San Vicente de la Barquera and Potes

I had been in the Picos de Europa before, in September 2013. I decided I would return, this time in the Spring, with the hope of seeing a different variety of wildlife. I realised that this would mean staying at lower altitudes than on my previous visit as the high mountains would still be snowed in. Again I flew to Santander for a very reasonable price. Rather than spend hours hanging around in (very) dull Santander, waiting for the (very) infrequent bus to Potes, I decided to take a bus to the interesting coastal town of San Vicente de la Barquera that I had spotted on my previous visit. In fact, I decided to stay my first night there and this worked out rather nicely as it gave me convenient access the following day to a walk in the Desfiladero (Gorge) de la Hermida by bus.

Costs. Flight £58. Car parking £26. San Vicente hotel (B&B) €41. Potes hotel (B&B) €43.45 per night. Santander hotel (B&B) €36.90. Santander–Airport bus €2.50 each way. Santander–San Vicente bus €5.15. Potes–Santander bus €8.30. Typical evening meal with wine in Potes €17–€21. Travel insurance £4. Total cost of trip £310.

Places I stayed and was happy with. Posada Rural Punta Liñera, San Vicente (Day 1, Read my review); Hotel Valdecoro, Potes (Days 2 and 3, Read my review); Hotel Picos de Europa, Santander (Day 4, Read my review).

Books. Landscapes of the Picos de Europa by Teresa Farino (Sunflower Books, 7th revised edition); Collins Butterfly Guide by Tom Tolman and Richard Lewington (Harper-Collins, Paperback edition).

Maps. Parque Nacional de Picos de Europa, 1:40,000, Editorial Alpina SL. Note that Potes is right on the edge of this map and that only my Day 2 walk is fully covered.

See also. Picos de Europa.

Day 1: Travel to San Vicente; explore town and walk along coast. Left home at 4.55 am and drove to Edinburgh Airport, arriving 5.40 am. My flight left slightly late at 7.10 am and landed in Santander at 10.35 am (local time). I caught the 11.30 am bus into the city, bought some food and water, and then caught the 12.15 pm Alsa bus to San Vicente de la Barquera, arriving 1.25 pm. I had a look around the old medieval citadel and then walked east along the beach on the other side of the estuary from the town. I returned to San Vicente on the road running parallel to the coast, accompanied by a very chatty Spanish lady. After a small glass of beer, I looked round the castle (which had been closed for lunch earlier) and then walked up the steep hill to the lovely Posada Rural (pre-booked), arriving 5.50 pm. I rested for a bit and then went back into town for dinner.

Day 2: Walk from Urdón to Tresviso (“El Camino de Tresviso”). Had breakfast at 9 am and left the Posada at 10 am. I explored the pretty, green coastline around the Posada for a bit, before walking down into San Vicente and catching the 11.20 am Palomera bus in the direction of Potes. I got off the bus at Urdón in the Hermida Gorge and started walking up the well known track towards Tresviso about 12.15 pm, following Walk 3 in Landscapes of the Picos de Europa (see Books). This was a marvellous climb, with fantastic views and some great wildlife, including Griffon Vultures. I arrived in Tresviso at 3.20 pm and had a couple of cold beers in the bar. I started the descent at 4 pm and arrived back in Urdón at 6.10 pm (so 5 h 55 min walking). For me, the descent was spoiled by a group of twenty or so rowdy Spanish youths who made an enormous amount of noise (I think they had been drinking heavily in Tresviso) and cut off all the zig-zags in the ancient trackway, thus causing it further damage. I remonstrated with their leader about this latter behaviour; to my surprise, he spoke excellent English and apologised. The Palomera bus (coming from Santander) came at 6.55 pm and I arrived in Potes at 7.20 pm. Found my hotel (pre-booked) and went out for dinner.

Day 3: Circular walk around Potes. I left the hotel at 10.30 am. As in September 2013, I did Walk 1 in Landscapes of the Picos de Europa (see Books): a steep uphill drag out of Potes, followed by a delightful gentle descent through the hamlets of Tudes and Porcieda and a beautiful, rare northern cork oak forest. As in 2013, the bar in Tudes was closed. As I had hoped, this walk did have a different character on this occasion, with much greener countryside and different varieties of butterfly on the wing. I arrived back at my hotel at about 4 pm (so 5 h 30 min walking), rested, looked around Potes, and then had dinner.

Day 4: Circular walk around Potes; travel to Santander. Checked-out of my hotel at 10.45 am and went and looked around the castle (Torre del Infantado). Started walking at 11.30 am along Walk 2 (“Encinares y praderas de Potes Armaño”) in the “Rutas desde Potes” leaflet, which I had found in the tourist office the previous evening. To my surprise, this was a lovely walk, especially the traverse across the pretty hillside to the village of Armaño, which yielded many interesting butterflies. In the village of Tama, on the main road, I refreshed myself with a beer in the local bar and found to my delight that I was sharing the establishment with a large toad! I arrived back in Potes at 3.30 pm (so 4 h walking), had a coffee, and caught the 5.45 pm bus to Santander, arriving 8 pm. Found hotel (pre-booked) and had dinner.

Day 5: Travel home. Breakfast at 8 am and bus at 8.45 am to airport (15 min). Flight at 10.45 am. Arrived at Edinburgh Airport 12 noon (local time) and drove home, arriving 1.45 pm.

Wildlife seen. Griffon Vulture, Stonechat, Red-backed Shrike, Adonis Blue, Long-tailed Blue, Small Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Pearly Heath, Meadow Brown, Large Wall Brown, Wall Brown, Speckled Wood, Piedmont (Chapman’s?) Ringlet, Spanish Purple Hairstreak, Blue-spot Hairstreak, False Ilex Hairstreak, Marsh Fritillary, Marbled Fritillary, Spotted Fritillary, Marbled White, Green-veined White.

Other useful links. Alsa buses

Palomera buses

Cantabria bus timetables

Reflections. A very good trip, on the whole, although the weather was very poor. Every day was grey and overcast and, although the sun tried to break through the cloud in the afternoons, it succeeded only sporadically. There was a shower, sometimes heavy, each evening. In San Vicente, there was a very stiff breeze too, although fortunately I did not get this in Potes. But the temperature was good for walking and enough to bring a good selection of butterflies and lizards out. The walk up to Tresviso was very memorable. I shall almost certainly be returning to the Picos, next time perhaps trying to access the Park from the Asturian side.

© 2015 The Untravelled World