Road trip northern Spain: With camper and gravel bike from Bilbao to Asturias

Forsch pushes his head through the open passenger window, snorts cheekily and fishes with his soft horse lips for the sunglasses on the seat. Good try. But I'm quicker! Meanwhile, the horse buddy outside is nibbling on the handlebar plugs of the gravel bike on the back of the campervan's rear rack - actually safely connected. But who expects to be attacked by a herd of greedy, half-wild horses?

Bilbao behind us and the peace and quiet around us

We are standing in the van on a mountain ridge in the centre of a huge old iron mine, which has long since become a green natural paradise. Down in the valley, the sea of houses of the city of Bilbao spreads out. But up here it's quiet. I help myself to a round of carrots, which were actually intended for the salad, and lure the pushy visitors away from the camper. The horse family moves on and we get back to what we really want to do: relax. Cooking fresh Atlantic fish on the camping cooker. And enjoying a glass of Basque Txakoli white wine to round off a long, fantastic day of touring on the Basque cliffs around Bilbao.

A really good plan: our plan for the next two weeks is impressively simple. Take the campervan on a long tour through the green north of Spain. A few days by the sea, a few in the mountains. Fold out the folding roof whenever we feel like it. And explore the most beautiful spots between the Basque Country and Asturias by bike. Two days ago, when the first houses of Bilbao appeared in front of us after hours of driving on the Atlantic motorway, we wanted to move on first: the industrial look of the largest city in the Basque Country doesn't exactly invite you to stay. But that was deceptive.

You can find the complete travel report with all the information in MYBIKE 4/2022 or as a PDF download below the article.

The touring area in northern Spain

Cyclists will find a scenically exciting, sometimes physically challenging and fairly relaxed cycling area on the north Spanish coast. Bilbao is surrounded by striking mountains on a river estuary that reaches deep into the countryside. Traffic in the city centre is lively, but not life-threatening like in other southern European cities. In addition, more and more cycle paths (bidegorri) are being built in the city and surrounding areas, many of them on former mine tracks in the surrounding mountains. Bicycles can be taken on the metro free of charge. Most of the urban routes are flat, but in the surrounding countryside you have to pedal hard without an e-bike.

From our location directly on the Atlantic, you can cycle largely flat to Bilbao, 15 kilometres inland. In the other direction, there are lonely coastal roads with little to moderate traffic along the wild cliffs, which invite you to take long, but high-altitude laps.

In Asturias, the winding roads on the cliffs around our main base in Llanes are ideal for extended tours, some of which are completely off the beaten track on gravel. In the high mountains of the Picos de Europa, we travelled on asphalted secondary roads, but even on the main routes, the volume of traffic is bearable (except on public holidays). The considerate local car drivers are very noticeable throughout northern Spain: here, cyclists are respected in traffic in a way that is probably unique in Europe.

7 tour suggestions in Bilbao and Asturias

• Cliffs and sea geysers. Coastal tour from Llanes, 37 km, 800 metres in altitude
• Off to the Picos! Jitu de Escarandi from Bulnes, 45 km, 1,800 metres in altitude
• To the Lagos de Covadonga, 52 km, 1,700 metres in altitude
• Industry and culture. Guggenheim and Ría de Bilbao, 50 km, 500 metres in altitude
• Mountains, iron, sea, 61 km, 920 m elevation gain
• Coastal tour from Sopela, 51 km, 800 m elevation gain
• Fishing village and Zungenbruch monastery, 47 km, 900 m elevation gain

GPS data

You can download the GPX tracks for the tours in Bilbao and Asturias download here for free or find them in the MYBIKE Collection "From the Basque Country to Asturias" on komoot

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Downloads

GPS data Northern Spain (7 tour tips)
PDF Road trip Northern Spain: With camper and gravel bike from Bilbao to Asturias