Picos Family Self Drive Adventure Holiday » Itinerary

Arrive in northern Spain. Collect your car at the airport and drive 1½hrs to your charming hotel near the coast.

Spend today with one of Pura’s local guides. Choose what you want to do: it could be walking, riding bikes or a water based activity. Here we assume a bike ride as a fun introduction to the Picos with the chance for lots of swimming.

One of the most stunning walks is to a viewpoint from where you can see all three massifs of the Picos range. Walk to the top a ridge from where you have views of the highest peaks to the south and the sea to your north.

At the heart of the concept is an independent holiday with the guesswork taken out.

What is a Pura Self Drive Holiday?
At the heart of the concept is an independent holiday with the guesswork taken out.

What is included?
What Pura do is book your cars and hotels so that you have the basic structure of your holiday set out. We then give you the information to fill the days in a way that suits you best. That means that you travel with detailed information about the areas you are visiting. This ranges from advice on the best beaches, market days, our favourite restaurants, what to do on a rainy day, etc.

You also have a series of walking scale maps with our own walking notes. You will invariably have more walking notes than days to walk so you can choose which ones to do and which ones to save for a return visit.

To help you make the best choices, at the start of your trip you spend a full day with a Pura guide.

How tailored is it?
Here in the UK we tailor the itinerary to your needs as closely as possible. Of course, once you are actually on holiday you can choose to stick to the letter of the itinerary or change it as you go along.

Your Pura guide also helps you map out the best possible holiday according to weather forecasts, local festivals, your energy levels, etc. They can also help you make any calls you need to book optional activities. Think of it as a bit of fine-tuning. Freedom and flexibility without the guesswork.

What about the cars?
The cars we book for you are good sized cars. Because you are generally going into mountain environments, we make sure that the cars are suitably powerful.

And hotels?
The hotels we use are generally small and family run. The standard varies from luxurious, boutique style to simple, comfortable rustic type places. Rooms are en suite.

We always believe that when you wake up you should know where in the world you are so we place character, location and comfort at the top of the list. If you want uniformed staff, look elsewhere!

Today you can choose to take it easy at leisure on the beach or head off for activities nearby such as walking, mountain biking or surfing. The beach is close by so you can drive, bike or walk there.

The most famous walk in the Picos is the Cares Gorge. The path runs along the wall of the gorge, cut into the rock, narrowing to just two metres in places.

Spend today with your guide again as they lead you through some fun water based activities. Start with canoeing down the Deva or Cares river. This afternoon try canyoning.

Take the cable-car at Fuente Dé for a spectacular three minute ride up 1,000m to the upper reaches of the mountains and a walk up to one of the highest peaks.

After a couple of active days, perhaps you’d like to take it easy today. There are lots of options within a short drive of Potes from easy, scenic walks to pottering about in town.

Stay in a lovely former palace for the next few days. Set off this morning or spend the day in the Picos before driving the 45 minutes to Ruesga.

Relax by the pool today. Read books in the garden or head up to the coast nearby to swim in the sea and sunbathe on the beach. If you are feeling adventurous, the hills surrounding you are home to some of the largest caves in the world.

Head back to the airport for your journey home.