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Picos de Europa hiking trip: trying to avoid renting a car / weather question

Posted by (Philadelphia) on

Hello!

I'm planning a trip to the Picos in late May/early June, with the primary focus being hiking. I'll be flying into Bilbao, and have about 8 days for the trip.

Public transportation (bus or train) from Bilbao to the park looks to take a very long time and unfortunately the rental car is looking to be about $700 + gas--ouch. Ideally I'd get from Bilbao to one point in the park (maybe Poncebos, Sotres, or Fuente Dé) via public transport, hike hut to hut or town to town and then end up back where I started.

What is the most efficient transportation choice for this? Would getting a cab be a good option? I'd hate to rent a car and then let it sit for a week--what a waste. If I had to rent one, I'd probably pick a couple places to stay during the week and drive between them.

P.S. Any chance we can hike into higher elevation at this time of year? Obviously will have several route options and diligently check the weather. I'm fine staying lower, but getting up high would be nice... I can't find much info about late spring weather in the Picos, other than it's pretty good, but not as good as summer. Would love more information about high altitude snow trends.

Thanks!

Posted by
28552 posts

There's some public-bus transportation from Santander, but I think you may be too early for that. The bus running in June didn't go very far into the park. Having been told there would be more transportation in July, I headed west to Oviedo and Leon, then doubled back to Santander. On July 7, 2016, I was able to take a one-day bus tour of the park that originated in Santander. I believe it ran only once a week, on Thursdays, and started in early July. You might contact the tourist office in Santander to see whether it has information on public buses or other ideas for you.

I didn't see a great deal of the park, but I found the old stone town of Potes charming, though touristy. Googling for info on Potes may turn up email addresses or websites for outfitters in that area who could provide useful information.

My tour included a trip up the Fuente De cable car. There were patches of snow on top when I visited. Here's what TripAdvisor has to say: https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionReview-g1070758-d10531519-Reviews-TelefericoFuenteDe-FuenteDe_Cantabria.html The comments about the ticket line are consistent with my experience.

Posted by
4196 posts

I'm not sure this is the type of holiday you are envisioning but I spent 3 nights at the Parador de Fuente Dé, back in mid-September of 2015. It was so convenient to stay right in the Picos de Europa National Park, the views were incredible from my room.

I really enjoyed the hiking (I'm an amateur though) in the area all accessible by foot, just get up early to beat the lines to take the adjacent cable car up to the top, and there are a number of alpine trails that go all over the national park. In May you are sure to find snow up there in the higher elevations.

Posted by
498 posts

I just checked Auto Europe May 25-June1 and got a $263 quote.

We were in the Picos last Ocotber and had great weather. We had a car but the bus didn't look like a good option. As far as the weather we decided not to go in the spring on the advice of Carlos, he had some old Spanish saying about rain in springtime.

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