Spain

Picos de Europa hiking starts where most Spain travel guides stop. Just inland from the green Cantabrian coast — a short flight or an overnight ferry from Britain — limestone peaks rise above 2,500 metres, high pastures stretch between refugios and shepherds' villages. Our self-guided hut-to-hut trek links them stage by stage. On this page you will find honest answers to the questions that matter most if you are planning a trip from the UK or the US: how hard is it really, three or five days, when can you go, where do you fly into, which town should you base yourself in, and what does it all cost. You will also find the best day hikes in the Picos de Europa, including the Ruta del Cares through the Cares Gorge, for those who would rather walk from a base. For a broader overview of walking holidays in Spain, we have a separate guide to help you compare regions and routes.

Picture terraced olive groves climbing above a deep blue sea, old mule paths built from dry-stacked limestone, and a stone monastery village where you eat on the square in the evening. That is Mallorca beyond the beach, and it is the world you walk through on the GR221 Mallorca, the Dry Stone Route threading through the Serra de Tramuntana mountains from the island's south-western tip to its northern coast. If you are reading this in January wondering about a spring escape from the UK, you probably have the same questions most people do: how hard is it, how many days do you need, which refuges do you book and when, and is it worth the effort of organising? This guide answers every one of those questions using real stage data and honest seasonal advice. Bookatrekking arranges your accommodation, and you receive the app with offline navigation and GPX files for every stage before you leave home.

Life in Spain follows a different daily rhythm than in many other parts of Europe. Lunch is the main meal of the day, afternoons can slow down with a siesta, and dinner often happens late in the evening. Much of this revolves around spending time with others rather than rushing from one thing to the next. These habits don't stay in the cities either. When you go hiking in Spain, you pass through villages where festivals stop everything for days, recipes are centuries old, and nobody seems to be in a hurry. Every region has its own story and its own way of living it.