Picos de Europa, Potes Spain
September 27, 2023 - by Muriel Dassen
Picos de Europa is one of the most beautiful mountain regions of Spain, and maybe even Europa. It is the largest national park in Europe, covering 3 official Spanish regions: Asturia, Cantabria and Castilla y Léon. The name comes from the seafarers returning home as the tops of the mountains were the first sight of their homeland. There are sleepy villages in the green valleys, orchards and authentic farms on the slopes and the tops of the mountains are steep and rugged. It is a wonderful destination and very loved amongst bikers because of the good and windy roads!
Of course you can download the GPX / ITN files and full e-books of the 2 rides we have in this tour via our roadtrip planner but you can already find the info in this blogpost.
At the foot of this impressive mountain range Picos de Europa lies the picturesque mountain village of Potes. Narrow streets and alleys meander through the village and along the riverfront. You can walk along stone walls and over beautiful old bridges, as 2 main rivers cross Potes: the Rio Deva and the Rio Quiviesa. Potes is a good base for a visit to Picos de Europa and you will see a lot of bikers here!
In the heart of potes at the confluence of the two rivers, the river Deva and Quiviesa, you can find this Torre del Infantado. It dates back to the fifteenth century and is an old defence tower of the village and belonged to the Duke and Duchess of Infantado. It has also been used as a prison and later as a Town Hall. Nowadays it permanently houses the exhibition “Beatus of Liébana and his Beatos” on the monk, theologian and geographer from the former Duchy of Cantabria and Kingdom of Asturias, who worked and lived in the Picos de Europa mountains of the region of Liébana. He is best remembered today as the author of the Commentary on the Apocalypse. But if it is open it is already worth a visit because you will be able to get a magnificent view from the crenellated view point towards the town of Potes, the site of the monastery of Santo Toribio and the backdrop of the Picos de Europa.
And just around the corner from the Torre you will find 2 San Vicente churches. The new one is from the 20th century and is currently in use, while the old one, from the 14th century, is the current tourist office.
And do take some time to just wonder through the narrow street of the old centre, like the Calle Cantabra, where you will find shops, bars and restaurants. There are a lot of facilities, making Potes a very nice central point for the Picos de Europa tour!
With a ride of 25 km/15 mile out of Potes over this magnificent – dead end – road, you can get to Fuente Dé to take the Teleférico, this super-fast cable, taking you up to 1,823 metres 5981 ft……apparently in just four minutes. You can do different hiking routes into the mountains and you can even walk back to Fuente Dé, but also from here you get a magnificent view of the mountains of the Picos de Europa. We already went up the first time we were here and can confirm the views are spectacular! The cable car can take twenty people at a time and the waiting time can be quite long, so early departure is recommended or if you really want to, you can get your ticket in advance. Although only in Spanish, more info to be found here.
We are so sure that you will enjoy Potes and the Picos de Europe tour. It is a true bikers paradise. And for the nights or even a day you don’t want to do a lot of miles, there is enough to do and there are enough facilities in Potes.
Recommended hotels:
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.1
With free private on site - not covered - parking, but also a garage
With bar and restaurant
With swimming pool
20 minute walk in to city centre Potes
Rating on Booking.com: Fabulous 8.8
With free private on site – not covered - parking
With bar
In city centre Potes
Rating on Booking.com: Fabulous 8.6
With free on site private – some covered - parking
With bar and restaurant
23 km / 15 miles from city centre Potes in Fuente Dé
At the foot of the Teleférico
Rating on booking.co: Superb 9.0
With free - not covered - parking, very secluded
With bar and restaurant
11 km / 7 miles from city centre Potes in Cahecho
Rating on Booking.com: Exceptional 9.9
With free on site - not covered - parking
Apartment with 2 bedrooms and fully equipped kitchen
8 km / 5 miles outside of city centre Potes in Cebeña
Ride 1
Ride 1 of our Quazy Rides Picos de Europa tour is probably the most standard and well known route here, also called the Picos triangle. But hey, if it is good, it is good enough for a Quazy Ride! The Picos triangle promises to be a ride of 200 km / 125 miles filled with winding roads through steep gorges and over mountains and a lot of fun!
