2019 Road trip Spain - Santander to Portbou and return

[Frank123]

Hi, that time of the year to organize next year's road trip (see attachment). A group of 4 bikers will travel by ferry (tickets booked) to Santander in early June and then head to the Mediterranean using the N240 and N260 roads on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees and return to Santander via the French side. I'm allowing 11 days, on land, for the trip with 3 to 4 days travelling each way and 3 days on the Mediterranean. Our accommodation standards are fairly basic (not camping). 


Have any of you bikers done this, or a similar route, road trip and if so do you have any suggestions of 'must see' places en-route.


Regards.

[David.]

Have any of you bikers done this, or a similar route, road trip and if so do you have any suggestions of 'must see' places en-route.

Not so much a "must see" place, but a "must ride" road.

In 2014, did most of that route between Bilbao & Andorra. From what I can remember, there was a lot of road building going on. Think they were making the N260 mainly dual carriageway. Unless the road numbers have changed, south of Vielha, the N260 crosses the N230 before re-joining the N260. Between this point and Sort via the N260 is 44.5 miles in a riding time of 1 hr 11 mins. If you can spare the time, I'd seriously recommend a slight detour off the N260. Head north on the N230 through the Tunnel de Vielha to Vielha. From Viella, take the C28 & C13 to Sort, IMO, this section is a "must ride" road, it's 66.0 miles in a riding time of 1 hr 49 mins. Therefore, adding 38 mins to the journey. If I was in the area again, I would definitely ride it again.

Pyrenees C28, C142, C13 to Sort from Vielha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRBojMSjdls

[David.]

Bilbao Transporter Bridge, the World's oldest.

[Frank123]

Hi David, many thanks for that. Your directions are excellent and I had no problem finding that route (see attachment).  I note there was still snow in Pyrenees when you did your trip (month of May?). Did you have any problems with snow/ice on the roads?
Regards.

[Peter Baker]

[size=16px][align=left]I did a similar trip a couple of years ago and used routes posted here http://www.ride.co.uk/routes as my starting points, very few "bum" roads in the trip.  They are all good roads compared to Berkshire:-) but memory the route through Andorra in from the East had some excellent roads.  Peter[/size][/align]

[David.]

Your directions are excellent and I had no problem finding that route (see attachment).

Looks spot on, enjoy.

I note there was still snow in Pyrenees when you did your trip (month of May?).

The video isn't mine, we did the trip at the beginning of September 2014.

[Old-Git]

Another vote for the n230 / 260 route. Enjoy.

[David.]

Very few "bum" roads in the trip. They are all good roads, the route through Andorra in from the East had some excellent roads.

Agreed, we stayed in Os de Civis (accessed via Andorra) and did a circular route through Spain (N260 La Seu d'Urgell to Puigcerda),  France (N20 Puigcerda to the border with Andorra),  & back to Andorra on the N22. On the border between France & Andorra, avoid the tunnels & take the N320 & CG2 roads to Soldeu.

[B787MECH]

Not far from the N260/240 are some lovely Parador hotels which are biker friendly and in amazing locations, such as Parador Sos de Rey Catolico and Parador Argomaniz. A must stay is Parador Bielsa

It's close to the Bielsa tunnel between Spain and France which is a great ride
https://youtu.be/9rrx0OMsOm0
Hope the link works[emoji3]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Frank123]

Many thanks for all your inputs. The video clips and Parador hotels are very impressive. Lots to chew on there.
Regards.