Tours/Santander/Full Day Private 4WD Tour from Bilbao to Picos de Europa. Fine meals.
Viator · Private tour

Full Day Private 4WD Tour from Bilbao to Picos de Europa. Fine meals.

4.3(6)Santander1 hour
VIATOR5.0(2)TRIPADVISOR4.0(4)

Description

The Picos de Europa National Park offers some of Europe's most spectacular mountain scenery. Your guide and driver, Juan Fernandez Buelga is a knowledgeable person with a BSc in Geology but more important, lots of experience touring north Spain. He can design a customized full day tour starting in the city of Bilbao, driving into the Cantabria and Asturias provinces, enjoying time in the heart of the Picos de Europa. Important: included in the price are quality meals and drinks (lunch, dinner and snacks). While professionally I am focused in geology some people consider I am a true foodie so I always point to my customers to the type of food that they like for each moment. This is only a one day tour but it is enough to visit Cantabria and the Picos de Europa, starting from Bilbao.

Tour Options

Full Day Private 4WD Tour from Bilbao to Picos de Europa. Fine meals.
  • Pickup included

Itinerary

10 min

Pick up of the customer at your prefered location.

40 min

The winding road of "El Desfiladero" starts in the village of Panes and finish near the village of Potes. We will stop in several off the beaten path locations along the Desfiladero for quick stops, taking photographs, etc.

60 min

A visit to the beautiful small village of Potes. We could have an snack and a drink in this village before going up in the mountains to have lunch around 1 pm.

Admission included120 min

In the heart of the Picos de Europa , Fuente Dé cable car saves a height of 753 meters, placing the traveler at 1,823 meters high in just 4 minutes at a speed of 10 m / s. From the top station the visitor will be struck by a landscape of immense beauty. Tickets included in the price.

360 min

This is going to be a custom made part of the tour around the most special areas of the park. The exact places will depend on different factors like weather and/or wishes from the client!

60 min

We will park our 4WD vehicle here to spend some time in Sotres, the highest village of the Picos de Europa.

30 min

Quick stop in the small village of Arenas de Cabrales, Asturias.

Admission included120 min

From Santillana del Mar we could drive towards Santander and Bilbao. If have time we could stop for dinner in Laredo or a nearby village.

Highlights

Personal photographer
All entrance fees to cultural buildings and museums.
Alcoholic Beverages
A selection of "pinchos and tapas" (finger food) in selected places.
Main meal in one of the best restaurants of the area. Exact location will depend on availability and / or wishes of the client. Possibility of snack - sandwich in the mountains IF THE CLIENT PREFERS.
Finger food
Fuente De cable car tickets

What's included

Included
Personal photographer
All entrance fees to cultural buildings and museums.
Alcoholic Beverages
A selection of "pinchos and tapas" (finger food) in selected places.
Main meal in one of the best restaurants of the area. Exact location will depend on availability and / or wishes of the client. Possibility of snack - sandwich in the mountains IF THE CLIENT PREFERS.
Finger food
Fuente De cable car tickets
Not included
Photo printing

Pickup Locations & Times

We can pick you up in your hotel, airport or at any other location near Bilbao.

Traveller Ratings

4.3
6 reviews
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Important Information

  • Service animals allowed
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Reviews(6)

M
Maya_D
February 1, 2026
Amazing experience with a...

Amazing experience with a great tour guide and delicious food. We saw beautiful areas of the national park and small towns. Lunch was one of our best meals in Spain. Highly recommend

Operator response

Thank you for your nice review. It was a pleasure to show you the beauty of the Picos de Europa National Park. Best regards. Juan

R
rsmleung
May 13, 2023
The tour operator cancelled our booking about two days before the tour began, saying that “I can cancel whenever I want”

