Why this ride
From Ermua it runs 342 km to Ermua; allow about 5 h 24 of riding. On the way it passes Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre, Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion, La Garma and Monte Castillo - El Castillo. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Collégiale de Ziortza and Monte Castillo - El Castillo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 342 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 24
- 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 35 km this is Basque Coast Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
- Named road
- Basque Coast Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Collégiale de Ziortza
High on a green hillside above the village of Bolibar, in the Biscayan interior, the collegiate church of Ziortza looks out over a valley of meadows, farmhouses and eucalyptus and pine plantations. It is a tranquil, solid place, a church and cloister built of grey stone with a fortified look, and it stands on the Camino del Norte, the coastal route to Santiago, so you will often see pilgrims resting on the benches outside.
Read the complete Collégiale de Ziortza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Collégiale de Ziortza is where the day begins. Next is Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre.
2. 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 comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion.
3. Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
Castro-Urdiales has one of the best harbour fronts on the whole Cantabrian coast, and it knows it. The Gothic church of Santa María de la Asunción stands on a rocky headland above the old port, its buttresses and pinnacles silhouetted against the sea, flanked by the remains of a castle that now holds a lighthouse and by a medieval bridge leading to a little chapel on a rock. Built from the thirteenth century onward, the church is one of the finest Gothic buildings in northern Spain, and it lies on the coastal route of the Way of Saint James, which is part of a UNESCO listing that covers the pilgrimage roads of the north.
Read the complete Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion. Next is La Garma.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Monte Castillo - El Castillo.
5. Monte Castillo - El Castillo
Some of the oldest paintings in Europe sit in a hill above a village best known for its hot springs. The cave of El Castillo opens in the flank of Monte Castillo, right above Puente Viesgo in the Pas valley of Cantabria, and inside it are hand stencils and a red disc that scientists dated, in 2012, to more than forty thousand years ago. That makes them contenders for the oldest cave art known on the continent, and possibly older than any made by modern humans, since Neanderthals were around at the time. UNESCO lists the Cantabrian caves, and a visit means a guided group entering in small numbers, so book ahead and expect limits on the day.
Read the complete Monte Castillo - El Castillo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monte Castillo - El Castillo sits at 165 km, about halfway. Next is back through La Garma.
6. 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
back through La Garma comes up about 206 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion.
7. back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 252 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion. Next is back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre.
8. back through 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
back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre, late in the day. Next is Collégiale de Ziortza.
9. Collégiale de Ziortza
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Collégiale de Ziortza 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 342 km.
Leg by leg
Collégiale de Ziortza to Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre
Collégiale de Ziortza → Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre to Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre → Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion to La Garma
Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion → La Garma is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Garma to Monte Castillo - El Castillo
La Garma → Monte Castillo - El Castillo is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monte Castillo - El Castillo to back through La Garma
Monte Castillo - El Castillo → back through La Garma is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Garma to back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
back through La Garma → back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion to back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre
back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion → back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre to Collégiale de Ziortza
back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre → Collégiale de Ziortza is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.