Trekking in Spain - Picos de Europa

Our trip begins in the Arrivals Hall at Bilbao Airport (BIO) at 12pm. If you would like an airport transfer today, the latest time your flight can arrive is 11:30am. We will travel together as a group to our hotel in Sotres, a three hour drive away. Sotres is the highest village in the Picos, situated between the central and eastern massifs and within the designated Biosphere Reserve. It is an ideal base for exploring the spectacular mountain landscape. Our comfortable base for the week is the family ran Casa Cipriano hotel, located in the heart of the Picos de Europa mountain range. The rooms are simple yet cosy and feature tiled floors, wooden furniture and an en suite bathroom. The hotel features a bar as well as a restaurant serving home cooked food, which we'll enjoy tonight.

We start our day with a short transfer to Jito de escarandi (1250 meters/4101 feet) and start our first walk up to Caseton de Andara Refuge at 1725 meters/5660 height. Enjoy magnificent views of the sea and the San Vicente beach before continuing to Collado Tramacondiu (1850 meters/6070 feet) and walk around the Macondiu Peak to get to Valdediezma forest. From there, we return to our starting point and return to Sotres for the night. Today's 18 kilometre/11.20 miles walk is expected to take around 6 hours with approximately 700 metres/2297 feet of ascent and 680 metres/2231 feet of descent.

This morning we drive the short distance down to the collection of red-roofed buildings known as Invernales de Cabao and cross the river. Then, ascending along a series of switch-backs, we gain height quickly to reach a viewpoint looking back towards Sotres. The track levels out now, ascending more gradually onto a plateau. Here stands the tiny hamlet of Pandebano, where, in AD718, a battle took place between the Visigothic Christians and the remnants of a somewhat depleted Moorish army. Leaving our vehicle, we walk up to a 'saddle', where the huge monolith of the Naranjo de Bulnes (Pico Urriellu 2,519m/8265 feet) comes into view. Rearing straight up from the surrounding rockscape, this rust-coloured mountain is the famous iconic image of the Picos. We walk up to the base where there is a refuge and the chance to see climbers attempting to scale the improbable sheer face. Today's 16 kilometre/9.90 miles walk is expected to take around 6.30 hours with 800 metres/2625 feet of ascent and descent.

We start this morning with a short drive to Jito de Escarandi from where we start our walk at 1,395m/4,577ft. We follow an old shepherds' paths down through the Valdediezma beech forest and pastures to Sobra Valley and up to Treviso where we will stop for a lunch break en route. After lunch we will continue down the Balcon de Pilatos to Urdon where we will meet our bus to take us on to Potes where we stay for the night. The medieval town of Potes centres around the river with stone bridges, cobbled streets and historical buildings. Today's 10 kilometre/6.20 miles walk is expected to take around 5 hours with 1,150 metres/3,773 feet of descent.

Today we drive to Fuente Dé making a visit to the Santo Toribio de Liebana Monastery on the way. We take the cable car up 1,000 metres/3,281 feet to the rugged high plateaux of the Picos to be greeted with panoramic views of the national park. We walk through alpine meadows down the Aliva glacial valley to Sotres, stopping for a picnic lunch and to see the abandoned Las Manforas mines. Today's 18 kilometre/11.20 miles walk is expected to take around 5 hours with 100 metres/328 feet of ascent and 1,000 metres/3281 feet of descent.

Today we drive down through Alpine scenery to Puente Poncebos at 218 metres/715 feet. Here the medieval pack horse bridge spans the Cares river. This marks the starting point for the walk through the dramatic gorge of the Garganta del Cares - a cleft over 1000 m/3281 ft deep and some 12 km/7.50 miles long. The path literally cuts into the cliffs in places; only with the aid of tunnels and bridges is it possible to traverse its entire length. This is one of the highlights of any visit to northern Spain and is a 6 hour round trip on foot, although walkers can turn back at any point and return to Poncebos where there are places to eat and drink if you wish before we return by vehicle to Sotres for a well-earned rest. Today's 24 kilometre/14.90 miles walk is expected to take around 6 hours with with 300 metres/984 feet of ascent and descent.

From Sotres we going up to La Caballar by bus. We then start to walk at 1100 metres/3609 feet and walk down to Camba Forest and get to a big group of old huts of Tobaos and Valfrio with a wonderfull views of the central massif. Walk down to Tielve to test the famous cabrales blue cheese. The Cabrales Cheese de Tielve is one of the tastiest in the area, with centuries of tradition and a good number of national and international awards. The ranchers continue to go up to the sheepfolds in the summer and getting up early for the first milking of the animals, in the vicinity of the houses the cows and sheep graze; roosters and hens scamper in the corrals and goats roam on the nearby cliffs. After lunch, we walk back to Sotres by the old traditional path of Sotres. Todays 10 kilometre/6.20 miles walk is expected to take around 4.30 hours with with 350 metres/1148 feet of ascent and 400 metres/1312 feet of descent.

Departing the mountains this morning, we drive to Bilbao Airport (BIO) where we will arrive at about 11.30am and this is where the holiday ends. The earliest time you should book a flight to depart today is 1.30pm.