Castle · 0.4 km off the route
Castle of Pedraja
Cultural property in Piélagos, Spain.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: Codigowiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 esSantander, the Picos and the Cantabrian passes
Straight off the ferry to the coast at Comillas, up the La Hermida gorge to Potes, over San Glorio to Riano and the Ponton to Cangas de Onis, then back south over the Tarna pass and across the high plateau through Aguilar de Campoo.
- Distance
- 440 miles (708 km)
- Type
- Loop
- Where
- Cantabria, Asturias and Leon
At 150 to 300 miles a day, this is 2 or 3 days of riding. Set your own daily distance and add rest days.
Plotted by us, not yet ridden
Starts at Santander ferry port
Book this tripCrossing Brittany FerriesBeds from Santander, and each nightCover insurance and breakdownSee it all
Click a dot for details. White dots are the stops, each with a bed search. Yellow dots are places to see.
From the map
- Longest gap between fuel
- 52 miles
- Fuel stations near the line
- 62
- Curvature
- 248 ° a mile
- Campsites within 2 km
- 62
- The longest stretch with no fuel station within 1 km of the line runs from mile 110 to mile 162. Check it against your range with the fuel range calculator.
- The twistiest 20 miles run from mile 121 to mile 141, at 460 degrees of turning a mile.
- Passes: Puerto de San Glorio (1,599 m, mile 93), Puerto del Pontón (1,296 m, mile 122), Puerto de Tarna (1,490 m, mile 241), Puerto de las Señales (1,627 m, mile 243), Collado de Somahoz (1,199 m, mile 353), Puerto de Palombera (1,260 m, mile 373).
- 20 motorcycle shops are within 3 km of the line.
- More routes from this port.
Measured on the route line from OpenStreetMap data, which can be missing or out of date. Curvature is degrees of turning a mile, measured every 100 metres. On our routes they run from 6 on the E19 to 701 on the SP638.
Before you go
- The high passes can see snow from autumn to spring. Check before you go.
- Livestock on the road and loose gravel on the hairpins.
- Brittany Ferries sail to Santander from Portsmouth and Plymouth.
On the way
- Santander
- Comillas
- San Vicente de la Barquera
- Panes
- La Hermida
- Potes
- Puerto de San Glorio
- Puerto del Ponton
- Cangas de Onis
- Infiesto
- Pola de Laviana
- Puerto de Tarna
- Bonar
- Cistierna
- Guardo
- Cervera de Pisuerga
- Aguilar de Campoo
- Reinosa
- Cabezon de la Sal
- Santander
Split it into days
Pick the miles you like to ride in a day. Each day ends at the named place on the route nearest that distance, and you get a GPX file for each day.
This is your pace, not our estimate of how long the riding takes. Day lengths vary because each day ends at a named place.
Ready to ride it?
Plan it with dates in the tour plannerBook this trip
1Getting there
This route starts where the boat or train lands at Santander. Book the bike as a motorcycle, not a car.
- Brittany FerriesPortsmouth and Plymouth to Santander
2Places to stay
- Find a bed in SantanderWhere the loop starts and ends
Split the route into days above and each day gets its own bed search for where it ends.
Back to the days3Cover
Check your bike insurance covers riding abroad, get travel insurance that covers motorcycling at your engine size, and breakdown cover that recovers a motorcycle in every country on the route.
What to check before you buy coverThe country on this route
What GOV.UK says riders need for it, checked 05/11/2026. Rules change, so read the official page before you go.
Spain
- Money
- Euro
- Ride on the
- Right
- Carry your insurance certificate. Check how long your UK policy covers you in Spain
- Some cities, such as Barcelona, ask foreign vehicles to register in advance for their low emission zones
- Using an earpiece while riding is illegal. Only completely hands-free units are allowed
- GOV.UK travel adviceSafety, road travel and local laws
- Entry requirementsPassport and visa rules
On every trip abroad: your licence, insurance that covers riding abroad, the V5C and travel insurance with medical cover. The tour planner turns all of this into a checklist each rider in your group can tick off.
Places to see on the way
Castles, passes, viewpoints and more within easy reach of the line, in the order you reach them. Yellow dots on the map.
Museum · On the route
El Capricho
Museum in Spain.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: Cotarelo75, CC BY-SA 3.0.JPG){kind=link}
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Pass · On the route
Puerto del Pontón
Mountain pass in León Province, Spain.
Photo: Totemkin, CC BY-SA 3.0
Monastery · On the route
Monastery of Santa María la Real in Aguilar de Campoo
Aguilar de Campoo.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: RAntonio, CC BY-SA 4.0
Castle · On the route
Castle of Aguilar de Campoo
Château fort espagnol.
Photo: Luis Fermín TURIEL PEREDO, CC BY-SA 4.0
Castle · 1 km off the route
Castillo de Argüeso
Cultural property in Hermandad de Campoo de Suso, Spain.
Photo: Jesús Gómez Fernández, CC BY-SA 3.0
Pass · On the route
Puerto de Palombera
Gebirgspass in Spanien.
Photo: Andres Jesus Mena Gallego, Public domain
Abbey · On the route
Abadía de Viaceli
Abbaye espagnole.
Photo: Luis Fermín TURIEL PEREDO, CC BY-SA 4.0
Place details from Wikidata. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card.
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