Away from the Crowds

Reviews

Best trip ever!

Best trip ever! We had such fantastic time!

We only had one hiccup one day in that some luggage got left behind but it was quickly remedied.

My son and I were the only ones on human powered bikes and I definitely held up the group on the hills (which there were many!😂) but no-one minded, it was so beautiful.

All of the accommodations were varied and perfect.

All of the people we met were so friendly and with the exception of one idiot driver the cars and trucks that passed us were so polite…and the food!

I would (and have!) recommend this trip to everyone!

Kelly Bird and all the family! Ketchum, Idaho, USA

Such fabulous photos, Kelly! And Sydney won the photo of the month! Hope to see you all again soon!

AFtc

The food was amazing and generally very inexpensive.

We loved our first family cycling trip and thanks to the Away from the Crowds team for making it special for us. We definitely want to explore another of your tours - but we'll need to incorporate some rest and relaxation days for some of the family!

The food was amazing and generally very inexpensive. We got lucky by being able to visit “Spain’s Best Burger” competition in Santander the night before we started, and then enjoyed eating and drinking very well en route including an incredible Fabada Asturiana on a wet cold day near Prado (when we really needed it), and lots of local cider. Was also great to get to know some really nice regional wines (Rueda is my wife’s new favourite).

The whole trip was magical, but my favourite parts of the route were the (many) stretches along the coast, arriving at Santillana del Mar (and being there when the day trippers had all left) and the inland stretch before Llanes.

We had a lovely trip and the Green Coast was a fantastic route. The route was varied and interesting, definitely finding trails we wouldn’t have found ourselves!

Homberger Family: Martin & Kirsten, Madeleine(20), Nicolas(14), Dubai, UAE

It was a pleasure to host you! Thanks so much for sharing your lovely photos and this positive feedback!

Aftc Team

our destinations provided a sense of Spain in remote mountainous regions and small villages.

The route was amazing! I had not heard of the Picos de Europa range and I feel given the challenges of the terrain, our destinations provided a sense of Spain in remote mountainous regions and small villages.

What a relief it was to have the downhill section of the Hermida gorge! This was a stunning ride along the river.

The visit to Bulnes, and road to Fuente de Cable Car was a special experience I will remember well! We toured the cheese caves which offered an understanding of a deep-rooted farming culture and why there were so many cows roaming the slopes and roads!

As Wendy mentioned, we continue to recommend Senderos Y Pueblos (we are still trying to learn Spanish!) and I also appreciate all the effort taken to provide us with a great experience in Spain.

Warm Regards, Dianne Murray Victoria, Canada & Wendy Calzone, Connecticut, USA

Always a pleasure to host you both Dianne and Wendy! We're glad you enjoyed your route and we hope to see you soon.

Aftc

Such friendly people and such delicious and reasonably priced food and drink.

We did the Green Coast tour with Away from the Crowds at the end of June and had a wonderful time!

Everything about it was well organised, from the booking of the holiday onwards. Bikes were of a good standard as were the route maps in paper and online form.

We enjoyed the routes each day. The hills could be challenging but the sights and smells of this beautiful part of Spain always made them seem worthwhile.

Accommodation was of a high standard and we loved exploring a little in a different town each night.

This is a wonderful part of Spain and reminded us of our home country of Ireland. Such friendly people and such delicious and reasonably priced food and drink.

Overall a terrific experience which we would highly recommend.

Hilary & Patrick Caithness, Ballymena, Northern Ireland

We're delighted to hear that you found the people friendly and enjoyed the delicious food and drink. The artisan cider is a favourite of ours!

Aftc

the individual personality and quirkiness that adds to the interest of the holiday...

We would like to thank you for a wonderful Green Coast cycling trip.

May we compliment you and the team in Senderos y Pueblos on the extremely well organised cycle trip.

The weather was better than here at home but the rain on one of the days reminded us of Ireland! The coastline in part is very reminiscent of the West of Ireland!

The key points for us (apart from the beautiful landscape and breath-taking views on the trip itself) were: Receiving details of the trips by email well in advance of the trip, having the route book and maps for each stage of the journey waiting for us at the hotel the day before starting the cycle...the hotels which were all excellent and, in the smaller towns/villages, had the individual personality and quirkiness that adds to the interest of the holiday...

Once again, many thanks,

David & Christine Doody, Dublin, Ireland

Thanks for your positive feedback, David and Christine! We hope to see you soon!

Aftc

I can't believe more people don't come here.

It was spectacular. I can't believe more people don't come here. The scenery was jaw-dropping and there was so much cultural richness.

Away From the Crowds accommodated us with a tandem which really helped navigation and made it possible for us to talk and point things out. The panniers were great.

The hotels were really nice and the routes were wisely selected.

When our chain broke in the middle of nowhere, the company came to our aid within 20 minutes.

When our gears needed a quick tune-up they talked directly to a local bike shop and paid for everything.

