Essence of Northern Spain Tour
Mountains next to the sea
Spain
Jun. 28 — Jul. 06, 2025 10 Spots left
Sep. 06 — Sep. 14, 2025 12 Spots left
This Northern Spain Motorcycle Tour does honor to its name. Like a fine perfume, this tour combines all the wonderful aromas that one expects to find in the North of Spain; from the salty azure waters of the Cantabrian Sea along the Costa Verde, to the pristine fields of verdant grass of the Basque Valleys and the crisp air of the majestic mountains of Asturias’s Picos de Europa. But the Essence of Northern Spain Motorcycle Tour is also a rich blend of spectacular and unforgettable landscapes, and of encounters with ancient cultures that will delight you day after day.
This tour will lead us through the northern regions of Spain: The Basque Country, Cantabria, Castilla-León and Asturias, on a route that will share with us small picturesque fishing villages and charming lost hamlets in the most remote mountain regions of Spain. We will visit fascinating cities such as the capitals of Asturias and the Basque Country, Oviedo and Vitoria. But let’s not forget Bilbao! This once shipbuilding town is now famous for Frank Gehry’s titanium Guggenheim Museum and Jeff Koon’s “Puppy.”
If you’re looking for curve-filled roads, verdant mountains, azure ocean water plus delicious gastronomy, charming cities and incredible hotels all wrapped up into a weeklong getaway, then this Essence of Northern Spain Tour has been custom made for you!
IMTBIKE ROUTE rating
It is essential to know the different skill levels needed to participate in the IMTBIKE TOURS that are offered to you. IMTBIKE makes sure that it offers different tours for all riding styles and levels. The IMTBIKE team always works diligently in designing our routes. This is a laborious process which entails reviewing all road choices before selecting the best option for an IMTBIKE tour.
The most experienced motorcyclists looks for roads that require technical skill; narrow twisty roads with little traffic and endless curves. But these same roads would be too difficult for a less experienced rider.
The local driving habits, the amount of traffic, the asphalt quality and the radius of the curves vary considerably from country to country and even in different regions of the same country. They will also vary depending on the season of the year. All of these factors have been studied by IMTBIKE and have been taken into consideration when rating our tours.
IMTBIKE thinks it is also important to know about the different types of roads you will be enjoying on your tour. To understand the road types easier, IMTBIKE has divided them into two categories, and we have calculated an approximate percentage of each on all of our tours.
- TOURING ROADS: These are wider roads comprised mainly of larger radius sweepers. They are still curvy roads but not tight mountainous twisty curves. Please remember that you will ride very few straight roads on IMTBIKE tours!
- CHALLENGING ROADS: These are roads that are tight twisty turns which require more technical skill. Many times they will be narrower roads without a shoulder and sometimes with steep inclines or descents. Normally they will be mountainous roads accompanied by spectacular sceneries.
If you have never ridden a motorcycle outside of your country, or if you have little experience riding on mountain roads with many curves, we recommend that you choose a tour rated moderate or intermediate. If you have any questions or doubts please do not hesitate to call or email us. We are always happy to answer your questions to make sure that you choose the best tour for your riding level.
Moderate
This route offers wider sweeping turns that are easy to maneuver. This route may have some tighter turns in a few places but this will be the exception. Regardless, even on moderate tours you must be able to ride a large cylinder motorcycle in any condition. Never plan to learn how to ride a motorcycle on an IMTBIKE tour. We recommend having a minimum of 8.000 km (5.000 miles) of experience riding a large cylinder motorcycle to participate on a MODERATE rated IMTBIKE Tour and you should ride a motorcycle on a regular basis at home.
Intermediate
This route rating can have sections of very twisty curves on narrow roads with no center line to divide the road. There will also wider radius curves on these routes. Traffic conditions can be intense at times in some urban environments and the local driving habits may seem aggressive and unpredictable to you. It is imperative that you are an experienced motorcyclist. We recommend that you have a minimum of 12.000 km (7500 miles) of large cylinder motorcycle experience to participate on a INTERMEDIATE rated IMTBIKE Tour and you should ride a motorcycle on a regular basis at home.
Advanced
This route rating has long sections of technical narrow twisty roads and sometimes single lane roads. These twisty roads will often be in mountains where steep inclines and descents will be commonplace. Some riding days can be long and challenging. Traffic conditions can be intense at times in some urban environments and the local driving habits may seem aggressive and unpredictable to you. It is imperative that you are a very experienced motorcyclist on a large cylinder motorcycle. We recommend that you have a minimum of 16.000 km (10.000 miles) of large cylinder motorcycle experience on an ADVANCE rated IMTBIKE Tour and of course you should ride a motorcycle on a regular basis at home.
IMTBIKE Average Daily Riding Hours
5 to 7 hours
6 to 8 hours
7 to 9 hours
How many hours a day you ride on a tour is important information in helping you decide on the right IMTBIKE tour for you. Some tour members want to ride as many hours as possible everyday, while others prefer to stop more frequently and dedicate more time to enjoying the scenery, visiting cultural sights and arrive at the hotel earlier to relax before dinner. The daily riding hours are calculated including the coffee breaks and photo stops but they do not include the time taken for lunch.
