Few mountain ranges anywhere stand so close to the sea. The Picos de Europa rise to over 2,600 metres barely 20 kilometres inland, their grey limestone walls catching the first Atlantic light — the peaks that, sailors said, told them Europe was near.
The journey meets these mountains twice. One day heads inland through the Liébana valley to the mountain town of Potes, with its stone bridges and Monday market, before returning to the coast at Comillas. The other is a dedicated mountain day in the Picos de Europa themselves — limestone peaks, deep gorges and high pastures, among the most dramatic landscapes of the whole route. Travelling west these are days three and five; travelling east, days four and five.
The Fuente Dé cable car, at the head of the Liébana valley, is not part of the train's programme; guests who would like to ride it can add it to a stay in Cantabria before or after the journey.
A landscape of the senses
This is also the land of Cabrales, the powerful blue cheese cured in mountain caves — tasted, of course, with a local wine.
