When I moved to Spain, I knew that the country’s cuisine was vast and varied by region.
05.09.2023 - 15:27 / lonelyplanet.com
The north of Spain is green Spain. In contrast to much of the rest of the country, it’s full of swift rivers, mountain lakes, grassy meadows, verdant valleys, craggy peaks – and rugged coastal cliffs, sandy beaches and crashing surf. Threaded with many hundreds of good trails short and long, it’s a walker’s dream.
The Cordillera Cantábrica mountain chain stretches across much of the region, parallel to the north coast and peaking – literally and scenically – in the jagged, deeply fissured Picos de Europa range. The coast is a continuous sequence of scenic grandeur, reaching its most spectacular levels in Galicia, the distinctive region occupying Spain’s northwest corner.
Best canyon walk
23km (14 miles) round trip, 6½ hours, moderate
The canyon carved through the Picos de Europa by the Río Cares may be the most popular mountain walk in Spain, with good reason: the scenic thrills don’t let up for a moment as you make your way along the 1000m-deep gorge with soaring rock pinnacles piercing the sky and the beguiling blue river bubbling far below.
The trail (PRPNPE3) runs between the tiny settlements of Poncebos (the north end) and Caín. It can be walked in either or both directions. A popular option, within the capacity of any reasonably fit walker, is there-and-back from Poncebos. You’ll ascend about 250m in the first 2km, then it’s mostly downhill or level to Caín.
Along the way you pass through a few tunnels, beneath rock overhangs, along a 23-meter cliffside boardwalk, over side-streams and finally three bridges straddling the gorge as you approach Caín. There are big drops from the path in many stretches, but the path is always 1m to 2m wide and there’s no need to walk along its edge.
Best coastal walk
22.5km (14 miles) one-way, 6½ hours, difficult
It’s a tough task to pick the best of so many wonderful days’ walking along northern Spain’s coasts, but our vote goes to the final stage of the Camiño dos Faros (Lighthouse Way), which winds 200 adventurous kilometers along Galicia’s wildly beautiful Costa da Morte (Coast of Death, because of its many shipwrecks).
Starting in the estuary-side village Lires, the up-and-down trail takes you to big, wild Atlantic beaches such as Praia do Rostro and Praia do Mar de Fora with ocean surf thundering relentlessly in (don’t swim), past the Iron Age hill fort Castro de Castromiñán, over capes such as Cabo da Nave and along several clifftop and cliffside stretches. Take care!
The route is marked by small green arrows or paint blobs which are sometimes easily missed: consult the website beforehand for maps and more. If you don’t have a great head for heights you may want to avoid the cliffside sections after the Castro de Castromiñán and Praia de Arnela. To bypass the
When I moved to Spain, I knew that the country’s cuisine was vast and varied by region.
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