TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

Star wildlife

• Cantabrian brown bear — dawn and dusk vigils in the western Cantabrian stronghold of Fuentes del Narcea, with an expert local guide

• Bearded vulture — the FCQ vulture-recovery project and supplementary feeding in the Picos de Europa

• Griffon vulture — vast cliff colonies at Valderejo (the largest in the Basque Country) and along the Nervión canyon, present all year

• Egyptian vulture — the elegant black-and-white summer visitor (March–August)

Iberian endemic & specialist birds (found only on the Iberian Peninsula)

• Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei) — endemic to the peninsula

• Iberian chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus) — Iberian near-endemic

• Middle spotted woodpecker — Izki holds around 30% of the entire Iberian population

Other rare Iberian wildlife

• Iberian desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) — endemic to Iberia and the Pyrenees

Signature experiences

• Expert-guided brown bear vigils at dawn and dusk

• Bearded vulture feeding spectacle at the FCQ, with its Visitor Centre Technic guided visit

• Vulture & raptor watching from the Nervión canyon and the Valderejo cliffs

• Osprey boat excursion in Santander Bay, with the Osprey Centre conservation story

• Woodpecker watching from a forest hide in Izki Natural Park

• Idiazábal cheese-making with a working shepherd, and tasting

• A shared meal at a Basque txoko (gastronomic society) in Untza

• Añana Salt Valley — a 200-million-year-old salt diapir — with salt tasting

• Costa Quebrada Geopark "10 million years in one walk" & fossil-hunting

• Nansa river fluvial-path walk & the working Cades Forge (1752)

• Carmona, one of Spain's Most Beautiful Villages, & the "Echar la torta" cooking experience

• Villages of the Montaña Alavesa & the Viboli valley with its beyuscos (horreos ) granaries

• Covadonga Lakes & the Vega de Enol (gamonéu cheese)

• "Wines with History" heroic-viticulture enotourism (DOP Cangas) with tasting

• Floreziendo traditional beekeeping in a cortín (Muniellos) with honey tasting

• Forest-bathing session

• Travel in a 100% electric van • maximum 6 guests • full board • dedicated expert guides throughout

Green Spain Wilderness does not happen in isolation. Our whole expedition unfolds within the Green Spain Ecotourism Reserve—a network of more than 25 protected natural spaces stretching across the four regions of Spain's northern coast: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country (Euskadi). Presented as the largest ecotourism corridor in Europe, it links National Parks, Natural Parks, Nature Reserves, Biosphere Reserves, UNESCO Global Geoparks and Natura 2000 sites under a single shared strategy: to promote genuine nature tourism while actively conserving the landscapes it depends on. Nearly a third of Green Spain's surface is protected natural landscape.

Between the cliffs that defy the Cantabrian Sea and the high Cantabrian peaks, the Reserve is a refuge for travellers who want a different way to travel—away from mass tourism, and close to biodiversity, culture and the communities that keep these places alive.

What it means for the companies that work within it

Membership is a commitment, not a label. Every experience is run by small local businesses inside the protected spaces, following the "Ecotourism in Spain" club and the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism: active conservation, low-impact practices and small groups, certified sustainable stays (many EU Ecolabel), a local-first economy (guides, suppliers, km-0 food), and interpretation over consumption.

Our place in it

Ulle Gorri Travel is a proud member of this Reserve and of Spain's Ecotourism Network. Everything in this itinerary reflects its principles: a 100% electric van, EU Ecolabel-certified family lodgings, a maximum of six guests, meals built on local km-0 produce, expert local guides, and experiences—from the Osprey Centre and the bearded vulture recovery project to the beekeepers of Muniellos and the heroic vineyards of Cangas—that channel your visit straight into conservation and the rural communities of Green Spain.

Where it takes us

This journey threads together protected spaces of the Reserve across three of its four regions—the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias—from the Urkiola, Gorbeia, Valderejo and Izki Natural Parks and the Nervión canyon in Euskadi, through the Costa Quebrada UNESCO Geopark and the River Nansa in Cantabria, to Ponga Natural Park, the Picos de Europa National Park and the Fuentes del Narcea Natural Park with its Muniellos Reserve in Asturias.

