The Picos de Europa are a small maritime range of limestone peaks only 20km from the coast brimming with endemic plants and wildlife, perfect for walking all year round.
Your local hosts know the area like the proverbial back of their hand, allowing you to relax completely and enjoy the spectacular scenery.
Accommodation in the Picos de Europa
Your accommodation is an atmospheric village guesthouse with en-suite bedrooms and great food. Evening meals and packed lunches use local produce. The area is well-known within Spain for it’s delicious cheeses and chorizos. It is also possible to experience nights out in mountain huts.
Walking in the Picos de Europa
The walks during this Picos de Europa walking holiday range from gentle valley-based walks through ancient woodlands bordering wild flower meadows to scrambling in the high peaks in summer. It is also possible to combine walking with coastal pursuits such as surfing and kayaking. During the winter season, winter walking and snowshoeing allows you to access the snow-covered mountains with their wildlife tracks more common than human. Snowshoes and poles are included in the price.
Picos de Europa walking holiday itinerary
The itinerary of this walking holiday is completely flexible to take into account the wishes and abilities of your group as well as the current weather conditions. Walks could include using the cable car at Fuente De, rising 800m effortlessly into the alpine ecosystem of the central massif, or summiting the highest peaks in the main Cantabrian mountain chain of the Cordillera Cantabrica. Below are a few example walks that are possible during your week in the Picos de Europa:
Walk 1 – An easy day’s walking taking you from the typical local village of Cobena with its rustic roof tiles and chickens pecking the cobbled paths between the houses. Past the village you’ll traverse the hillside under Pena Ventosa (Windy Peak) through ancient holm oak woodlands with impressive views down the Hermida gorge. After a picnic lunch around flower and butterfly-rich meadows you’ll gently traverse down through the valley’s vegetable gardens and vineyards.
Walk 2 – Starting from the cable car which takes you in minutes up into the alpine environment of the central massif, you’ll head across a scree slope below Pena Olvidada and up to the summit of Pena Vieja, the highest mountain in Cantabria. The route takes you past abandoned mineral mineworkings and up through a gully. On a clear day the view from the top is truly spectacular with the blue seas of the Bay of Biscay seemingly within touching distance
Walk 3 – From the top of the San Glorio pass a circular walk takes you on a path carved between the conglomerate rock of the Cantabrian mountains through moorland reminiscent of the Cairngorms, although in the hidden valley of this wilderness a few bears and wolves still roam. Views from the top of the Boqueron de Bobias stretch over to the plains of Castile to the south and the highest peaks of this unspoilt mountain range all around you.
Walk 4 – A day’s snowshoeing in winter taking you through magical snow-laden forests within the treeline of the eastern massif to an abandoned miners’ village above it. This is a perfect spot for a picnic lunch where you can explore the troglodyte-type dwellings of it’s tough former inhabitants. With luck you’ll be able to make out fishing boats in the Cantabrian sea to the north with the backdrop of the valleys of Liebana below you.
Dates and Availability
Spring, summer and autumn – 8 days/7 nights – € 650.- per person
Winter walking – snowshoeing – 8 days/7 nights – € 750.- per person
Discount of 10% available for groups of 6 or more people. Please contact the holiday provider, through the contact form below, for more information.