The North East of Spain

There’s more to see here than just the Pyrenees… so much more

The BP-1101, with the Monserrat massif in the background. As close to heaven as you can get on two wheels

Our far-from circular lap of the Iberian peninsula brings us into Catalonia from the south. By this time, we’ve become almost blasé about the sight of another immaculate ribbon of traffic-free tarmac stretching out in front of us. That doesn’t last long when we get to Catalonia. We take the N-240 and C-128 to Flix and pick up some of the most scenic roads of the entire trip - the T-703 and 702 to Margalef and the beautiful but crazily twisty T-713 (“I’m getting dizzy,” moans Weeble when we stop). Just when I think the riding can’t get any better, we turn onto the road that has it all - the C-242. It’s utterly spectacular, with bends tight enough for me without being too fiddly for Weeble, set in the widest-screen landscape so far today.

At the top of the Albarca pass we turn off onto the T-700. This is another corner-heavy road, rising to Prades and then heading out into the woods. “It’s almost like the Black Forest when the trees close in,” notes Weeble. Our plan is to shoot the very twistiest section... But we find the road closed by a policeman and a guy with a radio. “We’re testing a rally car. It’ll be ten minutes,” they explain. Sure enough, a World Rally Car arrives, yanks the handbrake to turn, then disappears again. When we ride down the road, there’s rubber tracing his lines through half the corners and stones scattered over the rest. No pics here, then…

So we press on to Montserrat, which isn’t quite as close as I’d thought. The cross-country C-241 is pleasant enough, but it has a weak hand in the scenery stakes after what we’ve already ridden through. At Igualada we jump on the motorway for a couple of junctions, then head up and around the rock massif of Montserrat. It’s beautiful - the maddest scenery of the day. It’s also brilliant to ride. Despite being so close to bustling Barcelona, the roads are pretty much deserted. It’s as close to heaven as I can imagine getting. No wonder they built a monastery here. Sadly, it’s a long way from our overnight stop. We drop down to Manresa and pick up the C-25 which hurries into the Pyrenees. Tomorrow, it’s mountains...

Other motorcycle routes in North east Spain

38 SORT-ED

Start/finish Sort
Distance 220 miles
Riding time 6 hours
This route has everything: fast sweepers; tight hairpins; quiet roads; epic views… For a shorter version, stay on the C-13 from Tremp to La Pobla de Segur. 39 JACA ALL TRADES Start/finish Jaca Distance 205 miles Riding time 6 hours Some spectacular roads (and one rough one, for a few miles moutside Ansó) on both sides of the mountains. The route can be shortened on the motorway to Jaca from Sabiñánigo.
Route map, Download the GPX file

39 Jaca all trades

Start/finish Jaca
Distance 205 miles
Riding time 6 hours
Some spectacular roads (and one rough one, for a few miles outside Ansó on both sides of the mountains. The route can be shortened on the motorway to Jaca from Sabiñánigo.
Route map, Download the GPX file

40 TWO-CASTLE LOOP

Start/finish Sos del Rey Católico
Distance 170 miles
Riding time 4.5 hours
From the beautifully preserved medieval town of Sos del Rey Católico, it’s a short ride to Javier Castle. A longer run gets you to Loarre Castle. There are plenty of narrow roads to ride, so don’t spend too long prowling the battlements before getting back on the bike.
Route map, Download the GPX file

41 BARDENAS REALES

Start/finish Tauste
Distance 125 miles
Riding time 5.5 hours
Half of this route is on unpaved roads through the Bardenas Reales desert – ideal for adventure bikes; not recommended for road bikes (though it has been done). It returns to tarmac to head to a lunch stop, so take your own water and stop/drink regularly while riding in the Bardenas.
Route map, Download the GPX file

42 IGUALADA - DONE

Start/finish Igualada
Distance 165 miles
Riding time 5 hours
A laid-back ride from the foothills of the Montserrat massif to the foothills of the Pyrenees. Lovely flowing roads with hardly a trace of traffic.
Route map, Download the GPX file

Please note: This page contains the route files for The RiDE Guide to motorcycle touring in Spain and Portugal which came free with RiDE magazine in July 2018. These website page are not regularly updated, so please check all critical information before you travel. All route files are in .gpx format. Garmin and BMW users can download the main file, which contains all the routes and our recommended hotels as separate waypoints. TomTom users can download the individual routes and use the Tyre software to convert them. For many routes we also have Google Map links. However, as Google Maps will not plot routes over seasonally closed high Alpine passes (such as those in the Pyrenees) when they’re shut, these may not work for every route all year round.

