Cycling Iberia, Spain: Villaviciosa to Santander

My latest bicycle touring update: cycling in Iberia, Spain. Villaviciosa to Santander. 108 miles. Another long day, but at least I’m in Santander, ready for my ferry tomorrow. I don’t know why I was so determined to get here today, because my ferry doesn’t leave until tomorrow afternoon, but I’d just got it into my head that I had to be here today!

At about 6 o’clock tonight, I’d decided that I wouldn’t make it to Santander, or rather, I would, but it would be a bit late. So I decided to stop at a campsite for the night and then cycle the thirty or so miles to Santander in the morning.

Idiot

According to my map, there were loads of campsites along the coast road. Now I know that my map hasn’t been that accurate so far, and it’s shown quite a few campsites before. But I was sure that there would be at least one that existed along this coastal road. I was merrily bowling along, not really taking that much notice of the roads. And just following the signs for Santander. I was flying down yet another huge hill when I suddenly thought I was on the wrong road. As I could see the motorway in the distance. And there was no way that I should have been able to see it. So I slammed the brakes on and stopped!

I looked at the map, and sure enough, I was on the wrong road. I should have turned left at the top of the hill. Balls, I thought, well, there was no way I was going to cycle back up the hill. I’ll just have to continue on this road, which was the main road to Santander; it was just that it didn’t show any campsites this way. Whereas the route I wanted to take along the coast was! There was nothing else I could do apart from continuing on this road and getting to the campsite in Santander. But if I saw one on the way, I would stop there or maybe a hotel.

A Long Day

Well, I didn’t pass any campsites; I did, however, pass a couple of hotels. But they were closed, so I pushed to Santander. It was dark by the time I arrived in Santander, and I still had to find the campsite, which was on the opposite side of town! Realising that I might not get to the campsite until nearly midnight, I thought a hotel might be a better idea.

Even if I could get into the campsite, a lot of them don’t let you shower between midnight and six in the morning. They turn the lights and hot water off, and I really needed a shower! I eventually checked into a hotel at just gone eleven o’clock. No restaurants open, but at least a bed and a nice hot shower!

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: View my route across Iberia
• Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
• Tour page: Ride overview

Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page. And for an insight into the gear and logistics that keep me on the road, see my Life at 10mph Guide.

Cycling Iberia, Spain: Vilalba to Luarca

My latest bicycle touring update: cycling in Iberia, Spain. Vilalba to Luarca. 77 miles. Late start today, the hotel couldn’t find the key to the room that my bike was locked up in! When I arrived last night, as normal, I made sure that there was somewhere to keep my bike before checking in. There was an underground car park, which was perfect.

After checking in, we went to put my bike in the garage, which I’ve done many times before. I always leave my bags on the bike and just take the one bag I need and the bar bag (the garages are always locked, so they’re secure), but the man from reception decided that this wasn’t a good idea and suggested that we lock it in the store cupboard instead, which was fine by me. I couldn’t really see the need, as it wasn’t some cheap hotel. It was a rather posh 4-star one (although it wasn’t expensive at all), but if that’s what he wanted to do, then so be it!

The trouble was that nobody this morning knew where the key was for this room. They had to wait for the manager to come in! It wasn’t a real problem as breakfast wasn’t until 8 o’clock anyway. And I’d gone down early to sort my bike out before breakfast anyway. I also wasn’t in any real rush because I thought it might be windy again!

Good To See You Again

Once I’d had breakfast, I went back to reception, and there was Passepartout all ready and waiting for me. Once out of the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as windy as it had been for the past week. There was a breeze, again blowing against me. But compared to what I’ve had, I was happy! I had a few big downhills today, one of them was about 5 miles long. I got rather chilly on that one. The temperature has definitely dropped a bit now that I’m in the north. Yesterday I had to put my jacket on. Today I’ve had my fleece on for most of it!

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: View my route across Iberia
• Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
• Tour page: Ride overview

Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page. And for an insight into the gear and logistics that keep me on the road, see my Life at 10mph Guide.