Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre and Covalanas

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre

   Down in the Casco Viejo of Bilbao, where the old streets run in a tight grid beside the Nervión, the cathedral of Santiago stands at the heart of the Siete Calles, the seven original streets of the medieval town. It is a Gothic church, rebuilt after a fire in the sixteenth century, with a neo-Gothic façade and spire added later, and it sits so snugly among the tall houses that you often see it only when you are standing right in front of it.

   Read the complete Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre is where the day begins. Next is Santimamiñe.

2. 2. Santimamiñe

   In 1916, a group of boys exploring a hillside in the Basque Country found paintings deep inside a cave, and Santimamiñe became one of the most important prehistoric sites in the region. The cave, near Kortezubi in the Urdaibai valley, contains Magdalenian paintings of bison, horses, goats and deer, made around fourteen thousand years ago, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of cave art of northern Spain. To protect the paintings, the cave itself is closed to the public, but a visitor centre offers a virtual tour that recreates the interior in detail, with guides explaining the art and the people who made it.

   Read the complete Santimamiñe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Santimamiñe comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vizcaya Bridge.

3. 3. Vizcaya Bridge

   Few riders get the chance to cross a river hanging from a bridge, but at Portugalete you can. The Vizcaya Bridge, opened in 1893 across the mouth of the Nervión just downstream of Bilbao, is the oldest transporter bridge in the world: a tall iron structure from which a gondola, suspended on cables, glides from one bank to the other carrying cars, motorcycles, bikes and pedestrians in a couple of minutes. It was designed by the Basque architect Alberto de Palacio, often described as a disciple of Gustave Eiffel, to let tall ships pass beneath while still linking the two towns, and UNESCO listed it in 2006.

   Read the complete Vizcaya Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 88 km into the recorded legs you reach Vizcaya Bridge. Next is Covalanas.

4. 4. Covalanas

   Covalanas is known as the cave of the red deer. Its walls carry red ochre paintings of hinds, drawn in a distinctive dotted technique, and they are among the finest Palaeolithic paintings in the Cantabrian region. The cave sits on a steep, wooded hillside above Ramales de la Victoria, in eastern Cantabria, and it was one of the first painted caves to be recognised in Spain, in the early twentieth century. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain, and visits are limited to small groups, so booking ahead is advisable.

   Read the complete Covalanas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Covalanas, about halfway. Next is back through Vizcaya Bridge.

5. 5. back through Vizcaya Bridge

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Vizcaya Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Vizcaya Bridge sits at 167 km, about halfway. Next is back through Santimamiñe.

6. 6. back through Santimamiñe

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Santimamiñe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Santimamiñe comes up about 278 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre.

7. 7. Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre closes the day.