Picos de Europa walking vacation, Spain

Planet

We are passionate about leaving the Picos de Europa Mountains as we find them - we feel lucky to be in a position to benefit from the beauty and wilderness of these trails, and we recognise the need to leave them in a pristine state. As such we operate a strict no litter policy, taking all refuse to either be recycled or properly disposed. We ensure our clients understand how to responsibly manage any toileting in the wild. We work with the policy of ‘take nothing but memories, Leave nothing but footprints’.

We promote travel by ferry to Northern Spain as an alternative to flying. Although the most timely way to get to the Picos is to use a low cost airline, there is much joy to be found in incorporating your travel into your adventure and choosing the lower carbon footprint option of the ferry. You can travel to Santander from Plymouth (18hrs 30mins) and Portsmouth (23hrs 30mins) and to Bilbao from Portsmouth (23hrs 45mins), all with Brittany Ferries. An added bonus to this form of travel is the opportunity to spot whales and dolphins in the Bay of Biscay!
During the adventure we are of course primarily walking to experience the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful country, which is a low carbon way to see the sights. Where required we use private minibus transfers.

During the adventure we introduce our clients to the works carried out by the local charity FAPAS; Fund for the Protection of Wild Animals. Our clients are invited to learn about the Conservation and biodiversity work done by the charity, in the areas we visit and to make a donation to support them, if they would like.

We are very proud to be working with Pure Hydration, specialists in personal and expedition water purification, instantly, and on-demand. We recognise that the ability to produce safe drinking water from sources off the beaten track, of sometimes dubious quality, offers incredible benefits to our adventure travelers and so are excited to be subsidising this product to make it more accessible to you. Having a re-usable filtration bottle avoids single use plastic, with each bottle purifying 350L of water. RRP is £39 but our clients are able to purchase a bottle for £20.00.

People

We work directly with a small Spanish operator based in the heart of the Picos de Europa mountains, who provides a local walking guide (qualified) for our adventures - our clients benefit from their expertise, and they benefit from our employment.

We use small, locally run hotels during our adventure rather than larger internationally run chain hotels. These hotels, due to their more remote location in mountain villages and towns, use and promote local produce and serve traditional cuisine for our clients to enjoy. This adventures sees our clients spending a night in a comfortable mountain refuge at altitude in the Picos mountains. These refuges offer a fantastic service to walkers and climbers exploring the area, and support sustainable tourism. During this adventure, we promote the purchase of packed lunches from our accommodation suppliers also.

The visit to a Cider factory in Llanes, on the last day of our adventure is another opportunity to support local tourism (it is a locally produced product) in the area.

Our Spanish partner has a fabulous network of local contacts who are passionate about developing the right kind of tourism in the Picos, one which supports local communities as well as the environment. Enjoying 2 guides on this adventure, one from our company and one local guide, offers our clients the best of both worlds, supports local tourism, and helps build positive and sustainable relationships between ourselves and the tourism industry within the areas we visit.

As mentioned in our section about the Environment, as part of this adventure, we introduce our clients to the works carried out by the Spanish charity; Fund for the Protection of Wild Animals (FAPAS). Our clients are invited to learn about the Conservation and biodiversity work done by the charity, in the areas we visit and to make a donation to support them, if they would like.