14:00 — We pick you up at our Bilbao meeting point and head straight into the rural heart of the Basque Country, and take a very short hike into the Urkiola Natural Park—a mosaic of beech woods, limestone crags and mountain pasture.

Your first encounter is with the pollarded beeches —ancient trees whose repeated pruning has twisted them into enchanted candelabra shapes, their multiple trunks branching skyward like living sculptures. Shaped over generations by charcoal makers—a tradition preserved almost nowhere else but here in the Basque Country and in Canada—they are silent witnesses to the region's old iron industry, when the countless traditional ironworks that once dotted these valleys fed on the charcoal these very trees provided. They stand as living monuments to a landscape where people and wild nature have coexisted for centuries.

The magnificent views from the lookout point help us grasp the sheer grandeur of these parks—and the deep-rooted Basque passion for heading into the mountains and enjoy nature at every chance they get.

You'll then visit a working shepherd to witness the artisanal production of Idiazábal cheese, a tradition inseparable from these mountains—and from the grazing that keeps their meadows alive for wildlife. A cheese tasting will help us restore our energy along the way.

As the day winds down, you settle into your mountain base at Ulle Gorri Farmhouse and discover its permaculture project, designed to restore forest ecology and create habitat for birds—your first taste of conservation in action.

Ulle Gorri sits at one of the richest biological crossroads in Europe. Within a radius of just 50 km, three bioclimatic zones—Atlantic, sub-Cantabrian and Mediterranean—meet and overlap, and this climatic transition is the secret behind the region's staggering diversity: of the 563 bird species recorded in Spain, 347 have been seen in the Basque Country—61% of the country's birds in a tiny territory.

• Accommodation: Ulle Gorri Baserria (Untza, Álava) — family-run rural house, EU Ecolabel certified

• Meals: Welcome dinner at the farmhouse

• Included experiences: Guided visit to Urkiola Natural Park • Idiazábal cheese-making with a working shepherd • Permaculture & forest-restoration visit

The southern, Mediterranean-facing valleys of Álava are among the best-preserved landscapes in the Basque Country—a mosaic of great forests and limestone crests shaped by the climatic dissymmetry between the northern and southern slopes, where the Atlantic and Mediterranean worlds meet. Nowhere captures this transition more beautifully than the Valderejo valley, tucked into the south-west corner of the Basque Country and cradled by imposing limestone walls—a Special Protection Area cloaked in grasslands and mixed forests of European importance.

A spectacular circular hike follows the Purón river gorge toward the San Lorenzo hermitage and the dramatic massif of Vallegrull. These cliffs shelter the largest griffon vulture colony in the Basque Country—one of the most important in Spain—hundreds of birds wheeling and nesting along the rock faces in a truly great nature spectacle. Watching the same crags and thermals, we look for the elegant Egyptian vulture , golden eagle, peregrine falcon, red-billed and yellow-billed choughs, alpine swift and rock thrush, with the alpine accentor on the high tops in the colder months.

Descending tIn the afternoon we descend to the Añana Salt Valley, one of the oldest salt-producing landscapes on Earth—worked since the Roman Empire and, in fact, for more than 6,000 years. Here the salt comes not from the sea but from a geological marvel: a salt diapir, where brine from an ocean that covered this land over 200 million years ago is slowly pushed up to the surface through ancient rock. The result is a spectacular terraced amphitheatre of thousands of pristine white salt pans, still worked by hand by the families who keep the tradition alive. The visit is simply breathtaking—and we'll have the chance to enjoy a guided salt tasting, discovering the flavours and textures of this "white gold".

The return winds through the breathtaking Delika canyon.

