By ferry

Our ferry from Plymouth was the Brittany Ferries Flagship, the Pont Aven. There was a light wind and a little swell on the beam but the journey was comfortable and uneventful. We splashed out on a De Luxe Cabin and felt it was worth paying extra. The cabin was large enough for the two of us to spread out and relax. We have tried the standard 4-berth cabins for a shorter overnight crossing and did not think we could face 20 hours in such cramped conditions, even with just 2 of us.

Our De Luxe cabin was high up on the starboard. We had a large window for seawatching and hoped to see some marine mammals and scarcer seabirds. We also did some seawatching out on the sun deck and bridge roof, with a concentrated effort in the morning, searching for whales and dolphins as we approached the Cantabrian shelf. Visibility and light were good, but sea conditions were difficult with lots of whitecaps. On this crossing, all we saw were a few Northern Fulmars, Northern Gannets and Herring Gull.

The Pont Aven is similar to other Brittany Ferries - just bigger! The menus are the same; the shops are the same; the bars sell the same drinks. The voyage was comfortable and relaxing. The distant snow-capped Picos are the first sight of land, and the approach to Santander is lovely. Everyone seemed to have their camera ready.
 

On the autopista

Embarkation at Plymouth was smooth but there were delays at Santander. Vehicles were offloaded into four (or was it three and a half) lanes of traffic, which then had to merge into just two lanes for passport control. This was quite chaotic. To confuse matters further, construction of a new car park nearby meant that we couldn't use the normal exit from the ferry terminal. We were given a plan of the alternative route at the Plymouth check-in. Fortunately, numerous Spanish police efficiently and enthusiastically directed us out of the city along a route that took us along a series of normally inaccessible dock roads.

The Spanish autopista from Santander to Torrelavega is unremarkable. It was busy around Santander, but there wasn't a huge volume of traffic otherwise. At Torrelavega there is a tricky interchange but this is well signposted and suddenly the traffic melts away. From industrial Torrelavega to rural Unquera we had the road almost to ourselves. There are beautiful views, especially towards the picturesque coastal town of San Vicente de la Barquera.

We left the autopista at Unquera and headed towards Panes. It was mid-afternoon, siesta-time, and the streets were deserted. Both towns are pleasant, with nothing outwardly special to commend a stop. The countryside between them is pretty however and it is interesting to note how sympathetically new buildings blend in with old.

Into the Picos

Panes is the gateway to the Desfiladero de la Hermida, said by the local tourist office to be the second-deepest drivable gorge in the world. We haven't found out if this is true or not; it all depends on the meaning of deepest and drivable. The gorge is truly breathtaking and a little nerve-wracking when you drive through it for the first time. The narrow N261 road twists along the bottom of the gorge for about 21 km, crossing the Rio Deva several times and passing through the tiny spa of La Hermida. There are few safe stopping places where you can pull completely off the road. In some sections of the gorge you have to observe minimum speed limits. There are mostly two lanes, but give way to trucks and coaches that sometimes need the full width of the road.

The road from gorge emerges into Potes, where we stopped to take on a late lunch, buy a walking map and do some shopping. The final leg of our journey was the 14 km drive from Potes to the Hotel Del Oso in Cosgaya, on the road to Fuente Dé.

Bird species seen en-route included: Black Kite (numerous), Common Buzzard (numerous), Common Kestrel, Feral Pigeon, Common Swift, Grey Wagtail, Common Redstart and Common Blackbird.
 

Return to England

Our return route was the reverse of the outward journey. Down to Potes, then a final drive through the Desfiladero de la Hermida. From then on it was straight back to Santander, with a brief stop at the services near Torrelavega. These were clean and spotless. Unlike British motorway services, there were no newspapers or take away foods to buy. There was a café/bar, inhabited mostly by truck drivers. There were some bocadillos (filled rolls) but these looked a bit tired and past their best. En route we saw Little Egret, Black Kite and Common Buzzard.

The drive back to the ferry port at Santander is straightforward, and there were no diversions. First take signs to the port (La Puerta) then to the ferry terminal (yellow signs). These are clear and easy to spot. Embarkation was efficient and we departed at 1530h. The crossing itself was smooth, but once again birdless. We arrived in Plymouth at 0930h the next morning.

We were fortunate in our choice of date. The next two weeks saw deep Atlantic depressions bringing gales and heavy rain to northern Europe and the Bay of Biscay. Just a fortnight later a freak wave damaged the Pont Aven off Ouessant, but the ship was out of service for less than a week.