Great driving roads in Northern Spain

[Tomsk]

I've just booked to take the Exige a week in Northern Spain in October. Taking the ferry down to Santander and then planning to drive around the San Sebastian, Rioja and Galicia regoions.

Any recommendations for good fun driving roads in this region?

Also, has anyone taken an Exige on the Portsmouth - Santander ferry before, and if so, was ground clearance an issue?

[Royal]

I took my Elise there some years ago via Santander. Absolutely no problem with it, but you might want to ask the official to assist boarding if necessary. The ramp was pretty flat when I boarded.

Please drive the roads around Picos National Park. Stunning! I was out all day on them. Enjoy.

[Cdm2018]

I went about 15 years ago in my Subaru Sti and I hadn’t told the tracker company so if you have one courtesy to let them know it’s going out country 

no issues with clearance with the ramps onto and off the ship just can be a rough crossing in October ?

i drove from Santander to Lourdes lovely drive through Pyrenees and I had travelled around Basque area before , best beaches and food in Spain in my opinion? 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

We did a family road trip (E-Type, Elan DHC and Renault 5 Turbo 2) a few years ago from Santander to a base at Llanes, where we watched a rally. We then carried on up and over the Picos to Leon. It was June and it snowed! We finished with the dead end road to Fuente De cable car. Got some old 35mm photos somewhere, if you’re interested.

[Spinney]

Agree about the roads around the Picos. Billiard table smooth tarmac and lovely winding roads through magnificent scenery. What’s not to like? 

We were in my old Elise SC and went down via the  Portsmouth-Santander ferry with absolutely no problems getting on or off. 
Just typing this makes me want to do it again!

[electro_boy]

I did a very similar trip last year with some mates and their other fast cars. We all had an incredible time.  The roads where smooth and twisty and sooooo much fun.  The views were gorgeous.  The food and the wine was delicious!   I think our favourite day was in the Picos so another recommendation from me.  

Also the locals appear to love Lotus’s too! My little Evora NA got the most attention by a long way, that was in company with an M2, Boxster, AMG GT-R and Macca 540.

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by electro_boy

[Spinney]

Our little orange Elise was so popular with the locals, it was an unwitting cause of a rear ender accident.

I was waiting to turn left out of a T junction and there was a stream of cars from the right. The occupants of one particular car were so intent on waving and smiling at us, the driver hadn’t noticed the car in front of him had stopped!🙈

I could see all this unfolding in front of us and they must momentarily have wondered why I was looking so horrified at them being so pleased to see the car. They found out why soon enough!

So be warned chaps, a brightly coloured Lotus might cause accidents in the Picos, even when it’s not moving. 😳😃

[Tomsk]

Thanks all for the responses and recommendations.  I'm looking forward to going even more now! 

As for the weather, I think it's pot luck at that time of the year.  I was in A Coruña for work in October a couple of years ago, and it was 25º and sunny every day with the see like a millpond,  so fingers crossed...

My car is Orange too, so I'll try my best not to cause any accidents! 😲

[Arregueti]

Hi Tom,

I happen to be from A Coruña myself and my mom´s family is from the Basque Country, so I hope I can provide some help. I don´t live in the area for some years now, but I go back to Galicia every summer (I may have a slight bias...as you may see by the end of the post).

I am not sure if you know the area to a certain extent. You do want to cover a lot of ground in one week. Picos is indeed a highlight of the area, but IMO there are nice spots and roads in all the areas proposed with a mix of coastal, mountain roads and good food all the way.

Starting from the East:

From San Sebastián towards Bilbao (on the West), just leaving San Sebastián (Donostia in basque) there is a very nice coastal road (N-634) which allows you to visit some very nice towns such as Zarautz (a town reknown for surfing on its large beach), Getaria (a small fisherman´s town reknown for its food) and Zumaia, the latter having some specially beautiful flysch (Zumaia´s flysch) and cliffs, also appearing on Game of Thrones.