• Accommodation: Ulle Gorri Baserria (Untza, Álava)

• Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the farmhouse

• Included experiences: Griffon & Egyptian vulture colony watching at Vallegrull • Purón river gorge circular hike • Añana Salt Valley guided visit • Romanesque churches & Delika canyon

Izki protects one of the great oak forests of Europe: a vast marojal of Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica)—among the most important and best-conserved woodlands of its kind on the continent—spreading across the isolated, unspoilt heart of the Montaña Alavesa. This diversity of vegetation, landscape and seclusion makes Izki an epicentre of Iberian woodpecker richness: six of Spain's eight woodpecker species live here, a concentration found almost nowhere else. The Park's true ornithological jewel is the scarce and much sought-after middle spotted woodpecker, of which Izki holds roughly 30% of the entire Iberian population; it shares the forest with black, great spotted and lesser spotted woodpeckers, the wryneck, and—top of any visiting birder's list—the Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei), endemic to the peninsula. Overhead soar goshawk, short-toed snake eagle, honey buzzard, Egyptian vulture, golden eagle and peregrine falcon.

We spend the morning inside the forest at a dedicated birdwatching hide, which lets us get remarkably close to the woodpeckers and other woodland birds without disturbing them—patience rewarded with intimate, eye-level encounters. We then set off on a hike along the Izki canyon, which hides other treasures of its own, from dragonfly nurseries to Bechstein's bats hunting at twilight.

After lunch, the afternoon turns cultural: we visit some of the most beautiful villages of the Montaña Alavesa, where stone houses, old gates and cobbled lanes tell the story of these mountains.

Accommodation: Ulle Gorri Baserria (Untza, Álava)

Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the farmhouse

Included experiences: Morning woodpecker watching from a forest hide in Izki Natural Park (middle spotted & the endemic Iberian green woodpecker) • Guided Izki canyon forest visit • Afternoon tour of the most beautiful villages of the Montaña Alavesa.

Early light breaks over the Sierra de Gibijo, one of the great Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPA/ZEPA) that our expert ornithologist knows intimately. The morning unfolds the way the birds do. Setting out on foot straight from Ulle Gorri Baserria, we begin in the shelter of beech and mixed woodland, home to two of the specialities that draw birders from across Europe: the Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei, endemic to the Iberian Peninsula) and the Iberian chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus), alongside the black woodpecker slipping between the trunks.

As the landscape opens onto pasture, heath and rock, the guide sets us at carefully chosen viewpoints to scan the thermals and cliff faces. From mid-morning the columns of warm air fill with griffon vultures, which breed here in large colonies, joined in the warmer months by the elegant Egyptian vulture (alimoche, present March–August). Watch for the year-round peregrine falcon stooping over the gorges, short-toed snake eagle and booted eagle, and—along the rock walls—acrobatic flocks of red-billed and yellow-billed (alpine) choughs, noisy colonies of alpine swift, and the striking rock thrush on sunlit crags.

After the morning's birding, we make our way to the village of Untza and share a meal at its txoko—a traditional Basque gastronomic society where everyone cooks together, one of the most authentic ways to experience the region's food culture.

The afternoon then offers a choice—a meditative forest-bathing session among ancient oaks, or a walk to the hidden waterfalls in Altube beech forest , Natural Park of Gorbea

Accommodation: Ulle Gorri Baserria (Untza, Álava)

Meals: Breakfast, meal at the Txoko , dinner at the farmhouse

Included experiences: Guided raptor & mountain-bird watching on foot from Ulle Gorri in the Sierra de Gibijo SPA (Iberian green woodpecker, griffon & Egyptian vultures, peregrine falcon, choughs, alpine swift) • Visit to the village of Untza & shared meal at a Basque txoko (gastronomic society) • Forest-bathing session or walk to hidden waterfalls •

Transfer to Cantabria's dramatic coast and board the Osprey, a purpose-built boat in Santander Bay, in search of the first and only nesting pair of ospreys in the peninsula's northern waters. This sighting is the living result of one of Spain's most inspiring conservation stories: for over two decades the Colectivo Osprey Centre has worked to protect, study and bring the osprey back to Cantabria's wetlands, blending science, hands-on conservation and environmental education. After the first sightings in Santander Bay in 1999 and the first breeding pair in 2017, in 2022 the bay witnessed the first osprey chicks born in northern Spain in more than 70 years—the beginning of the species' recolonisation of the Cantabrian coast. Gliding across the Miera estuary and the Marisma del Conde marshes, we watch these tireless, fish-hunting migrants patrol the very waters where their return was won.

