santander to seville

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banjaxed
Posts: 27
Joined: 2 Jun 2012, 12:04pm

santander to seville

Post by banjaxed »

I am about to book a ferry to Santander on Sunday with a view to cycling south to Seville and then on to Cadiz.

I'm reasonably happy that the main route south will be the N630 and/or the via de la plata but I'm struggling to find a route to get there from Santander. Do I aim to join it at Leon?, Benavente?). If so what is the best route from Santander

I haven't over-trained for this trip (!) so I want to avoid climbs where possible. I am also averse to traffic of any significant volume.

(Thanks to all those who responded to previous post btw)
benvrackie
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Joined: 9 May 2012, 10:32am

Re: santander to seville

Post by benvrackie »

You can take the Feve train along the coast. Maybe train to Unquerra then cycle on to Potes Riano Cistierna and pick your way down to Zamora and so on South to Seville. It's a tough old cycle from Potes over to Riano but after that it's easy going once you're clear of the Picos de Europa. I did it along those lines last May on route to Portugal as far as Zamora but I then headed West instead of South. Great quiet roads all the way.
benvrackie
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Joined: 9 May 2012, 10:32am

Re: santander to seville

Post by benvrackie »

The Station for taking the Feve train along the coast is pretty close to the Ferry Port about a 15 min walk.
kernow montpelier
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Joined: 30 Aug 2009, 8:43pm

Re: santander to seville

Post by kernow montpelier »

Following on from benvrackie's advice...you could stay on the train to Arriondas and then ride to Riano via Cangas de Onis and the Puento del Ponton on the N625. This is a couple of hundred metres or so less of a climb than going from Potes and over San Glorio and takes about 10km more to climb it in. They are both very beautiful rides/roads. If you have time then you could ride along the coast to Llanes and then cut into Cangas de Onis to help get the legs in. The ride out of Santander can be done on cycle path to (almost) San Roman. I may be on the same ferry and if so will be happy to point the way. I'll post on here Saturday if I am!
Have a good time.
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b1ke
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Re: santander to seville

Post by b1ke »

The Cangas route is the one I mentioned in your last post on this trip.

Very nice ride through the valley, before you climb to the 1300 metre pass. We did it on a fully loaded Hase Pino tandem and managed it. The gradient is not overly harsh. We wild camped near the pass. Didn't look to be much in the way of accommodation up there. If you cycle along the coast to Arriondas, there are a fair few climbs, so the Feve train (pretty cheap) is a good option as far as Ribadesea or Arriondas.

You'd probabably make it as far as Mancilla the following day which is on the main Camino de Santiago so plenty of Albergues. From there it's not that far to Benevente and you're on the Via de la Plata so you'll find Albergues all the way to Seville. The road out of Benevente to Zamora is a bit of a pig to find. We had to walk along a path alongside the motorway to get to it. Tourist information in Benevente may know of a better way. The road to Zamora was very busy. After Zamora it gets a lot better.

Because you're riding the Via de la Plata backwards, you may want to get a detailed map if you want to do the off-road sections. We stuck with the N630 because the tandem wasn't suited to off-roading. We also didn't have a great map.
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al_yrpal
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Re: santander to seville

Post by al_yrpal »

Be careful of the bears.

Al. :)
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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