Can't recommend this outfit enough.

Sarena Neyman. USA.

places we would never have found

We love the scenery; people; food; weather; the route was amazing.

My tag line for this company is: Away from the Crowds and "off the beaten path".

We saw and cycled places we would never have found on our own. The only issue was that we wanted more time every place we went...

Can't wait to do another trip!

Laurie Wood, USA.

It’s such a great place to cycle, and drivers are very considerate when we’re on the main roads.

I would like to share some feedback from the trip we took to Spain’s Green Coast from May 17th to 23rd this year. We are extremely happy with the trip, the hotels, and the region. We’ve been to Spain many times before, but never to this area from Santander to Gijón. It was very un-Spanish and exciting.

The daily stages varied from 32-52 km, which might sound quite short at first. But it gave us plenty of opportunities to stop along the way and, not least, time to explore the places where we stayed overnight. The choice of accommodations was absolutely great—centrally located, right in the heart of the villages/towns, with short walks to cider houses, tapas bars, or restaurants.

The bikes were light and nice, and we had no accidents along the way.

The temperatures in May ranged from 11 to 20 degrees Celsius, with heavy rain one morning. We passed many beautiful beaches, which would surely be more tempting for swimming in July...

What we remember most are the fantastically colorful houses—purple, bright green, orange, sky blue—the delicious seafood dishes, and not least the cider that was served with a dramatic pour from above. After three cycling trips in Spain, we’ve become true fans of biking in Spain 🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️. It’s such a great place to cycle, and drivers are very considerate when we’re on the main roads.

Katrin & Sigmund Varhaug, Norway

We adored the quiet roads and the flower-covered meadows

We loved every town and city we stayed in and found the countryside beautiful - both the mountains to our left and the coast to our right.

The grade of cycling suited us too - each day was a good length and challenging enough for regular cyclists like us (we even found a couple of the ascents very steep - and we're used to lots and lots of steep hills where we live!).

The standard of accommodation was very high - we particularly liked the hotels at Llanes, Santillana de Mar and Ribadesella (although all were good).

The beaches were beautiful and - although we didn't stop to swim in all of them - we did bathe at Playa Ballota near Llanes (the cycle back up from the beach to the road is tough!) and Santander.

We adored the quiet roads and the flower-covered meadows and there were some great lunch stops overlooking the coast. We really liked the flexibility that the self-guided aspect of the holiday afforded us - as long as we had our stuff packed and ready for the taxi driver, we were able to plan the day as we wanted from then on.

Being able to eat late in the evening suited us well and we found the food available was both reasonably priced and varied. The towns where we stayed at were very well-chosen and were interesting to look around in the evening and before setting out in the morning.

Villaviciosa was a town that didn't look interesting initially but was spotlessly clean and had a lovely old quarter - as well as a walk out of the town up a extremely steep hill giving great views back down to the town (as well as the best cafe of the whole trip! (Pasterelia Viena, Calle Victoria Garcia de la Concha)).

Ribadesella also had a good walk up to the top of a nearby hill to look down across the estuary. Looking back over the photos I've not covered half of what we saw and enjoyed along the way.

We'd definitely visit and cycle the in the area again. I'm already looking at the other holidays you have on your website for next year.

As mentioned above the steepness of some of the ascents could be difficult for the occasional cyclist as could the more technical off-road parts - although we loved how challenging the cycling was.

Simon and Sharon Wilkins. UK.

very good bikes and equipment

We have finished our tour and just want to share some impressions.

First the basics: amazing weather, very good bikes and equipment and personal introduction, well picked hotels.

Second the tour itself: perfect routing and route description, gourgeous mix of landscapes, views and roads as well as a good balance of workout and relaxation.

Thanks for all your efforts! We will surely recommend you to family and friends. 👌🤓

Cheers & Greetings from Gijon,

Ilona & Manfred, Germany.

we had an absolutely wonderful time

My wife and I did the green coast ride in September 2019, we had an absolutely wonderful time. The route chosen by Away From the Crowds is brilliant and they were very organised both before we started riding as well as during the ride.

We were sent all the required information well before we started riding, which was very detailed and covered all we wanted to know.

Their support during the ride was great and just a phone call away.

We chose to take the ‘standard’ bikes (as opposed to the electric bike option). Though the bikes were not top of the range (which is unrealistic to expect) the bikes were appropriate and in good condition. It’s worth noting, however, if you do choose to take the non-electric bike option, you will need to be relatively bike fit. As 6 days of continuous riding over some scenic but hilly routes will take its toll.

We will happily use Away From the Crowds again and expect you’ll enjoy this ride as well.

Raphael Ozrath and Rita Sully, Australia.

country lanes through the farms and small villages - this was the highlight

The tour was great.

The bikes were good - the electric bike was fantastic and I did not have to summon my inner Contador to do the hills which was great because a few of them were very steep.