The tour operator cancelled our booking just about two days before the tour began. We booked the tour more than three months in advance to secure a place. We then plan our trip, including purchasing air tickets to fly from Madrid to Bilbao. Planning a trip is not a simple thing like you can eat an orange if there is no apple. It involves time, money, opportunity costs and a lot of thought. Such cancellation with this short notice period has adversely upset our travel plan. Should we have not joined a tour to Picos De Europa, we might not probably fly to Bilbao. The tour operator said “I can cancel whenever I want”. However, this has not been reflected in the cancellation policy. The cancellation policy only says “For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience”. This should mean from the customer’s side. Nowhere can see that the tour operator can cancel whenever he wants. In fact, the tour operator had sent a message to us a few days before the tour began, asking us if we could start or start and finish the tour at Santander and he could arrange a private taxi service for us because he had another tour the next day. He further asked us whether we could join the tour one day before our confirmed scheduled tour. However, before we replied, the tour operator had cancelled our confirmed scheduled tour. We want to point out that the tour operator offers this tour every day. If he does not want to run the tour on any two consecutive dates, he should mark the day before and the day after the confirmed tour unavailable, but he did not do that. It is highly suspicious that he is picking customers. We tried to accommodate his request, thinking that it would not do much harm to us if we could do him a favour. Nevertheless, he said that he had already cancelled our tour without providing any reason, just saying “I can cancel whenever I want”. Such business operation means that the customers have no protection at all. I would blacklist this tour operator and would not recommend it to my friends or relatives.

Operator response

Hello Suk, I wrote you: “Yes. From my side I can cancel whenever I want. But I have cancel it well before 24 hours.” “If you have more questions about cancelation police you can email Viator. “ I cancelled it because you did not reply to my messages regarding our tour until several days after contacting you. That was the only reason for the cancellation! As I wrote you in private. I am very sorry that your travel plan was modified by our lack of communication. Regards, Juan

J
James_B
May 7, 2023
The Best

This private all-day tour with Juan was one of the most memorable experiences of our two week cruise of Spain, Portugal, and Bordeaux France. We love to get out into the countryside and get a real flavor for the area and the people. This tour fulfilled all of that and more. Juan could not have been a better host, and the Picos de Europa was absolutely beautiful! To top all of that, Juan treated us to the most wonderful lunch at the restaurant at Hotel del Oso. The Cocido Lebaniego was delicious, so good that we had Juan send us the recipe! We recommend Juan and his tour as a “must do” for anyone traveling in the Bilbao/Santander area.

Operator response

Hello James. Thanks for your wonderfull review. Much appreciated! I will contact you with the photos soon. Best regards. Juan

S
Sofia714
June 13, 2022
An Exceptional Experience

Juan was knowledgeable, flexible and professional. He easily adjusted the itinerary to accommodate several special requests. Picos de Europa ended up being the highlight of our entire trip to Spain and Portugal!

J
jjandtr
January 13, 2022
Amazing tour guide for Picos de Europa and Asturias/Cantabria

We took a couples trip to Northern Spain and were very excited to explore Asturias for the first time. We could tell it would be an amazing place in terms of cuisine and natural beauty but felt it would be helpful to have a good guide. Juan was perfect. He worked with us ahead of the trip to plan a two-day itinerary that most interested us Our first day, he picked us up from our hotel and drove us around the most interesting sights (ancient yew trees, mountain villages, etc.) in Picos de Europa, saving a lot of time and treating us to spectacular scenic drives by going off-roading. I am certain we wouldn't have seen the same sights if we had planned the trip ourselves. We covered a lot of ground, and Juan also selected an excellent restaurant for lunch that was not very touristy. Our second day, Juan again picked us up and drove us around a host of different cities and coastal fishing towns in Austrias. He again tailored the trip to our interests--picking a fish and seafood restaurant as well as a tapas/sideria restaurant. We tried many delicacies and learned a lot about the region. We went to many different shops, and Juan was really patient with exploring how we wanted to and adjusting along the way. There's a lot to recommend in Juan. His English is fantastic (although he's very modest). He's friendly and knowledgeable, but he's also very chill and easygoing to be around for multiple days. He's a great driver in offroad and urban settings and makes your trip so enjoyable and easy. He takes very nice photos during the trip and sends them to you afterwards. He's very communicative and will give you suggestions for other parts of your trip. We had a great trip as a couple, but because Juan has kids, I think he would also be a great guide for families and really anyone. We loved our trip and are so grateful to Juan for everything he did to make us feel so welcome and make the trip memorable.

Operator response

Hello!! It was a pleasure to spend two days with you! Thanks very much for your nice review. All the best! Juan

R
Relax56696549703
January 14, 2020
Fantastic experience!

My husband and I took the Picos de Europa tour with Juan as the tour guide. It was an awesome day, probably the best of our days in Cantabria. Unforgettable!

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