Why this ride
A 422 km round trip from San Vicente de la Barquera - roughly 6 h 34 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hornos de la Peña, La Garma, Covalanas and Vizcaya Bridge. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chemin de la Liébana and Vizcaya Bridge
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 422 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 34
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Chemin de la Liébana
San Vicente de la Barquera is where the Camino Lebaniego begins, the old pilgrim route that leaves the Cantabrian coast and climbs south into the mountains of Liébana to the monastery of Santo Toribio. The town sits on a pair of estuaries, with a long medieval bridge carrying the road across the water, a castle and the Gothic church of Santa María above the harbour, and on clear days the snowy peaks of the Picos de Europa rising behind the marshes like a stage set.
Read the complete Chemin de la Liébana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chemin de la Liébana is where the day begins. Next is Hornos de la Peña.
2. Hornos de la Peña
Above the village of San Felices de Buelna, on a limestone hillside in the Besaya valley of Cantabria, a cave called Hornos de la Peña holds engravings made by Palaeolithic hunters. The most famous is the outline of a horse, scratched into the rock thousands of years ago, along with other animals and signs that take time and a good guide to pick out. The cave is one of the seventeen in northern Spain listed by UNESCO alongside Altamira, and visits are limited and guided, so check ahead rather than simply turning up.
Read the complete Hornos de la Peña write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hornos de la Peña comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is La Garma.
3. 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
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach La Garma. 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 Vizcaya Bridge.
5. 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
Vizcaya Bridge sits at 175 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 282 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through La Garma.
7. back through La Garma
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
about 326 km into the recorded legs you reach back through La Garma. Next is back through Hornos de la Peña.
8. back through Hornos de la Peña
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hornos de la Peña write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hornos de la Peña, late in the day. Next is Chemin de la Liébana.
9. Chemin de la Liébana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chemin de la Liébana 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 422 km.
Leg by leg
Chemin de la Liébana to Hornos de la Peña
Chemin de la Liébana → Hornos de la Peña is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hornos de la Peña to La Garma
Hornos de la Peña → La Garma is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Garma to Covalanas
La Garma → Covalanas is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covalanas to Vizcaya Bridge
Covalanas → Vizcaya Bridge is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vizcaya Bridge to back through Covalanas
Vizcaya Bridge → back through Covalanas is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Covalanas to back through La Garma
back through Covalanas → back through La Garma is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Garma to back through Hornos de la Peña
back through La Garma → back through Hornos de la Peña is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hornos de la Peña to Chemin de la Liébana
back through Hornos de la Peña → Chemin de la Liébana is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.