In the afternoon, a geotourism walk along the Mataleñas path to Cabo Mayor Lighthouse takes us into the Costa Quebrada Geopark—a true natural laboratory that lets us read the geological processes that have shaped our planet over the last 120 million years. Here, the interplay between layers of rock and the relentless action of the sea has sculpted a spectacular array of coastal forms. These outcrops reveal fossils of ancient tropical reefs—silent witnesses to continental collisions, climate shifts and biological extinctions—while the Geopark itself is a mosaic of habitats and an essential ecological corridor rich in flora and fauna. On our "10 million years in one walk" itinerary we trace the origin of the rocks that form this coast, the environments in which they were born, and the story of a shoreline in controlled retreat, governed by its own lithology and structure. We meet the world of Micraster, the fossil sea urchin that has become the emblem of the Geopark, and round off the day with the cultural and historical layer that completes this spectacular setting. A genuine journey through time.

Accommodation: Posada El Puente (Carmona, Cantabria) — family-run mountain-and-river village inn
Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the inn
Included experiences: Osprey boat excursion in Santander Bay with Osprey Centre conservation story • Geological walk to Cabo Mayor ("10 million years in one walk") • Fossil-hunting on the cliffs • Costa Quebrada Geopark interpretation

After breakfast we transfer to Muñorrodero to walk the Nansa river path, an easy and beautiful seven-kilometre stretch to Trascudia that follows part of the Camino Lebaniego entirely within the Río Nansa Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Shaded by willows, alders, hazels and chestnuts, the route never leaves the riverbank—historically a network of fishermen's trails tied to the Atlantic salmon that still runs these waters. It also passes one of the entrances to the Cueva del Rejo, a protected cave sheltering six species of bats.

This is one of the finest showcases of Cantabria's river ecosystems. Overhead we often spot black kite and buzzard, while the water and its banks reveal the jewel-bright kingfisher and the white-throated dipper, hunting underwater in the current. The real prizes here, however, are not birds but the river's rarest residents: the elusive Iberian desman—a strange, aquatic insectivore found only in the rivers of Iberia and the Pyrenees—alongside otter, native river crayfish, and protected invertebrates such as Rosalia alpina and the stag beetle.

After lunch in Celis, we visit the Cades Forge (1752), one of the jewels of industrial archaeology in Cantabria—and, remarkably, its original machinery still works. On the guided demonstration, the waters of the Nansa drive the heavy hammers and bellows exactly as they did in the 18th century, fed by an almost kilometre-long channel diverted from the river. More than an ironworks, it is a complete rural complex with two mills, a granary and the founders' emblazoned house, declared a site of local heritage interest in 2014.

We end the day in Carmona, "the flower of the albarqueros"—the craftsmen who carved the traditional wooden clogs (albarcas) that kept feet clear of the damp ground. One of the Most Beautiful Villages in Spain and a listed Historic-Artistic Site, Carmona preserves the essence of 16th-to-18th-century mountain architecture beneath the Sierra del Escudo de Cabuérniga, along with a deep-rooted culture around its tudanca cattle. A guided village stroll leads into the evening's ancestral culinary experience, "Echar la torta": for centuries corn flatbread cooked on hot iron was the daily bread of this valley ("Torta y leche, ¿qué más quieres?"). You'll make the tortas with your own hands and enjoy them for dinner with chorizo, cheese, eggs and a homemade dessert—all local, km-0 produce.

Accommodation: Posada El Puente (Carmona, Cantabria)

Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the inn

Included experiences: Nansa river fluvial-path walk, Muñorrodero–Trascudia (kingfisher, dipper; Iberian desman & otter habitat) • Cades Forge (1752) guided visit with working machinery demonstration • Guided tour of Carmona, one of Spain's Most Beautiful Villages • Ancestral cooking experience "Echar la torta" & dinner

After some free time to wander the stone streets of Carmona, we cross into Asturias and arrive at Cangas de Onís, in the Picos de Europa region.

The afternoon unfolds in the isolated Viboli valley within Ponga Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve—a place where time moves differently.

Perched above the dramatic Los Beyos gorge cut by the Sella river, the hamlets of Viboli and Casielles still guard their beyuscos horreos —small, twin-doored wooden granaries unique to this gorge—listed as cultural heritage.

