Northern Spain advice

[Tribbtravs]

Hi everyone
We are are off to France (mid August) then down to northern Spain to follow the Vuelta a espagna, eventually ending up for the last stage in Madrid. We have never been to this part of Spain, only ever having pulled a caravan to the costa brava when the kids were small. I’ve attached a map of the route and would really appreciate some advice on places of interest, aires, campsites or anything that you feel is a must to see whilst in this part of the world. We have no set date to return so want to enjoy a part of Spain that people keep saying is wonderful, by the way we will be taking our own bikes and have a small dog (birder terrier).
Thanks for taking time to answer.

 

[sueandjohn]

Toledo is nice and there is free parking including overnight at the station car park . See Campercontact . You could also take in the windmills of la Mancha

Salamanca Valladolid caceres are nice stopovers . Burgos has a magnificent cathedral

 

[berni109]

It's a hugh area and u could spend months touring.
When we went we just followed the coast with a few inland diversions.
The only place I would not return to is Santiago de Compostela full of religious tourists and tat shops.

 

[MikeD]

It will be very hot in central Spain in August and most of the Spanish flock into Northern Spain as it will be cooler in the mountains. So it will be busy.

We visited in late August and as per our usual did not book anything and we struggled a bit to get on camp sites and suffered at 38c at midnight in central Spain. This was on the day it was raining when we left the Picos mountains.

Cabarceno aire was packed and we could not get in even with our PVC but is very nice. The aire access is as you enter the village square turn right by the Church and its about 100metres down the lane.

Cabarceno Natural Park - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Broken Link Removed

Potes in the Picos mountains is nice and whilst we have not been I am told the Cares gorge is worth a trip if you are a bit brave. https://www.thepicosdeeuropa.com

Another place to visit is the Fuenta de - http://potesaventura.com/en/fuente-de-cable-car/

Driving around the mountains is slow and quite hard work so don't plan to go too far in one day and always try to keep the fuel tank full as MPG plummets.

Just for the sunsets we always drop into http://www.grancampingzarautz.com/es/

Go onto the hill on the RH side of the site with a couple of chairs and a bottle of wine - Stunning.

Site is full of camping/surfing dudes and dudesses and is not great. The resulting early morning and evening "eye candy" as they all trip down to the beach and back did not affect our decision to stay a night or two -

 

[Lenny HB]

We did a fair bit of Northen Spain on our Oct/Nov trip last year, see here.

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[Parrot Face]

We did the Cares Gorge some years back , fab walk but not circular so you return along the same route. Loved the Picos mountains.

 

[Tribbtravs]

Thanks for all your replies, certainly have a few ideas now! ?