Normally we’ll start our riding day at 9:30am and we will take about a one hour lunch break sometime between 1pm and 2pm. So if the daily riding hours for a given tour are 5-7, then you will arrive at the hotel between 3:30pm- 5:30pm depending on the average speed of the group.
Tour Facts
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Start / End BilbaoTotal Distance 1.050 miles / 1.690 km
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Total Time 9 DaysRiding Days 7 Days
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Rest Days 1 OviedoBreakfast 8 Included Breakfasts
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Dinners 7 DinnersDaily Mileage 160-220 miles / 250-350 km
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Hotel Overnights 8 NightsRiding Season Early Summer, Late Spring, Early Autumn
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Highlights: Bilbao, Oviedo, Cantabrian Sea, Northern Natural Parks, Green Coast, Picos de Europa Mountains. We stay in some of best Parador hotels in Spain.Accommodations: Amazing hotels. First-class historical Paradors and a few specially selected boutique hotels with local flair. Paradors are Castles, Palaces & Fortresses converted into charming hotels.
*All IMTBIKE lodgings are hand-picked for their quality of service, local charm and strategic locations
Daily Itinerary
- Day 1: Arrival Bilbao
- Day 2: Bilbao - Santillana del Mar
- Day 3: Santillana del Mar – Picos de Europa
- Day 4: Picos de Europa – Oviedo
- Day 5: Oviedo - rest day
- Day 6: Oviedo – Palentine Mountains
- Day 7: Palentine Mountains – Vitoria
- Day 8: Vitoria – Bilbao
- Day 9: Flight back home
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Day 1: Arrival Bilbao
Transfer included from the Airport to the hotel if your flight arrives on the first tour day. Then you will have the rest of the day to relax or take a walk through the beautiful center of the city before the welcome meeting in the hotel. Then we will have dinner together in a traditional restaurant where we will toast to the beginning of our trip. Depending on the country you are flying from, you may have to leave a day early. Please book your flights accordingly!
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Day 2: Bilbao - Santillana del Mar
We will jump right into the beauty of Northern Spain as we enter the easternmost Cantabrian Mountains. We will ride little-known mountain roads surrounded by incredible greenery. Our destination is the magnificently preserved medieval town of Santillana del Mar.
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Day 3: Santillana del Mar – Picos de Europa
Today we will dedicate to the Picos de Europa, this mountain range stands out because of both the height of the mountains and their proximity to the ocean. On our way there we’ll visit the beautiful beaches and cliffs of the Green Coast (Costa Verde). We’ll dive into the heart of the immense Picos de Europa Mountains where you can take a cable car to the summit and ride through the narrow canyons that surround the massif.
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Day 4: Picos de Europa – Oviedo
Our destination today will be the Asturian capital, Oviedo, but first we’ll have a fantastic ride visiting some of the most photographed fishing villages on the Asturian coast. We will combine this with a careful selection of the most interesting local roads that run through the green mountains of eastern Asturias.
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Day 5: Oviedo - rest day
The charming Asturian capital is a small city full of attractions. Oviedo is an elegant city and a walk through its well taken care of streets is a must. Be sure to keep an eye out for its strategically hidden urban statues. In the morning we can take a ride to visit the western Asturian coast and the picturesque fishing village of Cudillero, where we can have fresh fish for lunch. We have prepared a nice curvy route to get there.
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Day 6: Oviedo – Palentine Mountains
Today we will start heading back to the eastern part of Northern Spain, crossing Asturias through its mining region. These mountains are full of natural resources below ground and perfect motorcycling roads above. We’ll spend the day immersed in captivating natural landscapes. We’ll cross several mountain passes before arriving in Castilla-León’s lake country at the foot of the Picos de Europa.
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Day 7: Palentine Mountains – Vitoria
Today we’ll ride to the charming Basque capital of Vitoria. We’ve planned a route through several mountain ranges, valleys and beautiful remote areas. We’ll also ride through a few natural parks east of the Picos de Europa and the Cantabrian Mountains before finally setting foot again Euskadi (Basque Country).
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Day 8: Vitoria – Bilbao
Our last riding day will be a beautiful route that crosses the entire Basque Country from south to north. After several mountain passes we’ll arrive at the coast. We’ll ride beautiful local roads and pass through authentic fishing villages while experiencing the wildest landscapes of this coastline. In our hearts the Essence of the Northern Spain will live forever!
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Day 9: Flight back home
Today you will say your goodbyes to the guides and the other tour members (now your new friends) as you make your way to the airport to fly home. Until our next motorcycle adventure together! Hasta Luego!
Included in Tour:
- Airport pickup on the first day of the tour.
- Overnight accommodations in high quality hotels
- A gourmet dinner every night (except on rest days).
- Complete buffet breakfast every morning.
- New model BMW motorcycle fully equipped with 3 BMW cases.
- Tour handbook (normally about 70 pages-very comprehensive) and highlighted map.
- Expert multilingual guide on a motorcycle.
- Multilingual guide in support vehicle which will carry your luggage, any oversized purchases you make; or even a passenger or two.
- Tour Souvenirs.
Not included in Tour:
- Air ticket, lunches, gasoline, drinks, tolls, personal spending and tips
