Why this ride
A 399 km round trip from Puente Viesgo - roughly 6 h 17 in the saddle. The stops in between: La Garma, Covalanas, Vizcaya Bridge and Santimamiñe. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monte Castillo - El Castillo and Santimamiñe
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 399 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 17
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 42 km this is Basque Coast Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 42 km
- Named road
- Basque Coast Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is La Garma.
2. 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 comes up 41 km in. Next is Covalanas.
3. 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
83 km in you reach Covalanas. Next is Vizcaya Bridge.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Santimamiñe.
5. 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 sits at 166 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vizcaya Bridge.
6. 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 comes up 207 km in. Next is back through Covalanas.
7. 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
248 km in you reach back through Covalanas. Next is back through La Garma.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Monte Castillo - El Castillo.
9. Monte Castillo - El Castillo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
The route ends here after 399 km.
Leg by leg
Monte Castillo - El Castillo to La Garma
Monte Castillo - El Castillo → La Garma is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Garma to Covalanas
La Garma → Covalanas is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covalanas to Vizcaya Bridge
Covalanas → Vizcaya Bridge is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vizcaya Bridge to Santimamiñe
Vizcaya Bridge → Santimamiñe is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Santimamiñe to back through Vizcaya Bridge
Santimamiñe → back through Vizcaya Bridge is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vizcaya Bridge to back through Covalanas
back through Vizcaya Bridge → back through Covalanas is 49 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 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Garma to Monte Castillo - El Castillo
back through La Garma → Monte Castillo - El Castillo is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.