Early Retirement Campervan Roadtrip- Part 1: the Picos de Europa in Spain
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2023
- Much to our embarrassment, we didn’t even know of the Picos de Europa until only a couple of weeks ago. Just over an hours drive from the Santander ferry, we found ourselves in the most splendid isolation high up in the mountains. We drove by cascading rivers, deep ravines and perilous peaks.
We couldn’t have asked for a better start to our European road trip. Join us as we discover some of the best places to visit in the Picos National Park, Spain’s oldest National Park. We tackle the Ruta Del Cares, one of Spains best hikes, wild camp in stunning locations and have a healthy dose of culture visiting the Basilica de Santa Maria high in the mountains.
We are Richard and Jackie and we live in the UK. Our plans for early requirement include relocating to the Yorkshire Dales, developing our forever home and travelling the UK, Europe and eventually the world in our VW campervan Nelson.
You will soon realise that we are complete UA-cam beginners with all the challenges of creating and publishing videos ahead of us, not to mention uploading when on the road.
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Check out our blog earlyretirementwanderlust.com
Many thanks,
Richard & Jackie
I don't campervan but I stayed in one of the hotels near the Ruta del Cares a few years ago. As you know it's close to the river and I wanted to get down for a good photo. I had to pass a campervan in the car park to get down. The door was open and just as I passed this huge dog jumped out barking at me. As you can guess I absolutely jumped out of my skin. Nice to see you met all the friendly goats and the cat just as you reach Cain😂
I hope you didn't end up in the river!! The Picos de Europa were a revelation to us as we didn't even know they existed until a week before we left for Spain. The Ruth del Cares hike is one we will remember for many years - it was stunning (the creatures were pretty ace too!)
Awesome adventure! ❤
Thank you ☺️
I think you should also say the names of the villages/parking places where you stayed. They can be good indications for others.
Hi, the first park up was on P4N near Poncebos and the second we found on the same app near covadonga (carpark 3)
Interesting to see the hike along the Cares gorge. We did it from the Cain end, filming it for our channel. We only made it to the green bridge where there's a spring. Fantastic to see the gorge more open near where you start.
It was amazing all the way along! Well worth the hike 🥾
@earlyretirementwanderlust Did look good but unfortunately one of friends had fallen early on so we felt we had to turn back early and meet back with them. We're bikers not really hikers but we do our best.
The parking story made me chuckle and reminded me of what happened to us in the Pyrenees. We were parked up with a beautiful view and while we were out for a walk a van full of 3 loud Spanish men parked up so close we could open the window and shake hands! They were really noisy and then dissapeared off into the Mountain refuge for a beer. The refuge is very popular and you have to book a table in advance which we had done. Anyway we walked over a bit later and went to the bar to order some drinks and enquire about our table which the men were sat on and looking beligerent when we approached the table initially. Spoke to the staff at the bar and they asked the men if they were planning to have food to which they said yes. Staff told them that as they had not booked a table they would have to leave as it would be very full and they would be in the way of paying guests. They left and when we got back to our van they had gone. Result!
🤣 it’s all part of campervan adventures and makes for funny tales afterwards!
Another great video. Looking forward to the next one. What an amazing location.
Thankyou
Just catching up on your Spanish trip, it looks amazing, reminds me of Italian walking trails in Abruzzo. I would have been as furious as Jackie being woken up and then being desperate for a wee! 🤣 Love the goats, cat and the dog drinking from the mountain side. Thank you for being so inspiring xx
We are off through the Italian alps in the summer so hopefully will find some great hikes - will look up Abruzzo. The Spanish Picos were stunning and another place we want to return to for a longer explore x
Morning, you will find that people in general like safety in numbers which is why they park so close when there is so much space. Great video, very jealous as I start work.
To be fair I much prefer to be parked up where there are a few campers for safety, just not so cosy 🤣 something we are getting used to in Europe on the aires!
Like you, I'd never heard of this place either. It's now added to my (ever growing!) list of places to visit
It was truly stunning
That gorge walk looks soooo cool I wanna go!
Definitely one for the bucket list! It was fab
Beautiful video the area is gorgeous what a treat to share it with you both x x Thanks so much... keep safe... x x x
It truly was stunning!
