Picos de Europa, Northern Spain

Excellent walking in stunning scenery

Walking in Asturias and Cantabria in northern Spain is excellent. Whether it be the open moorland or the high plateau of the Picos de Europa that contain easy tracks over pastures or cracked rock surrounded by towering peaks and spires, new vistas open up repeatedly as you turn corners, cross ridges or rivers or emerge from ancient woods. The Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe) are an offshoot of the Cantabrian mountain range: an area of jagged limestone peaks (said to be the largest single mass, over 2,000m thick in places, of limestone mountains in Europe) 20km inland from Spain's northern coast. It is thought that the name originates from the fact that they would be the first sight of landfall for travellers crossing the Bay of Biscay from America: Cantabria's capital, Santander, was the primary arrival port for the Americas for many years. This protected, densely forested mountain range area is rich in wildlife including deer, wolves & bears. We visited the area in the first week of May, 2016 and it was very quiet with few tourists. Many of the restaurants in Panes were closed in the evening and those that did open only had a few diners.