807921+to:43.1324896,-1.6679873+to:43.1405199,-1.574114+to:43.180285,-1.445391+to:43.1735172,-1.3480611+to:43.174777,-1.34783+to:Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port,+France+to:43.0494771,-1.1060482+to:42.9030949,-0.9607452+to:Sabi%C3%B1%C3%A1nigo,+Huesca,+Spain+to:42.4710372,0.5976034+to:42.676087,0.958868+to:Andorra+to:41.4980551,-0.1458736+to:41.5051364,-0.3890093+to:41.5309016,-0.5640151+to:Santander,+Cantabria,+Spain&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.633959,-0.933838&spn=3.353986,7.822266&sll=41.517575,-0.486488&sspn=0.106681,0.244446&geocode=FaIulwIdRN3F_ylx7muKrklJDTGWuoIWgNx80g%3BFT78lAId0cTh_ykV_mg7_q9RDTFJRoaUWcU-5A%3BFUV3kwIdhvDi_ylpLqX_9KtRDTG5dSJ-WDFEDw%3BFd9rkQIdz2nk_ynbL6rdSv9QDTH_otWA30IGnw%3BFUkmkgIdbYzm_yl_GJe30eJQDTHYSQl7MkCq5Q%3BFadFkgIdHvvn_ymXixhnlOFQDTEpMlUoZWxwFA%3BFf3gkgId8fHp_ym9lrB8tCBRDTEYVze6sAky5A%3BFY3GkgIdI27r_ymL7aZ_IihRDTGv8Khnu92PeA%3BFXnLkgIdCm_r_ynHkYFeGChRDTGFrjlve16y3Q%3BFQWekgIdohvt_ymf1LVsYdVQDTHH4ZFKxjzUJw%3BFQXikAIdgB_v_yk9FOTcXy5XDTGVUcA78lKe-w%3BFTamjgIdF1fx_ylzEnsv3T5XDTFS3dqsa3soog%3BFW_LiAIdHXP6_ylNr-XNgh9YDTEQo84IZYwBBA%3BFX0OiAIdYx4JACmRKssCVtOnEjEVQPdsw3Q_Ww%3BFXcviwIdlKEOACkd0k0OFKOoEjHWTNrqNfRMSw%3BFS2YiAIdiTgXACmV8J6YLvWlEjGSf-p41z7JBw%3BFcc1eQIdL8b9_ylzRE99yaRYDTGQK1cIEhQl6A%3BFXBReQIdbxD6_ylrShFeH8RYDTFVxoJmH0_gXw%3BFRW2eQId0WT3_ymBeikY2N5YDTEnSWQprE_sGA%3BFaIulwIdRN3F_ylx7muKrklJDTGWuoIWgNx80g&mra=dpe&mrsp=18&sz=12&via=2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,13,14,16,17,18&t=m&z=7

Excessive link is excessive. Pack a bog roll, you may need a poo in the morning in a random farmers field.

TheDonUK · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Karma :

Me on my GSXR 750 K4 and a mate on his CBR 600 (98) are taking the boat from Portsmouth this coming Tuesday to Santander, plan to ride the Pyrenees's from Pamplona via the N260 Jaca, Biescas, Campo, Sort and do the la molina pass to ripoll, might cut back for Andorra and see if there is indeed any cheap bike gear or just head on to maybe Barcalona.

And then onwards to Bodrum in Turkey via the Adriatic coast - Croatia/Montenegro/Albania/Greece/Turkey. Spend some time in Turkey and then back via the Autobahns (which i have never ridden on a fast bike), do the nurburgring and maybe spend a few nights in Amsterdam.

Fingers crossed for the weather, not the best time of year to be doing this tbh, but needs must.... Thumbs Up

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Robster · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Karma :

P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

Mate, that is going to be wet and cold Shocked

Going in July was very warm, I'd probably aim for 4 weeks earlier to get the last of the average warm weather. Laughing

Superb though, absolutely superb.