Fab video guys. The Picos De Europa look fantastic and is a place we definitely want to visit in our new van. That gorge walk was incredible with the most amazing scenery. Well put together video. Thanks for sharing. Irvine & Karen.
It was such an amazing area to visit, we are already planning our next trip in the spring to Spain and to just spend a month or so in that area
Great video.
Thankyou
Wow! Beautiful place! I’ve never even heard of it - thank you for sharing!
The whole of the northern Spain region was stunning. The coast was very rugged like Cornwall with lots of little sandy alcoves
@@earlyretirementwanderlust You have large beaches in Cantabria too
Great, inspirational vid. I really want to explore all of Spain and Portugal. Probably best out of season, May to June or late August to end of September? Your experience with your close neighbours was funny. I would have been tempted to move. Makes me realise that a fitted loo is a definite requirement when we buy a van.
One of our trips next year we plan to go back to northern Spain and explore the coast down to Portugal ghen into the Picos and Pyrenees. It was one of the highlight areas of our whole trip (apart from the Spanish neighbours🤣)
Awesome again guys, and yeah, what’s with people parking right next you to when there is loads of free space!
Winds me right up too 😂
Anyway, keep safe guys 👍
Thanks, something we just have to get used to in Europe especially
Beautiful area, great video.
Have you considered doing a route plot on your vlogs? Adventure Van Freddie is the master of this technique. Re vans parking on top of each other, we are with Jackie, it’s was bizarre and very inconsiderate. We always park as far a way from other vans as possible, so much so people probably think we’re anti social 😂 Looking forward to your next instalment. Thanks for sharing.
I have playing with how to use polar steps app which plots our route so yes we could have a go at adding an update of our route so far on each VLOG, thanks for the idea. On the vans space issue, don’t get me wrong I do like the comfort of knowing there are a few vans around for safety, just not virtually on top of us! Something you just have to get used to in the aires 😬
Fantastic scenery. The parking story reminded me of a story my father told about a time he had to go to the pit in an emergency. When the shift was over he went to the showers but he realised when he was washing there was someone waiting behind him. When he finished the shower he asked the guy why he was waiting when there was 200 showers available and only two people wanting to wash? He replied he always used that shower! 🤨 Thanks for sharing another interesting video.
🤣 people do work in mysterious ways sometimes!! Thankyou
The Picos are stunning! Cangas de Onis was nice. You should check out Logroño and Pamplona, both stunning places. If you are thinking of heading down the med, I'd suggest Roses and Valencia too. 🤙
We will keep a list of all peoples suggestions as we have decided on our next trip to stay in Spain. We are headed up the French Atlantic coast now to Caen for the ferry
@@earlyretirementwanderlust All the north (north-central and west), all the provinces of Castilla (Old Castile including León), and of course Asturias, Cantabria, Galicia, La Rioja and Navarra. It's nice everywhere.
Heading that way in September, was there much potential for using gravel bikes along those routes?
Great vid, have the same Isobaa wardrobe as Richard!
We didn’t use our bikes much northern Spain as we were hiking. Bikes were not allowed on the ruta del cares because of the steep gorge cliffs but we did see quite a few bike paths around. We are in south west France now and there are just so many cycle paths and forest tracks which has been fab
There´s very little violent crime in Spain, but thefts can be quite common in certain areas. A zillion bikes are stolen every year. As such, I´d recommend you pay attention to where you park, and for how long.
Enjoy your stay!
Sadly we were a victim of bike crime in Italy a few years ago where our bikes were stolen from a busy train station under the cctv camera’s so we lock them up like Fort Knox now!! They have 2 kryptonite locks and various chains on at all times and we generally stay in places were there are a few campers or campsites. Beyond that they are insured, we love the freedom they give us so we just keep riding our luck!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust It´s a reasonable attitude towards it, as long as you understand two bikes "secured" like that look like candy for professional thieves, and Kryptonite is nothing but then another brand with good marketing. There´s this UA-cam channel called LockPickingLawyer, with 4M subs, which shows how to pick your "Fort Knox" in a couple of minutes. He even sells the tool to do it. Not to mention professional thieves working with powerful electrical tools, who don´t even bother with lockpicking anything.
Anyway, as a Spaniard who loves bikes and got his stolen in the middle of a busy campus at 12:00 AM, while secured with an expensive motorbike lock, I just wanted to give you a heads up... ;)
Best!
Promo`SM