If you prefer to take the highway on the way back, AP-8 is a relatively challenging and nice stretch of highway (if a bit expensive...) with more bends than you would expect on an autobahn or highway given the profile of the area. A fun highway in my book.

Another highlight is further west, in Vizcaya. Apart from a number of coastal towns with some charm, you may want to visit the beach of Laida, around Mundaka (another very famous spot among surfers, due to its left wave). Not far from there you will find San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (also of Games of Thrones´ fame).

On the whole area you should find a mix of wide national roads for the main axes and narrower bendy roads on the coastal areas. The quality of the roads has generally increased over the last years, yet you can still find broken surfaces and narrower pavements in some areas.

From Bilbao towards Santander you can decide to stay on the highway/coastal roads (there are some very nice villages like Santillana del Mar with prehistoric paintings in the Altamira cave, Comillas or San Vicente de la Barquera), though I do not think your focus will be on sightseeing... or go towards the inside where the hills start.

The village of Panes tends to be the start of bendy roads around Picos de Europa, when coming from the North. From there to Potes (on the South) you go through the Desfiladero de la Hermida. It is a nice bendy road between the canyon formed by the river, but you should check for roadworks before, as the road is being widened and repaved (it was two years ago when I was there for the last time) and it can turn into a very slow and frustrating experience.

Once in Potes you can indeed go to Fuente Dé (west from Potes), where a cable car is available. A walk on top is a very nice experience but you may need to extend it a bit to separate yourself from the crowds and get some proper views.

From Panes you can also drive west and towards Bulnes, for a nice bendy stretch of road. Hiking in the area is also worth it. Walking through "Garganta del Cares" and the visit to the town of Bulnes (there is no road so you need to either take a funicular railway from Poncebos or walk - I like to take the funicular up and walk down for the nice views) are well worth it. In the peak season the whole area used to get very busy but no one can tell how it will be this year. As from September it should be less busy anyway.

If it is just driving in the area you are after, I guess the best you can do is to just choose accommodation somewhere in either Panes or Potes and explore from there.

To the west of Picos you have the area of Lagos de Covadonga (which you will be familiar with if you like cycling) which is also very nice and, further to the west, there is another national Park called Somiedo, which is less known but also nice, if less spectacular.

Asturias is generally well preserved and nice all over with the added advantage of being able to be in the mountains in the morning and on the beach in the afternoon. The area around Llanes is currently held in high esteem by Spaniards with some very nice beaches in the area.

Moving west towards Galicia, I reckon I am not objective, but there are some areas I think you should visit. More specifically, what we call Costa Ártabra and Costa da Morte.

Ribadeo is the first town in Galicia and it has one of the most famous beaches in Spain now. Praia das Catedrais is very crowded these days but worth visiting if the tides match your expected timing in the area (you need to visit with a low tide). You may need to book in advance, given how popular it has become but you normally get a "pass" if you sleep in one of the hotels in the area.

From there to the west there are some nice towns, but I would really recommend you to drive around the towns of Cedeira (you should eat monkfish in restaurante Badulaque), Ortigueira and the capes of "Estaca de Bares" and Ortegal.

If time allows you could visit San Andrés de Teixido, which is some sort of spiritual "mecca" for Galician people (more pagan than religious, generally speaking), and is surrounded by some of the highest cliffs in continental Europe.

In the unlikely case that you still have time to spare, you could head south, getting passed A Coruña, towards Costa da Morte, where you could visit, among others, cabo Vilán and the "Cementerio de los ingleses" cemetery of the English crew of what appears to be at least three British ships (HMS Serpent being the most notable).

I am probably getting carried away by now. The roads on this area are probably too slow for your Exige but it makes for some amazing landscape in a very abrupt and rough area where heavy storms and high seas during winters account for a large number of ship wrecks even these days.

I hope this helps. Do feel free to contact me if you think I could be of further help when organizing your trip.

 

 

[Tomsk]

Thanks Jorge, that's exactly the kind of local knowledge I was hoping for