MOTORRAD TOURS
P90
Feature
Passing through
small villages with
their centuries old
stone structures is a
regular occurrence
on this tour.
These guys greeted
us at the Hotel Del
Oso on our first
night in Spain. They
were friendly and
wanted everyone to
give them a scratch
behind the ears.
preserve these cultural and artistic treasures while also
benefitting the local economy. For travelers, it provides
a unique opportunity to stay in Spain's historic castles,
convents, and monasteries. (See www.paradoresof-
spain.com.) All of the Paradores we visited on this tour
were exceptional.
Enough with the hotels, food, and ferries—let's talk
about the riding. It's true that when you think of riding in
Europe, you think of the Alps. At least I do, and someday
I'll do that tour, but as our guide explained, if you really
want to ride the very best roads that Europe has to offer,
northern Spain and Portugal are where they are. This
tour travels through the mountainous Asturias region of
north Spain, dips down into Portugal's famous Douro
River Valley, and finishes up with more highlights of the
Picos range. Virtually free of traffic and police, this is
truly a rider's paradise. After we left the hotel, the road
immediately opened up, and the fun began—twisty, and
with perfect tarmac. My riding buddy, Nigel, and I left the
rest of the group and cranked the throttles open as we
ascended high into our first mountain pass. The beautiful
thing about the Motorrad Tours is that you don't have to
stay with the group unless you want to. You have all of
the routes in your GPS, and they also provide a foldout
map and route notes, so you know where lunch and
During this tour, we stayed at several
"Paradores." Spread across Spain, the
Paradores are government-owned historical
buildings and venues that have been con-
verted into first-class hotels. This arrange-
ment allows the Spanish government to
