Why this ride
A 406 km round trip from Bilbao - roughly 6 h 33 in the saddle. On the way it passes Santimamiñe, Vizcaya Bridge, Covalanas and La Garma. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre and La Garma
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 406 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 33
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Basque Coast Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 40 km this is Basque Coast Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 40 km
- Named road
- Basque Coast Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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. 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 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vizcaya Bridge.
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 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Vizcaya Bridge. Next is Covalanas.
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 La Garma.
5. La Garma
La Garma is a low limestone hill a few kilometres inland from the Bay of Santander, green with meadows and oak scrub, the sort of rounded Cantabrian hump you might ride past without a second glance. Inside it lies one of the most important prehistoric caves in Europe. Found by chance in the 1990s, the cave of La Garma contains not just paintings but preserved living floors from the Palaeolithic: hearths, bones, tools and the outlines of shelters left exactly as they were when a rockfall sealed the entrance thousands of years ago. It forms part of the UNESCO site of the Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain.
Read the complete La Garma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Garma sits at 161 km, about halfway. Next is back through Covalanas.
6. back through Covalanas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Covalanas comes up about 248 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Vizcaya Bridge.
7. 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
about 319 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Vizcaya Bridge. Next is back through Santimamiñe.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre.
9. 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
The route ends here after 406 km.
Leg by leg
Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre to Santimamiñe
Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre → Santimamiñe is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Santimamiñe to Vizcaya Bridge
Santimamiñe → Vizcaya Bridge is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vizcaya Bridge to Covalanas
Vizcaya Bridge → Covalanas is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covalanas to La Garma
Covalanas → La Garma is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Garma to back through Covalanas
La Garma → back through Covalanas is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Covalanas to back through Vizcaya Bridge
back through Covalanas → back through Vizcaya Bridge is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vizcaya Bridge to back through Santimamiñe
back through Vizcaya Bridge → back through Santimamiñe is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Santimamiñe to Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre
back through Santimamiñe → Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- La Garma and Ekain · 478 km
- Covalanas and Santimamiñe · 246 km
- Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion and Santimamiñe · 148 km