Picos de Europa trip - 5-12 Sept 2026
Five club members and an honorary friend converged on the Picos de Europa National Park in Northern Spain. Margaret, Fiona, Mel and Martin took a bus to Edinburgh Airport and flew to Santander, while Helen and Liz took a longer route via Porto. Hire cars delivered everyone to the stone villa as dusk was falling in San Pelayo near Potes. It was a comfortable stay, with communal meals planned by the group.
Over the course of the week the group stayed together on most days, with smaller splinter groups for longer jaunts. The Picos area is a series of limestone escarpments, standing tall above the wooded valleys and split by steep, twisting river canyons. In addition to local walks around Potes and San Pelayo, through Holm Oak forests, there were several bigger days. Flies in the trees were bothersome, but crickets and lizards were also common.
On Day 2 a steep mining trail led 800m up to the remote village of Tresviso. The trail clings to the side of the limestone escarpment, zigzagging steadily up, although reportedly never steeper than a mule could manage… In the heat we were glad to reach the shelter of a taverna in Tresviso to sample the local cheese and rehydrate. Circling vultures, feral goats and a distant Chamois accompanied the walk, from fig trees low down to bare slopes higher up.
The following day we took the cable car at Fuente De to the top of the glacial circ at El Cable (1800m). From there good tracks led across the plateau to the foot of Horcados Rojos (2509m) and Pena Vieja (2614m). Rock and scree steep ascents to the summits proved challenging, more for the risk of rockfall than the heat, which was manageable. A careless guided tourist kicked off a melon-sized rock on his descent which bounced unpleasantly close to us, and we were careful with foot placements thereafter on the scree-covered rock. We hustled down to miss the worst of the expected rain.
The final big day was back up the cable car, and then a looping walk to Pico de la Padiorna (2314m), a high meadow of Vega de Liordes and down to Fuente De via the Canal de Penabejo. Following rock cairns and dabs of paint at times, we came across first one and then a herd of Chamois grazing, Alpine chough and a rather special Wallcreeper bird. At times it was hard to find the route through the steep barren limestone landscape, at least if you missed the paint marks on the rocks. This day was most rewarding, taking us from the most beaten tracks and showing another face of the Picos. Beer and icecream were welcome after the 5km landrover track into Fuente De.
Following an easier day, we took a 2h drive round to The tourist feature – the Cares Gorge. This path was built to service a water channel to a treatment works, and winds its way around the hillsides through rock cut-outs, often high above the river, and through numerous tunnels. We walked 5km from Cain before turning back and enjoying the section in reverse. Many photos were taken, but it is hard to get a sense of the scale of the place. The 2h drive home took us over two mountain passes and round numerous hairpins, easier for the driver than the passengers..
On the final day we headed back to Santander for a late afternoon flight, via the coastal port of San Vicente de la Barquera, arriving late at night into Inverness. An enjoyable trip, with a good company. I for one have plans to return to the area for some hut-to-hut walks.
Taking part: Fiona, Helen, Liz, Margaret, Martin, Mel.
Words: Martin; Photos: all.