Wow, what a start of this ride. And this is our first Mirador of this day: the Mirador del Corzo - Port of San Glorio to soak up this beautiful view. It is one of the highest mountain passes in the Cantabrian Mountains, just next to the Picos de Europa National Park with great scenic beauty. This Corzo viewpoint is decorated with a metal figure of a deer by the Cantabrian sculptor Jesús Otero…..a Corzo in Spanish.
Although the roads are all but boring, we do think it is time for coffee and we found this little bar with terrace in Boca de Huérgano. It is a small village with only 444 inhabitants, but 1 bar is good enough for us!
Words almost fail us, what a magnificent ride and place! We just had to stop at this Mirador de Oseja de Sajambre. The views from the road were already impressive, but it is definitely worth walking the small path down and taking this short walk to this view!
Rides like these sure give us an appetite, so time for lunch. We have added this restaurant Mesón Puente Romano in Cangas de Onis to your GPX file: it has a nice terrace and as its just outside the centre you will be able to park your bike close. If you want to explore Cangas more, we also added an official parking to your GPX / ITN file. We took had a quick picnic at the Rio Sella as we do want to suggest a little detour to this ride, which will make it almost 40 kilometres / 25 miles longer.
But we think that the detour from Cangas to this Mirador del Fitu is definitely worth it. The almost 360 degrees view on the ocean and peaks of the Picos de Europa truly is breathtaking! And we don’t mind taking the same way back to Cangas to follow our ride back to Potes again.
Although it might be a bit quick after a stop in Cangis we did add this real biker bar to your GPX / ITN file to have a last drink during your ride. Especially nice when it's hot or maybe wet and cold. But definitely a place to pay a quick visit!
We are ending the ride with one of the highlights in the Picos de Europa triangle: the desfiladero de la Hermida. It's a beautiful gorge that you have to ride through when you want to get to Potes from the North. But it's definitely a nice way to end this perfect motorcycle ride!
Ride 2
The Picos de Europa are a true bikers paradise, even if you're not really riding IN the natural parc as you will get amazing views on those peaks. In this ride 2 we are going South of Potes into the Parque Natural Montana Palentina that is just South East of the real Picos de Europa. But don't worry, also the surrounding areas are
a real biker paradise. The ride is 210 km / 134 miles.
Our first stop of this ride is at the Mirador the Piedrasluengas, located on the pass of the same name. The pass connects the Cantabrian town of Potes with Cervera de Pisuerga in Palencia, where we have added a stop if you fancy a coffee. Located in the heart of the Cantabrian Mountains the pass rises to more than 1,300 metres / 4250 ft and the views from the viewpoint are spectacular.
As we thought it might be time for a coffee, we added this parking to your GPX file in Cervera Pisuerga and we are sure that on - your way to - the Plaza Mayor you
will find a nice bar or terrace for a coffee. Cervera de Pisuerga apparently is one of the 3 most densely populated towns in the Montaña Palentina region. But despite this fame, the town has retained its rural charm. It is one of those peaceful towns where time seems to stand still and thus perfect for our first stop.
We can never get enough of nice views as this gives us the opportunity to really soak in the scenery of the areas we are riding in. So we have another stop at a Mirador: the Mirador Alba de Los Cardaños. You will get a nice view on the village of Alba de los Cardaños located next to the Embalse de Camporredondo, this water reservoir. The dam that we will pass later retains the water of the river Carrión since the 1930's. And this right in the middle of these spectacular mountain landscapes.
As we thought it was time for some lunch, we have La Taberna del Oso to your GPX / ITN file for lunch or you can go to the collage of Velilla del Rió Carrión which we will pass after this stop.
As it can get hot here in summer, we thought it was good to add another stop at this bar in the little village of Boca de Huérgano, but you can also bring some drinks yourself and just stop at one of the views that you have during this ride! But this little bar is in you GPX file if you want. Friendly people and a parking just next to it. From Boca de Huérgano we still have the famous N621 to go back to Potes for some 40 km / 25 miles to enjoy!
Go on your own QUAZY RIDE
You can download the GPX / ITN files of the rides and the full e-books via our roadtrip planner and then we hope you will enjoy the rides you will be doing in this Quazy Rides Picos de Europa tour and your stay in Potes.
If you are posting on social media, don't forget to tag Quazy Rides or use the #QuazyRides, because we LOVE to see you having fun with our rides.
