This is a week long holiday suitable for people with British hillwalking experience who would like to head further afield. The trekking is on well established paths and is suitable for all ages of people with reasonable hill walking fitness ie happy to ramble 7 to 10 miles per day.

The Picos de Europa is an ideal area in which to undertake a trek. The area is a National Park situated in the autonomous regions of Asturia, Cantabria and Castilla y Leon of Northern Spain, 80km West of Santander. It contains three mountain ranges reaching 2646m (Torrecorredo) separated by deep river gorges. It has a unique quality combining dramatic mountain scenery, rare wildlife and flora and a culture based on low intensity farming.

We will be valley based for the first 3 days of the trip and enjoy outstanding treks such as the Cares Gorge before heading into the high mountains for the last 2 days of the trip, overnighting in a mountain refuge. Here is a sample schedule which is subject to weather conditions:

Day 1: Fly from Stanstead to Santander in Northern Spain with Ryanair. (Flights not included in price but in 2006 were £55 return). Bus or taxi to hostel base at Benia.

Day 2: After a continental breakfast we will walk the world famous Cares gorge, spending the day enjoying it in both directions. The path follows the river Cares as it meanders through a fantastic limestone gorge with steep cliffs rising several hundred feet up on either side. On occasions the path tunnels through the cliffs whilst on others it crosses the river on narrow suspension bridges. See the photos on the left.

Day 3: We will walk from our village base, winding our way up through the mountains to the fabulous Ecrin Lakes (see photo at the top of this page). The lakes are the most visited spot in the National Park but we will avoid the crowds and take in the forest, alpine meadows and superb views of the Western Massif. A bus can be caught back down to our valley base.

Day 4: An early morning trip on the Fuenta De cable car rises 800m in a single sweep to the El Cable area and access to the Horcada de Covarrobres (Col at 1925m) with dramatic views to the Central and Eastern Massifs. A 12.5 km walk through tremendous mountain scenery takes us down hill all the way to the mountain village of Sotres from where we will use a local taxi to return to the valley base.

Days Five & Six: A two day overnight trekking expedition to a high mountain refuge at the foot of Spains most famous mountain, Naranjo de Bulnes. The first day will see us trek 8 km with over 1200m of ascent, carrying overnight kit. A meal will be served in the refuge followed by an early night in communal sleeping quarters. After an Alpine breakfast the expedition will head down towards the mountain village of Sotres and be taken by taxi back to base for a celebration meal.

Day 7: Return to UK base via coach and plane.

Numbers: The trek is run at a ratio of 1:8 maximum.

The price shown below is for guiding only, further costs are detailed in the course notes.

Dates
See diary page for open course dates. If you have at least four people then you can book a date to suit you please email us rob@expeditionguide.com

Bookings

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