We made a trip to Northern Spain in October 2015 to "scout out" the Picos de Europa as a venue for mountain walking, and this two week trip was the culmination of that planning. The area is not that well known and good guide books in English are scarce, as are good maps of the standard of the Ordnance Survey series in the U.K. Hence we felt we needed the help of an experience operator, and booked the trip through Colletts Mountain Holidays of Saffron Walden. The Colletts plan is very flexible; you can arrive any day that you want and stay as long as you want; there are two organised walks each day (an "Easy" walk and a "Hard" walk), with the exception of Wednesday and there are Colletts staff on hand to walk with you. Colletts make it clear that their staff are not professional guides and the word "Guide" is never used, but Colletts offer their own description of 30 standard walks in the area.

Colletts have an arrangement wit Posada El Corcal, a nice hotel situated in Tama, a couple of kilometers from Potes. Breakfast is served in the Posada, and the evening meal is served in the Posada's restaurant, Casa Fofi, fifty yards away.

Colletts Mountain Holidays,
3a Market Hill,
Saffron Walden,
Essex CB10 1HQ
Tel: 01799 513331
https://www.colletts.co.uk

Posada El Corcal,
Carretera General,
39584 Tama.
Tel: 00 34 942 730 734

The entrance to Posada El Corcal is down a short narrow lane immediately before the Casa Fofi; it is better to park in one of the two designated parking areas on the main road and to walk down to the Reception at the Posada. It is possible to drive down to the Reception, but unless you have a small car there is a danger of scraping the side on the narrow turns.