Motorcycle touring in Spain and Portugal: the basics

Great weather, amazing roads, fantastic food, spectacular scenery - not to mention the most bike-friendly locals in Europe. Spain and Portugal might just be the best places you’ll ever ride…

The EX-103 from Puebla de Alcocer in Extramadura

Why motorcycle tour in Spain or Portugal?

Quite simply, it’s the riding. The Iberian peninsula is huge, with every kind of landscape you could imagine – from verdant Galicia on the north-west Atlantic coast to sun-baked Murcia on the Mediterranean. There are towering snow-tipped mountains, vast hot plains, surf-kissed sandy beaches, aromatic vineyards and fascinating towns full of interesting places to visit. And joining it all together is a spectacular network of great biking roads. There’s all kinds of riding — whether you like cruising along two-up or hairing along head-down, whether you want mountains or coastlines or even unpaved roads, whether you want long days on empty highways or short days with lots of stops, there’s something for everyone.

So when should I go?

It’s best to avoid the highest summer season: August gets painfully hot and with Europe on holiday, even otherwise quiet areas get a bit busier. For us, September is the perfect time to visit Spain or Portugal. It’s generally hot without being too oppressive, even in the south. With kids back at school and family holidays over, even the popular vacation areas are relatively quiet. But there is a long riding season. You may have to gamble slightly more with the weather, especially on the North Coast, but if you get a good way south you’re far more likely to have a warm, dry ride in early November or late March than practically anywhere else in mainland Europe. If you’re not ready to book a trip for this September, hang on to this magazine and use it to plan next summer’s trip. Whenever you go to Spain or Portugal, you won’t regret it.

What documents do I need to take?

Just the basics. Your passport and your driving licence, obviously. You should also take a copy of your insurance certificate and the original V5 logbook for the bike. We’d recommend taking a colour copy of this as well, so in case you’re stopped the police can keep the copy.

Do I need extra insurance?

We’d strongly recommend a travel insurance policy that includes medical cover — though you will have to shop around to find a policy that covers you for a motorcycle trip.

In theory, until Brexit happens, you should be covered for medical treatment in Spain or Portugal as long as you have a valid free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

In practice, health cover avoids any issues. As with all insurance, you don’t want to need it — but it’s best to have it just in case.

Your bike policy will probably cover you for riding in Europe for up to 30 days but always check your policy before going. It’s good practice to notify the insurer of the dates when you will be in Europe.

We would recommend getting breakdown insurance but shop around for a policy that includes provision to repatriate both you and the bike to the UK, not just ship it to a local garage for repair work. Always check the fine print to make sure it covers crashes as well as mere mechanical mishaps just in case.

What about money?

We’ve never had any trouble using credit cards — in places that accept cards. You may find that some smaller restaurants, cafés and shops don’t take cards (especially in Portugal, we found), so you will need to take cash for lunches and drinks on the road. Petrol stations, most hotels and larger shops aren’t normally a problem. In fact, you may find automated fuel pumps that require cards.

How much money will I need?

That’s a bit how-long-is-a-piece-of-string… but as a rule, Portugal and Spain are a fair bit cheaper than France or Britain. Petrol is roughly the same but food and drink are often cheaper. You can often eat like a king at lunchtime for €10 with a menu del dia (dish of the day) and evening meals are usually good value. Whatever you’d allow for food and drink when touring in the UK, expect to save about a third in Spain or Portugal.

Accommodation can be less expensive than many other European destinations — or of a higher quality for what you’d pay elsewhere — especially if you pre-book. This will help you establish your budget before even setting off, though it does reduce flexibility — you can’t just stop whenever you feel like it; you have to use the hotel you reserved. However, we favour pre-booking in Spain and Portugal because while there are plenty of hotels in the bigger towns, they can be fairly thin on the ground in more rural areas.

Wet weather

If it rains and the roads look shiny and slippery, there’s a reason for that: they’re shiny and slippery. Exercise extreme caution on wet roads in Iberia. They may be gloriously grippy when warm and dry but many minor Spanish and Portuguese roads can be exceedingly treacherous when wet.

How do I prepare the bike?

If the bike’s road legal and mechanically sound, with fresh tyres, then all you need to do is add luggage and get going. You don’t need to adjust the headlight aim – you should be off the bike before the sun goes down. If it’s not mechanically sound, fix it!

What should I pack?