We walk paths shaped by shepherds' footsteps and communities who have stewarded this landscape for generations.

For naturalists, Ponga is one of the wildest corners of the Cantabrian Range. Its old-growth forests shelter .the otter and the Iberian desman (Galemys pyrenaicus, endemic to Iberia and the Pyrenees)

.In summer, the ancient beechwoods even host the rare, blue-hued longhorn beetle Rosalia alpina, one of the most prized invertebrates in the park.

Accommodation: Eco Hotel Los Lagos Nature (Cangas de Onís, Asturias) — Picos de Europa gateway

Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the hotel

Included experiences: Ethnographic walk through the Viboli valley (Ponga Natural Park) • Traditional villages of Viboli & Casielles and their beyuscos granaries • Wildlife of a Cantabrian Biosphere Reserve

This Friday morning is timed around one of Europe's great conservation spectacles. We begin at the Visitor Centre of the Fundación para la Conservación del Quebrantahuesos (FCQ)—the foundation that, since 2002, has worked to bring the bearded vulture (quebrantahuesos) back to the Picos de Europa, reintroducing the species here since 2010. From there we drive in our own vehicles up to the Mirador de la Reina, where, during the FCQ's supplementary feeding, we watch bearded vultures and griffon vultures come to the call of their human stewards—conservation unfolding before your eyes.

We then continue to the La Tiese car park to visit the Covadonga Lakes. Among the most visited spots in all of Asturias, they are also among the most beautiful—glacial lakes cradled by high peaks, and worth every moment. We break for lunch up by the lakes before continuing to the Vega de Enol to understand how something as local as the making of gamonéu—one of Asturias's most famous cheeses, matured in mountain puertos—shapes the fauna of this high pasture. Here we scan the subalpine birds of the vega: red-billed and yellow-billed (alpine) choughs, water pipit, black redstart, northern wheatear, chaffinch and other high-mountain species.

Accommodation: Eco Hotel Los Lagos Nature (Cangas de Onís, Asturias)

Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the hotel

Included experiences: Bearded vulture & griffon vulture observation at the FCQ feeding (Mirador de la Reina) • FCQ Visitor Centre & recovery-project story • Covadonga Lakes • Vega de Enol: gamonéu cheese, mountain pastures & subalpine birds

Transfer to Narcea, in the heart of the Fuentes del Narcea Natural Park—core territory of the Cantabrian brown bear.

Before the mountains call, we step into the region's other quiet miracle: its wine. This is heroic viticulture, where the vines of the DOP Cangas cling to hand-worked terraces on slopes steeper than 60%, impossible to mechanise, ripening indigenous grapes—Albarín and Carrasquín—into fresh, mineral, Atlantic mountain wines.

Our "Wines with History" experience is a journey from past to present through one family's winemaking. It begins in the vineyard itself, then moves into a traditional cellar—the winemaker's grandparents' old bodega, now kept like a small museum—where we taste two wines, a white and a red, paired with a spread of local delicacies: Asturian cured meats, empanadas and cheeses. The experience closes at the family's modern Martínez Parrondo winery, completing the arc from ancestral craft to today's living tradition.

After checking into the hotel, as dusk deepens we embark on our first expert-guided brown bear field outing—finding a vantage point, embracing silence, and scanning the hillsides as the forest turns from day to night.

Accommodation: Hotel Restaurante Genestoso (Fuentes del Narcea, Asturias) — brown bear territory base
Meals: Breakfast, picnic at the winery , dinner at the hotel
Included experiences: "Wines with History" enotourism experience — vineyard, historic family cellar & modern Martínez Parrondo winery, with tasting of two DOP Cangas wines and local produce • First expert-guided brown bear vigil at dusk

We rise before dawn for a morning bear-watching session during the peak activity hours, guided by one of Asturias's most respected naturalists—leading ecotourism in the Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Natural Park since 1996. As mist drifts through the oaks and birches, we scan the slopes in silence for the Cantabrian brown bear; this is also Iberian wolf country, and the mountains stir with wild boar, roe deer and chamois. Seeing the animals is never guaranteed—but the search itself, and reading the tracks and signs of the wild, is unforgettable.

Mid-morning brings the Floreziendo beekeeping experience, deep in the strictly protected Muniellos Reserve—the largest oak forest in Spain and one of the best-preserved in Europe. Dressed in a beekeeper's suit, you step inside a traditional cortín: a circular dry-stone wall built for centuries to shield the hives from hungry bears, and one of the region's most ancestral pieces of rural architecture. Here you meet a young beekeeper who lives side by side with the bears, learn the beekeeper's year, and taste a honey that captures the essence of Muniellos—notes of chestnut, heather and oak. It's a living lesson in how wild landscapes can sustain both people and predators.

As dusk falls, we head back out into the mountains for a second bear vigil, scanning the hillsides once more as the forest slips from day into night. Our shared farewell dinner closes the day, the group now bonded by shared silence and awe.

Accommodation: Hotel Restaurante Genestoso (Fuentes del Narcea, Asturias)
Meals: Breakfast, meal at a traditional restaurant , dinner at the hotel
Included experiences: Expert-guided brown bear vigils at dawn and dusk (also wolf territory) • Floreziendo traditional beekeeping in a cortín (Muniellos Reserve) • Muniellos honey tasting (chestnut, heather & oak) • Farewell dinner

After breakfast we head out one last time into bear country for a final morning wildlife outing—a last chance to scan the slopes for the Cantabrian brown bear before saying goodbye to the mountains.

Then we leave Fuentes del Narcea and begin the journey back to Bilbao, though the North has saved one last gift.

We make a technical stop in Llanes, on the spectacular eastern coast of Asturias, where our electric van, Greenie, recharges its batteries while we set off on foot.

A coastal hiking route leads us along dramatic clifftops and hidden coves—one of the most beautiful stretches of the entire northern shore—where the Cantabrian Sea crashes against limestone walls and, on the wildest days, the famous bufones blow jets of sea spray up through the rock. We round off the walk with a relaxed final lunch, savouring the last flavours of the North.

Then it's back on the road, arriving in Bilbao with photographs, new friendships, and a renewed understanding of what wilderness truly means—something you'll carry home long after the journey ends.

Meals: Breakfast & lunch
Included experiences: Coastal hiking route along the Llanes clifftops & coves • Technical charging stop for the electric van • Farewell lunch • Transfer to Bilbao

Accommodation & meals

• 10 nights in family-run, EU Ecolabel eco-certified accommodations (rural houses & boutique hotels)

• Full board throughout — breakfast, lunch and dinner, with local km-0 products

Expert guiding

• Dedicated specialist guides for the entire itinerary. French and English spoken

• Ornithologists, nature interpreters, a geologist, forest-bath guides and an expert brown-bear & wildlife guide

Protected areas visited

• Basque Country: Urkiola, Valderejo and Izki Natural Parks, and the Sierra de Gibijo Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA)

• Cantabria: Costa Quebrada Geopark and the Río Nansa Special Area of Conservation (SAC / Natura 2000)

• Asturias: Picos de Europa National Park, Ponga Natural Park & Biosphere Reserve, and the Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Natural Park with the Muniellos Integral Nature Reserve

Guided activities & experiences, day by day

• Day 1 — Guided visit to Urkiola Natural Park • Idiazábal cheese-making with a working shepherd & tasting • Permaculture & forest-restoration visit at Ulle Gorri

• Day 2 — Circular hike in the Valderejo valley with griffon & Egyptian vulture colony watching (Vallegrull) • Purón river gorge • Añana Salt Valley guided visit (200-million-year-old salt diapir) with salt tasting • Delika canyon

• Day 3 — Morning woodpecker watching from a forest hide in Izki Natural Park (middle spotted & endemic Iberian green woodpecker) • Hike along the Izki canyon • Afternoon tour of the most beautiful villages of the Montaña Alavesa (Korres, Antoñana)

• Day 4 — Guided raptor & mountain-bird watching on foot from Ulle Gorri across the Gorbeia Natural Park surroundings & the Sierra de Gibijo & Salvada SPA (Nervión canyon) • Visit to the village of Untza & shared meal at a Basque txoko • Forest-bathing session or walk to the hidden waterfalls

• Day 5 — Osprey boat excursion in Santander Bay (Osprey Centre conservation story) • Costa Quebrada Geopark interpretation ("10 million years in one walk") & fossil-hunting

• Day 6 — Nansa river fluvial-path walk • Guided visit to the Cades Forge (1752) • Guided tour of Carmona • Ancestral "Echar la torta" cooking experience with dinner

• Day 7 — Ethnographic walk in the Viboli valley (Ponga) • Villages of Viboli & Casielles and their beyuscos granaries

• Day 8 — Bearded & griffon vulture observation at the FCQ feeding (Mirador de la Reina) • FCQ Visitor Centre • Covadonga Lakes • Vega de Enol (gamonéu cheese & subalpine birds)

• Day 9 — "Wines with History" enotourism experience (DOP Cangas) with tasting of two wines & local produce • First expert-guided brown bear vigil at dusk

• Day 10 — Expert-guided brown bear vigils at dawn and dusk (also wolf territory) • Floreziendo traditional beekeeping in a cortín (Muniellos) with honey tasting

• Day 11 — Final morning brown bear watching outing • Coastal hiking route along the Llanes clifftops & coves

Transport & logistics

• 100% electric van transport throughout — carbon-neutral, with pick-up and drop-off in Bilbao

• All national and natural park entries, permits and activity fees

• Expert field interpretation throughout (telescopes provided for group wildlife watching)

• Small-group experience — maximum 6 guests

We recommend bringing your own binoculars.

Full Coverage: Comprehensive travel insurance included.

• Global Medical Assistance: Up to €1,200,000 for medical expenses worldwide , including emergency coverage for pre-existing conditions up to €10,000.

• Unlimited Repatriation: Full coverage for medical transport, sanitaries, or repatriation in the event of illness, accident, or death

• Trip Cancellation: Reimbursement of up to €5,000 for over 40 justified causes , including health issues, employment changes, or official requirements.

• Force Majeure & Uncertainty: Guaranteed early return and cancellation coverage in the event of border closures, a declared State of Alarm, or other Force Majeure events

• Vacation Reimbursement: Up to €2,500 for unused days if the trip is interrupted due to a covered cause.

• Baggage & Delays: Up to €1,500 for theft or loss of luggage , plus €500 for essential items if baggage delivery is delayed by more than 6 hours.

• Flight Incidents: Coverage up to €400 for delays, overbooking, or lost connections

NOT INCLUDED

• International flights

• Meals and drinks not specified in the program

• Entrances not specified in the programAdditional Services 

Additional services:

We are here to assist you with any travel arrangements, including additional hotel bookings in Bilbao or other places in the Basque Country and train tickets, especially if you are traveling from Barcelona or Madrid.

Group of 6 people: 

From 5.325€ per person

Valid until September the 15th 2026

Price based in double occupancy rooms 

Ask for the single supplement fee

As with any wild-animal observation activity, we cannot guarantee that specific species will be seen on any given day.

Nature is unpredictable — and that is part of its magic.

What we can guarantee is expert guides in all the nature activities, extraordinary landscapes and an authentic mountain experience at every step.

We will never approach, disturb or stress wildlife in order to improve a sighting.

This is a sustainable, low-impact activity that places animal welfare firmly above any tourist objective.

Our routes are spectacular in their own right — if the birds choose to lie low that day, the scenery, the fresh mountain air and the company of a passionate naturalist make every outing worthwhile.

Some of the most special moments of this journey happen alongside the people who live these landscapes: visiting a working shepherd, making corn flatbread in the "Echar la torta" experience, stepping inside a traditional cortín with the beekeepers of Muniellos or discovering the heroic vineyards

For these collaborators, hosting travellers is not their main livelihood—they open their doors because they are proud to share the living heritage of their trades and traditions.

We honour that generosity by always putting their circumstances first.

Because these experiences depend on real people with farms, hives and daily lives to tend, they may occasionally need to be adapted, rescheduled or replaced with an equally meaningful alternative if a host is unable to receive us. It is a small trade-off for something rare: authentic encounters on the community's own terms.

The wellbeing of the local community always comes first—that is what responsible ecotourism means to us.

Green Spain Wilderness — Booking Conditions & Practical Information

11 Days · 10 Nights · maximum 6 guests · full board · 100% electric van

Payment terms

• Booking deposit: 30% to confirm your place.

• Final balance: due 60 days before the start of the trip.

• Payment methods: secure online credit-card payment system, or bank transfer with no bank commissions.

Cancellation policy

• After booking, but more than 60 days before departure: 5% cancellation fee.

• 60–45 days before departure: 30% fee.

• 45–30 days before departure: 50% fee.

• Less than 30 days before departure: 100% fee.

Cancellations due to illness or other qualifying reasons may be covered by the travel insurance included in the package.

Group size

This is a small-group experience for a maximum of 6 guests. If the group is smaller than 6, the trip can still run, though some experiences may be adjusted. We always ensure that any substitution keeps the essence and quality of the original experience.

Working with local communities

Several experiences on this journey are shared by local producers and communities—the visit to a working shepherd, the "Echar la torta" corn-flatbread experience and the beekeeping experience in Muniellos. For these collaborators this is not their main business; they take part because they are proud to share the historic heritage of their trades. For that reason, and because they are non-professional hosts, these experiences may be altered, rescheduled or replaced with another equally meaningful experience if a collaborator is unable to receive us. The wellbeing of the local community always comes first.

Accommodation

Ulle Gorri Baserria is a rustic old Basque farmhouse with 5 rooms and 4 bathrooms, plus 2 rural studios—accommodating 6 guests in single rooms with private bathroom. The house and studios receive a cleaning service on the 3rd day of the stay. Free Wi-Fi. A self-service laundry is available at the farmhouse and at the hotels.

Hotel selection: We deliberately choose family-owned, sustainability-oriented hotels over large chains. In peak season we also prioritise fairly priced options, so guests always receive good value without being overcharged.

Meals

Full board throughout. At the farmhouse, enjoy light dinners, farm-to-table cooking and Txoko meals—prepared either by a local chef with homemade catered dinners or by the hosts, with local breakfasts prepared and served by the hosts. Along the route, meals showcase local, km-0 produce.

The travel programme

This is a different, exclusive and relaxed way to travel in the North of Spain, built on an off-the-beaten-path philosophy and working hand in hand with specialist nature guides.

The programme may vary due to weather, unexpected events or improvements to the itinerary, always at the guide's discretion and according to the group's condition.

Activities depend on weather conditions: if the weather is not suitable for a given activity, an alternative experience will be arranged. Please remember this is not a standard tourist package but an experience-based trip to enjoy and discover the wildlife , nature, gastronomy and culture of the Ecotourism Reserve of the Green Spain

Health & physical requirements

A reasonable level of fitness is advisable—comfortably hike walking around 3 hours. Group itineraries feature easy hikes with minimal elevation, and participation is entirely optional: if you prefer not to walk a route, you can wait for your fellow travellers at a designated point. Please let us know of any allergies, food intolerances or medical conditions so we can look after you.

Insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance, liability insurance, vehicle insurance and hiking-activity insurance are all included.

Extra services

If you would like help booking hotels before or after the itinerary, or transport from other parts of Spain and France, we are glad to arrange it.

Travel requirements

• Passport: valid for at least 6 months.

• Visa: not required for US & Canadian citizens.

• ETIAS: from 2026, travellers may need to complete an ETIAS entry registration (similar to the US ESTA). We will let you know if it applies at the time of your trip.

Certifications & commitment

Ulle Gorri Travel is a licensed boutique DMC in the Basque Country, committed to sustainability, quality and authenticity. Our recognitions include:

• Travel Agency   CEI:2437

• Rural house  XVI00132

• European Ecolabel since 2019  - Sustainable Accommodation ES-EU/051/00031

• Certified company in the Ethical Tourism Code of the Basque Country (since 2019)

• Member of the Spanish Ecotourism Association (since 2022)

• Certified Travel Agency for the Great Ecotourism Reserve of Green Spain (2025)

• Queer Destination Certification (2024)

• Red Natura 2000 Certification (2025) – Gorbeialdea

• European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (2024) – Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve

Ulle Gorri Baserria also complies with all safety and cleanliness standards required for rural accommodation under local and national regulations.