Northern Spain by rail holiday
| country: | Spain |
| location: | Picos de Europa |
| departures: | 2010: 26 Jun, 28 Aug, 18 Sep 2011: 18 Jun |
| price: | From £1302 - £1526 (12 days) including flights from the UK, from £1167 - £1285 excluding flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
A fascinating tour with scenery and experiences as varied as the landscapes we travel through. Suitable for people of average fitness as all walks are optional.
Picos de Europa
Bilbao, with its fascinating Guggenheim Museum, provides an ideal starting point for this remarkable collection of rail journeys by narrow gauge trains through the scenic highlights of the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia in Northern Spain. From Llanes we take a funicular to Bulnes, high in the Picos de Europa where we explore the village and later there's the opportunity for a walk through the dramatic Canal de Tejo gorge.
Atlantic Coastal Train
After enjoying Llanes' attractive shoreline we strike westwards once more before pausing in historic city of Oviedo. With some free time here we can choose to take side trips by train, for example to the coastal town Gijon which also houses the Asturias Railway Museum, a great way to set our rail explorations into context. One of the highlights of our tour will be the journey along Spain's wild Atlantic coast to Ferrol, passing round rocky headlands to re-emerge to catch glimpses of the sea pounding on the shore.
Medieval Spain
We spend two nights in Santiago de Compostela, the final destination for pilgrims, who, since the 9th century, have been following the ancient route from France to the legendary resting place of Saint James. After exploring the city's historic streets, we board the ARCO train for Ponferrada. Here we have the chance to walk a short section of the Camino de Santiago before continuing by train to the medieval city Leon. Our final journey back to Bilbao is fittingly by narrow gauge train and gives us a last chance to take in the dramatic views of the Picos.
Picos de Europa
Bilbao, with its fascinating Guggenheim Museum, provides an ideal starting point for this remarkable collection of rail journeys by narrow gauge trains through the scenic highlights of the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia in Northern Spain. From Llanes we take a funicular to Bulnes, high in the Picos de Europa where we explore the village and later there's the opportunity for a walk through the dramatic Canal de Tejo gorge.
Atlantic Coastal Train
After enjoying Llanes' attractive shoreline we strike westwards once more before pausing in historic city of Oviedo. With some free time here we can choose to take side trips by train, for example to the coastal town Gijon which also houses the Asturias Railway Museum, a great way to set our rail explorations into context. One of the highlights of our tour will be the journey along Spain's wild Atlantic coast to Ferrol, passing round rocky headlands to re-emerge to catch glimpses of the sea pounding on the shore.
Medieval Spain
We spend two nights in Santiago de Compostela, the final destination for pilgrims, who, since the 9th century, have been following the ancient route from France to the legendary resting place of Saint James. After exploring the city's historic streets, we board the ARCO train for Ponferrada. Here we have the chance to walk a short section of the Camino de Santiago before continuing by train to the medieval city Leon. Our final journey back to Bilbao is fittingly by narrow gauge train and gives us a last chance to take in the dramatic views of the Picos.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly London/Bilbao. |
| Day 2: | In Bilbao; narrow gauge to Zumaia. |
| Day 3: | Train to Santander; free afternoon. |
| Day 4: | Train to Llanes; funicular into Picos; return Llanes. |
| Day 5: | Train to Oviedo. |
| Day 6: | 6 Free day in Oviedo. |
| Day 7: | Coastal train to Ferrol; bus to Santiago de Compostela. |
| Day 8: | Free in Santiago. |
| Day 9: | ARCO train to Ponferrada; walk on Camino de Santiago. |
| Day 10: | Train to Leon; exploring Leon. |
| Day 11: | Free in Leon; PM train to Bilbao. |
| Day 12: | FLY London. |
travelling in your own group
To classify as a group, we usually require a minimum of 8 clients. Though there is no maximum, we may be limited by the size of our accommodation or transport. We will always endeavour to accommodate your group wherever possible.. If you wish to make any changes to the suggested itinerary, we are happy to discuss and tailor a tour to suit your needs. All trips are individually quoted and competitively priced.award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
Through all the debate over the relative environmental merits of different forms of transport, it is generally accepted that rail travel is a lower carbon option than flying. Conscious of our impact on the environment, by opting to travel most journeys on public trains we are drastically reducing the reliance on privately chartered transport within our tour. All travel has impacts. We are confident this tour keeps those to a minimum. Though you will need to drink plenty on this tour, we encourage you not to buy bottled water due to the waste this generates. Tap water is perfectly drinkable in this area so bring your own water bottle. Community Train travel is a great way to meet local people and get a more personal experience of travel in their country. This is an excellent opportunity to get chatting, so we do encourage you to try a few words of Spanish! Ensuring that local people benefit from tourism is core to our philosophy and relevant to all countries, regardless of the level of development. We use locally owned transport and hotels and try to spread our custom to a variety of local restaurants. It’s not just good for the local communities; we believe you get a better experience as a result. As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |