Tour of Spain and Portugal 2006

This is a brief account of the trip I made to the Picos in Spain and then down to the Duoro Valley and Northern Portugal at Easter time 2006. The bike I used for this journey was my very capable and superb Honda Pan European ST1300

Unfortunately my Nikon Digital Camera was not working on the way down (it was rattled about in the top box a couple of weeks earlier and I stupidly forgot to check it before leaving for this trip) so I was not able to make any photographs of the journey down to Potes in the Picos region. A quick spin to one of the slightly larger towns near and a visit to a very nice man in the camera shop saw me smiling at the purchase of a new pocketable Nikon with 5 million pixels - set up for the rest of the journey - good price too and with replaceable batteries instead of rechargeable - good news when travelling.

The journey down was superb - I took the decision to pay a bit extra and book a much better cabin on the PO Ferry - I chose this option because it is a bit cheaper than the Britanny Ferries one although it takes a day longer - booking the cabin upgrade makes the same price but hey you get a 2 day cruise, with ensuite, tv, breakfast abd fresh fruit in the room!!! Quality eh!

First stop was Potes in the Picos - what a fantastic place. The roads are a tourers fantasy and the views nothing short of spectacular. Deep sided gorges and bends to dream about, plenty to catch you out as well to take care anyone thinking of going. It is a shame that I hadn't bought my new camera at this point so there is nothing to show except a couple of photos I took on the way back from the camera shop that illustrate the mountain ranges from the road.



Potes is a very attractive town on the centre of the Picos and is a must for travellers, plenty of accomodation. I stayed at the Picos de Europa Hotel just off the centre of town. Very reasonable and comfortable. There is not a lot to do in the town itself although the hotel does arrange tours on quads if you want - next time perhaps for me.

Click on the image below for a selected photo album of the trip

Portugal selection for web