Touring Spain with your motorbike

Touring France on your motorbike

Book a ferry crossing to France or Spain

From the Brittany Ferries' arrival port of Santander in northern Spain your riding options are virtually unlimited. And in a country that is more than double the size of Britain but with a significantly lower population, there should be very little to get in your way.

An excellent network of road links allows you to head off quickly in whatever direction you fancy; not that you have to travel very far for your first taste of truly wonderful scenery.

Mountain magic

Just outside of Santander, to the west and spanning the regions of Cantabria and Asturias, is the spectacular Picos de Europa National Park with 300 square miles of amazing natural beauty. Dramatic rocky peaks rise up over 8,000 feet, while the vast areas of lush green surrounding countryside is home to all kinds of rare and endangered wildlife including the European brown bear.

The N621 highway

The N621 highway goes from Santander directly to the heart of the Picos, and almost all of the main subsidiary routes within the park branch off of this. Try to stop off at Fuente Dé where, for a short while you can enjoy an exhilarating ride of a very different kind in the cable car that will take you up nearly 3,000 feet. And if there's a camera somewhere in your panniers or bag, be sure to take it up with you. You'll kick yourself if you don't.

You may also like to stop a while at Oviedo, the capital city of Asturias. Quite apart from being a lively and interesting place, it is also the home town of F1 world champion Fernando Alonso.

Thirsty work

To the south the whole of Spain rapidly opens up before you, with wide-open horizons of unspoiled countryside offering mile after blissful mile of almost traffic free roads. A word of warning though... in many central parts especially there can be huge gaps between towns and cities, so do make sure that your tank is well topped up. Even more so if your machine is of the thirsty kind.

Finally, if you are planning to cross the Pyrénées and into France before your journey home, try the Somport, Bielsa, or El Formigal passes. They are all excellent choices, and which one of these you choose can be entirely down to convenience of route.

Some recommended Spanish roads

N320 – Cuenca to Almodóvar del Pinar in Castilla La Mancha: Not a beauty spot but a great smooth surface and very few junctions to catch you out. Part hilly and twisty, part straight and open. Some 100mph bends possible.

TE-901 – Teruel to Albarracin in Aragon: A great little road of two halves. Open and fast at first, then the hills and twists arrive. Frequently almost traffic free.

N330 – Huesca to Sabinanigo in Aragon: What you'd call a fun road with a high pass, good views and nice bends.

C250 – S Feliu de Guixols to Tossa del Mar: This road asks a lot but gives a lot back in terms of satisfaction. Full of sharp bends so constantly challenging.

N623 – Santander in Cantabria to Burgos in Castilla-León and then Madrid : A really good selection of tight hairpins, fast sweepers, some decent straights and a nice view as the road rises up from sea level to around 1000m. This route is ideal if you've just got off the ferry from Santander.

N621 – San Vicente de la Barquera in Cantabria to Riaño in Castilla-León : This road takes you through some wonderfully tight bends through the gorges of the Picos de Europa National Park. There are and many views as bends, of which there are plenty. As you begin to drop down back down again the road surface improves and is slightly wider, offering faster sweeping bends and a few good straights until you arrive at Riaño.

N625 – Riaño in Castilla-León to Cangas de Onis in Asturias : First section is realy nice with beautiful scenery, with some amazing bends to follow. Hidden bridges can take you by surprise, the road can veer suddenly as well.

Final tips

Most European countries require you to carry a full set of replacement bulbs. You can be fined for not being able to show these when asked to.