Trekking in Spain - Picos de Europa

First, the Picos de Europa are stunning mountains, with beautiful beech forests on the lower slopes. But the logistics of walking are complicated because there are very few roads. The great thing about this tour is that the itinerary is designed to overcome those logistical challenges. The tour guide has been leading tours for 35 years and is passionate about the mountains and the paths. He and his family run the small hotel where the tour is based. The hotel is clean and simple, and the food is very good. The guide's detailed knowledge of the mountains meant that he was able to make rapid adjustments if the weather required it. Some of the walks are demanding, but all of them present awesome vistas. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and would definitely recommend it.

Thoroughly enjoyable holiday. Our guide was brilliant. He couldn't have been more helpful and reassuring when one of our group fell and injured their knee. The walks were inspirational, although they were quite tough in places.

I must like the Picos, and Sotres in particular, as this was my third visit to Casa Cipriano and Juan Jo and his amazing family. It won't be my last stay in my happy place. Juan Jo's local knowledge informs his guiding of each day's walking allowing them to be tailored to the group's collective and individual abilities. I look forward to sharing the 'hills' and the bar with new companions in 2026. Thanks Juan Jo and Sonia for another marvellous holiday.

As usual (for the third time!) most wonderful scenic walks, warm welcoming guide and family, lovely Asturian food, comfortable accommodation. Will be back "home" again next year. Thank you JuanJo and family.

The week was fun. The hikes were significant in intensity. The people in my group were great. The host and his wife were wonderful. I hope anybody that goes on this trip gets to see a cloudless sky from up in the mountains like I did. You can't really capture that in a picture.

We had a great time in Sotches with Juan. - The walks were scenic - hotel was great. - food amazing - Juan is knowledgeable - Juan and Sonia his wife both share their love of the area, their family and home with us.

JuanJo makes it a 5 star experience on every level! He’s low key but intuitive.

An incredible holiday. We were lucky with the weather, but leader swapped days around so that we had best views on clear days. Hotel was family run and staff were friendly and attentive. All meals were included and they were delicious with huge portions. But best of all was our leader/ guide. He never stopped working, and nothing was too much trouble.

The tour leader Juan Jo looked after us well and changed some of the itinerary days around because of wet weather the first few days, In fact we had the first snow of the season on the Sunday. This worked out fine and we enjoyed the first few days walks until the sun came out. Then having the toughest day last up to the Naranco de Bulnes was great as it was the best day and we had all gained a good level of fitness. As a vegetarian I was delighted with the meals the cook at Casa Cipriano served up. It was a really nice hotel and quiet base to stay at. It was my second visit to Sotres on an Explore trip. I had done my first guided walking trip there back in 1997 and always wanted to go back. I was very happy to see Juan Jo was still the guide and enjoyed the slightly different itinerary with another lovely group of people.

The guide Jaun Jo is excellent, and paced the hikes well. Be prepared for miles of both uphill and downhill, it was quite challenging at times. The accommodations in Sotres were lovely, and quite comfortable. Meals were wonderful. WiFi is not accessible in all areas, so if that’s a need be sure to have a good data plan.

Outstanding guide with a lovely friendly welcoming atmosphere at the family run hotel. Food was hearty and the trip was well organised with flexible itinerary due to the weather.

We had a great time. Juanjo was a lovely guide, very friendly, extremely knowledgeable about the area and led us on great scenic challenging walks. The Casa Cipriano Hotel was exactly right in respect of accommodation and food.

This was my second time on the trip and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. This is a lesser known part of Spain that is well worth seeing and the trip is made so much more by the tour leader Juan and his family run hotel. I would however recommend a time of year for the trip when the temperatures are a bit lower as it is fairly tough hike some days that would probably be less enjoyable in blazing sun and heat.

We had an excellent, very enjoyable trip. The activity was very well planned and extremely well organised. No waiting about or tramping along roads! The hotel was great, a beautiful family run affair and the food was fabulous with as much excellent wine as you wanted. All in all a great holiday.