Picos de Europa Loop from Potes

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Potes

   Potes is the capital of Liébana, a hidden-away valley in Cantabria that is walled in by the Picos de Europa on three sides and so mild and sheltered that it grows fruit and grapes at the foot of mountains that still carry snow in June. The town sits where the rivers Deva and Quiviesca meet, under a square medieval tower, the Torre del Infantado, with stone bridges, arcaded houses and narrow streets climbing away from the water. It has only a little over a thousand residents, which is why everybody on the street seems to know everybody else.

   Read the complete Potes write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Potes is where the day begins. Next is Fuente De.

2. 2. Fuente Dé

   Fuente Dé is the end of the road, in the best sense. The CA-185 climbs up a narrow glacial valley from Potes, the little capital of the Liébana region, and finishes in a vast amphitheatre of limestone, a cirque of grey cliffs that rise nearly vertically above the meadow and block off the sky. There is nowhere further to ride, so you park, tip your head back, and look up.

   Read the complete Fuente De write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fuente Dé comes up 33 km in. Next is Riano.

3. 3. Riano

   Riaño is a town that was moved. In the 1980s the Spanish government built a large dam on the Esla river, and when the reservoir filled in 1987, it drowned the old town, along with eight other villages in the valley, in the face of years of protest from the people who lived there. The residents were resettled in a new town built on the shore, with modern streets and a church rebuilt on higher ground, and the old stone houses disappeared beneath the water. In dry years, the water drops and the shapes of walls reappear. About five hundred people live in the new town today.

   Read the complete Riaño write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   66 km in you reach Riano. Next is Cangas de Onis.

4. 4. Cangas de Onis

   This is where Spain's story of reconquest is told, at least the way it is told in Asturias. A few kilometres up the road at Covadonga, the local lord Pelayo is said to have beaten a Muslim force around 722, an event that became the founding legend of the Kingdom of Asturias, and Cangas de Onís was that kingdom's first capital. So a small town of about six thousand people carries rather a lot of history, and it shows in the Roman Bridge, which is actually medieval, with its high single arch over the Sella and a cross hanging beneath it.

   Read the complete Cangas de Onís write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cangas de Onis, about halfway. Next is Cabrales.

5. 5. Cabrales

   Cabrales is a place most people know by taste before they know it by sight. The municipality lies in the foothills of the Picos de Europa in eastern Asturias, northern Spain, a steep, green country of narrow valleys, stone barns and limestone walls. It is the home of Cabrales cheese, a strong, crumbly blue made from cow's milk, sometimes mixed with sheep or goat, and traditionally matured in natural mountain caves where cool, damp air encourages the blue veins to spread. The cheese has protected status and a flavour that is unmistakable: salty, sharp, earthy and long on the tongue.

   Read the complete Cabrales write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cabrales sits at 131 km, late in the day. Next is Potes.

6. 6. Potes

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Potes 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 248 km.