Less than you think. The secret is to travel light: take the essentials but not much more. Wearing lightweight base layers that can be rinsed at the end of the day means you can save shirts to do a couple of evenings each. Shorts and flip-flops (or trainers) are more comfortable off the bike and take up less space than jeans and boots. You shouldn’t need loads of tools or spares for a well-prepped modern bike (though if it’s a classic, you’ll know what you need). If there’s space, it makes sense to take a puncture repair kit, a multitool, half-a-dozen cable ties and some gaffer tape, just in case. And don’t forget your phone charger. Or a European plug adaptor. Or your sunglasses…

Where should I go?

Wherever you like — but that’s what this guide is for. We have day-trips all over Iberia, if you want to pick a town for a base and have a few riding days. Alternatively, we have complete tours that move from place to place — with relaxed and high-mile ones to cater to different tastes. Pick the one that appeals.

What about off-road?

There’s lots of great off-roading in Spain, but it’s not covered in this guide. We’d suggest getting specialist help: start with The Spanish Biker (thespanishbiker.wordpress.com)

Who can I ride with?

If you don’t have a group of mates to go with — and you don’t fancy going alone — join a guided tour. Not as cheap as organising your own trip but you’ll have an expert guide, a new set of riding buddies and a great time.

The law

The police in Spain and Portugal tend to take a dim view of excessive speeding. On-the-spot fines are stiff, rising to eye-watering. Spain has a zero-tolerance approach to speeding and even 1kph over the limit can theoretically earn a fine — and the Guardia Civil will impound bikes if speeds are too high. Take extra care on rural roads in Spain, as speed limits can change around junctions. Many towns or villages have 30kph or even 20kph limits in the centre.

But don’t get paranoid: there are fewer speed cameras than in the UK and they are well signed in advance. We haven’t heard of anyone on a British bike receiving a ticket at home for setting one off but the law does not preclude that. We have also seen speed traps set up a few miles after static cameras and spot-check road blocks in Spain and Portugal (but been waved through in both when the GB sticker was seen).

Traffic lights

Many villages and towns will have a set of flashing amber lights just as you enter the speed limit, with another set of lights — normally on red — a few hundred feet further on. If you’re at or below the speed limit when you pass the first lights, the second ones will flash amber as you reach them so you can keep riding. If you’re going too fast, they’ll stay red.

Radar detectors

In one word: illegal. If police spot one, it will earn you an on-the-spot fine and will be confiscated. Sat navs are allowed to warn you of fixed speed camera locations in Spain: the police understand that knowing there’s a camera ahead makes people slow down…

Proud to be British

You must have a GB identifier on the bike. If your registration plate doesn’t include one, put a GB sticker on there somewhere – we’d suggest on a pannier. Otherwise, potentially, it’s another on-the-spot fine.

Extra specs

In Spain, if you need glasses to ride, you must have a spare pair with you.

There’s a helpful Facebook page with updated advice here.

Spanish Speed limits

	Town/village	Rural road	Dual carriageway	Motorway
Speed limit	20-50kph	60-100kph	110kph	130kph

Bikes on ferries

The fastest, easiest and best way to get to Spain is by sea – Brittany Ferries runs services to Bilbao or Santander. When you board, just remember that the deck is metal so don’t ride fast. Just stay in first gear, ride as slowly as you can, use your back brake if you have to (not your front brake) and keep looking well ahead for hazards. The deckhands will direct you to where you should park the bike — usually down a ramp (again, go slowly and use lots of back brake). When you park, leave the bike in gear and roll it forward until the gear stops the bike moving, then put it on the sidestand.

The deckhands will put a pad on the seat to protect it, then ratchet the bike down securely for the crossing. You don’t have to do anything other than take your kit to your cabin, then head for the bar…

For ferry timetables see Brittany Ferries

Tyres

This is important: don’t set off with worn tyres. The roads in Spain and especially Portugal can be abrasive, accelerating tyre wear. Replacing a worn-out tyre mid-trip is costly and can really spoil the holiday.

So before going, check your tyres. If they’re close to half worn, get a set of replacements fitted (save the older ones to refit later). Fit a quality sports touring tyre like the Bridgestone T31 or, for adventure bikes, a dual-sport tyre like the A41.

Book it!

Plan your trip before booking the ferry and call Brittany Ferries, rather than booking online. You can book into partner hotels . Book three or more for a discount on the ferry and hotels. Alternatively, we used the Casas Cantabricas travel agency (www.casas.co.uk). As well as offering deals on ferry-plus accommodation packages, they provide excellent guides — which you can read on your phone — to help get more from your trip.