The GPS maps were excellent and worked really well.

Communication with Vanessa and Jaime was great, Vanessa helped us out with bike issues and was really prompt and nice.

The terrain was good - the best being the country lanes through the farms and small villages - this was the highlight. Some of the Camino trails were rough and worse was the walkers who decided they needed to walk 3 abreast across the track and not let riders through easily. The roads were OK, the Spanish drivers are very considerate of bike riders!

Hotels were good, clean and the hosts were all lovely. Hotel Chiqui was impersonal but the others were really nice. Our favourite hotel was Don Paco, the best breakfast was in Hotel Jardín. The towns were lovely, all different and we really liked Gijon and were glad we booked another night there. The bike ride down into Gijon was excellent.

So all in all, aside from the first ride day being so wet and unable to do it, I think it went very well and it was a great experience and we loved the north coast of Spain. Would definitely recommend for fit riders and go the electric bike for everyone else. After the first day the weather was warm and it was a great experience.

The ride was the highlight of our 5 week trip.

Yes we did drink lots of Sidra!! And eat lots of Pintxos too.

Thank you

Marisa and Jim Drewe, Australia.

A mix of lovely quiet back roads through stunning scenery and some bigger roads, necessary for visiting the bigger towns and cities.

We have taken three self guided cycling trips with Away from the Crowds over the past several years.

We have always found the communication and service from Jaime and the team to be excellent. The self-guided cycling trips also offer good value for money in comparison with some of the bigger adventure travel companies. Even better with 10% discount for returning customers.

Our most recent trip was the Green Coast cycling trip in October 2022. We have also done the Sevilla to Cadiz and Extremadura Paradors Trips - also in October.

We were a little concerned with the Green Coast climate being described as 'more British', but wanted to try somewhere different to the, more traditionally Spanish, hot and arid south we'd seen previously. We needn't have worried, the weather was still very warm in October, in the 20s with very mild nights too - so yes it rains more than the south and east of Spain, but is really not like the UK in October!

All three of the holidays we have done have been very well planned in terms of routes. A mix of lovely quiet back roads through stunning scenery and some bigger roads, necessary for visiting the bigger towns and cities.

The hotels have been very good and well picked. The Sevilla to Cadiz and Extremadura Paradors Trips offered really top notch hotels, the Spanish Paradors are something to behold, amazing, along with some idyllic rural retreats. The Green Coast accommodation was notably less luxurious but this is reflected in the price of the holiday - still perfectly fine.

For the routes - all three are excellent, the south offers more contrast to the UK and is more traditionally 'Spanish' in terms of scenery. The Green Coast is absolutely stunning in a green and mountainous way, with a lovely haze over the mountains. It almost felt sub tropical at times.

Other things to note:

A little Spanish goes a long way on these trips so do make the effort to learn some - it's not a given that everyone will speak English.

Due to Spain's (frankly quite odd) time zone, the evenings in October are still quite light too, which is nice. Meal times are matched to daylight hours - much later than in the UK. Don't be surprised to find no restaurants open at midday and to be sat on your own if you eat dinner before 9PM!

You need to be pretty fit to enjoy all three holidays mentioned without an ebike. The miles and hills start to add up after several days.

We had another great trip thank you.

Best regards,

Guy and Kate Thompson, UK

The coastal views were fantastic

What an adventurous week of biking we had cycling the green coast. It truly was amazing as we cycled thru small villages, met some locals, we were challenged with a flat tire, major hills, had some fabulous meals and just one day with a heavy rain for about 15 mins.

The coastal views were fantastic as were some of the off road tracks, a few were a bit steep. Of course we loved the downhills!

Tom was our leader w the osm map and after a few days he was able to be more proficient.

All in all it was a great adventure, good restaurant recommendations too.

Thanks for all your help with planning our trip.

Celie and Tom, Texas USA

The bike trip with Away from the Crowds was our favorite part of the trip.

We just got home from our fabulous trip to Spain. The bike trip with Away from the Crowds was our favorite part of the trip.

We found your descriptions of the rides each day to be exact. The printed maps were so helpful to look over each night before the ride.

Then during the day, we had the GPS to guide us to make the correct turns and follow the correct roads. Of course, we made some wrong turns and had to turn around but we didn’t go too far off course!

The routes you sent us on were both difficult and well-chosen. We loved that we were on roads that had very few cars. We found the car drivers to be so careful, always slowing down for us and giving us plenty of room. The trails and roads were just as you described. We appreciate that you were honest and told us that the hills were tough. We anticipated that and trained for them as best as we could.

The hotels were diverse and excellent choices. The staff at the hotels always helped us put the bicycles in a safe place and were very kind and welcoming.

Elaine and Dennis Keogh, Idaho, USA

We're glad to hear you did some training for this route, it's a tough one if you don't choose the e-bike option! Tough but hugely enjoyable, as you discovered! Such a special area of Spain!

Aftc

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