Please note: This page contains the route files for The RiDE Guide to motorcycle touring in Spain and Portugal which came free with RiDE magazine in July 2018. These website page are not regularly updated, so please check all critical information before you travel. All route files are in .gpx format. Garmin and BMW users can download the main file, which contains all the routes and our recommended hotels as separate waypoints. TomTom users can download the individual routes and use the Tyre software to convert them. For many routes we also have Google Map links. However, as Google Maps will not plot routes over seasonally closed high Alpine passes (such as those in the Pyrenees) when they’re shut, these may not work for every route all year round.

The North Coast of Spain

An amazing motorcycle ride through the Picos de Europa can erase all memories of an earlier rainstorm...

Empty roads, spectacular views… this is why we come to the Picos. But in this bit of Spain, it pays to pack waterproofs too.

The drizzle falling as we get off the ferry thickens to proper rain as we pull out of Santander on the motorway, headed east towards Bilbao. This should be the first pop of the cork, the moment that tells you something good has started... But it’s dismal. “It’s worse than it was in England,” moans snapper Weeble when we stop for lunch after 40 miles.

“Don’t worry - we’re headed inland,” I say.

“Through the Picos? It always rains in the Picos,” he cries.

This is patently not true. Sometimes it’s sunny in the Picos de Europa. Most of the time, in fact. But these mountains on Spain’s northern coast can trap warm, wet air blowing in from the Bay of Biscay, condensing it into clouds that sometimes turns the day grey but the hills green, as the regular rain ensures this is a lush landscape.

Once we get into the hills, the weather does improve. We head inland on the N-629 - a superbly flowing, twisting bit of road that then scrambles into the clouds themselves. I put the Triumph Explorer’s fog lights on. They don’t help me see any further but at least they must make me more visible to the five or six vehicles crawling in the opposite direction. I’m down to 30mph as we crest the Los Tornos Pass. “It’s majestic when you can see it,” I tell Weeble.

Thankfully, this is the end of the weather. Another few miles and the sun starts peeking out shyly from behind white clouds. Dry Tarmac and fantastic bends... This is the kind of riding we’ve crossed the sea to find. The big Triumph dances through the bends effortlessly – corners coming thick and fast as we join the N-232 and take a short detour up the hairpins of the CL-629. That leads on to Burgos, so we turn back and continue on the serpentine N-232, then peel off to the BU-530 alongside the vast Ebro river, ducking through tunnels and dodging the rocky outcrops that line the road. By the time we reach the hotel, the early rain is forgotten. All we’re talking about is the amazing afternoon ride… and what we’ll find tomorrow.

Other routes on the North Coast

17 REINOSA ROUTE

Start/finish Reinosa
Distance 175 miles
Riding time 5 hours
Reinosa’s a short, easy ride from Santander (you can even take the motorway if you want). It’s surrounded by absolutely glorious mountains stuffed with beautiful lakes – all on this laid-back day’s ride.
Route map, Download GPX file

18 VINTAGE RIOJA

Start/finish Logroño
Distance 140 miles
Riding time 4 hours
Perfect road surfaces, sweeping bends, majestic views – the riding in La Rioja is intoxicatingly good. Just take it steady with the local grape juice before heading out on this ride!
Route map, Download GPX file

19 BILBAO BACKROADS

Start/finish Laudio
Distance 170 miles
Riding time 5.5 hours
Rather than staying in the city, we’d base ourselves in the hills outside Bilbao – ready to romp off on the brilliant roads that head inland from the Basque port. With commercial traffic on the motorways, these mountain roads are virtually empty.
Route map, Download GPX file

20 TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

Start/finish Vilalba
Distance 215 miles
Riding time 6.5 hours
From the historic town of Vilalba, out to the north coast and the amazing sea views at the Cabo Ortegal lighthouse. Mostly wide, smooth roads but with some tight single-track ones on Cape Ortegal to keep you awake.
Route map, Download GPX file

21 SANTIAGO SEAS

Start/finish Santiago de Compostela
Distance 185 miles
Riding time 6 hours
Some amazingly twisty roads from Santiago to Cap Finisterre and Cap Touriñán (Spain’s most westerly point) and then north to Malpica on the Costa Morte.
Route map, Download GPX file

Please note: This page contains the route files for The RiDE Guide to motorcycle touring in Spain and Portugal which came free with RiDE magazine in July 2018. These website page are not regularly updated, so please check all critical information before you travel. All route files are in .gpx format. Garmin and BMW users can download the main file, which contains all the routes and our recommended hotels as separate waypoints. TomTom users can download the individual routes and use the Tyre software to convert them. For many routes we also have Google Map links. However, as Google Maps will not plot routes over seasonally closed high Alpine passes (such as those in the Pyrenees) when they’re shut, these may not work for every route all year round.