Northern Spain
NORTHERN REGION OF SPAIN
Private Tours in Northern Spain
Carameltrail designs private, tailor-made trips to Northern Spain for American travelers. We’re a licensed travel agency based in Spain (C.I.C.M.A. No. 2642), founded in 2011. If you’ve never been to the north, get ready for great food, elegant cities, charming villages, green landscapes, and wild beaches.
Many travelers come to Northern Spain to discover the country’s most natural side: magnificent mountains, rivers, and forests bordered by the ocean. It’s a region that leaves a lasting impression on everyone who visits.
Northern Spain at a Glance
Why Visit Northern Spain
Northern Spain offers the perfect combination of magical villages, wide green landscapes, and dreamy beaches. If it’s not yet on your Spain bucket list, add it now!
Northern Spain’s gentler climate suits many travelers, especially the more active ones. Once you realize what it’s all about, you may wonder how it’s escaped you all this time.
Asturias, León and Cantabria bring the mountains and the sea closer together
A Different Side of Spain
When most people think of Spain, they imagine the south: flamenco, beaches, paella, and tapas. So when they visit the north, they’re usually blown away.
Northern Spain is green and lush, full of history, and culturally very different from the rest of the country. The food, the traditions, and even the landscapes feel like a different world, and an amazing one.
Regions and Cities of Northern Spain
Northern Spain includes Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarre, La Rioja, and the northern areas of Castile and León and Aragón.
Some of its most important cities are San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela, Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, León, Oviedo, Gijón, Santander, Vigo, and Zaragoza. The hard part is choosing which ones to visit!
The Basque Language
Basque, or Euskara, is spoken in the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain, and in part of southwestern France. It’s often described as one of Europe’s oldest living languages and is a language isolate: it isn’t related to Latin, the Germanic languages, or any other known language.
Experts believe the mountainous landscape and the strong identity of the Basque people helped the language survive for thousands of years. Today, you’ll see it on street signs and menus throughout the region.
Albariño Wine
Albariño is a white grape variety grown mainly in Galicia, on Spain’s northern Atlantic coast. It’s the star of the Rías Baixas wine region, where it produces fresh, aromatic white wines with citrus, peach, and mineral notes that pair perfectly with the local seafood.
Albariño accounts for the vast majority of the vines planted in Rías Baixas, and thanks to its quality, it has become one of Spain’s best-known white wines around the world.
Nature in Northern Spain
PICOS DE EUROPA
The Picos de Europa are the highest peaks of the Cantabrian Mountains, in the land where the history of Asturias began. According to tradition, they got their name because they were one of the first sights of Europe for sailors returning from the Americas.
Expect high peaks, deep gorges, lush mountain meadows, and glacial lakes: a dream for photographers and nature lovers alike.
Picos de Europa is home to some of the best hiking routes in Spain
PICOS DE EUROPA NATIONAL PARK
The Picos de Europa National Park has its origins in Covadonga, Spain’s first national park, created in 1918. Today it covers parts of Asturias, Cantabria, and León, with dramatic alpine landscapes, beech and oak forests, rivers, and lakes.
If you’re not a hiker, you can ride the Fuente Dé cable car, which climbs to more than a mile above sea level for stunning views.
The park is also popular for walking, fishing, and mountain biking, and snow can appear on the highest peaks even in late spring.
The Picos de Europa are a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Asturias, Spain’s Natural Paradise
A visit to Asturias will make you remember sensations that are often forgotten, such as the sense of calm as you walk through green valleys, through grass, the smell of the sea at sunrise or the cool air brushing against your cheeks while you enjoy the views from the marvelous natural viewpoints.
Asturian cuisine awaits you with its rich flavors. The region boasts examples of unique Pre-Romanesque art and the cities here have reinvented themselves through their culture and architecture, leaving behind the industrial past.
This region in the north of Spain invites you to reconnect with nature and dedicate some well-deserved time to yourself. Asturias is a good place for doing it at a gentle pace, with delicious food and natural landscapes within your reach. It’s because of its beauty and calm that this region is known as a natural paradise.
Let’s Go to Northern Spain!
Discover golden plains and rolling vineyards in La Rioja, the green valleys of Asturias, the mountain passes of the Pyrenees, and the breezy, sparkling Cantabrian coast, all on a private trip designed around you.
With us, it’s all at your fingertips!
Have questions first? Book a free 30-minute call with our team.
Northern Spain Travel FAQs
Our Private Experiences in Northern Spain
This Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Tour will reveal you the beauty of the cosmopolitan city of Bilbao known as the botxo (the hole) because of its location in the valley of the Nervión and Ibaizábal Rivers, surrounded by mountains. In this historic city you will discover the Seven Streets, the medieval nucleus of Bilbao which in the words of writer Miguel de Unamuno, is the “little silver cup.”
San Sebastián (or Donostia as it is called in Basque) has a circular bay with intact white sand beaches that attract rich beach-goers in search of sun. San Sebastian Old Town from Spain with its Basque culture and pintxos is what made this city famous during the Belle Époque and it is also where Queen Maria Cristina established her royal summerhouse. The proof of San Sebastián’s glamorous past can still be seen today. Would you like to see it?
Saint James Cathedral from Santiago de Compostela is an iconic symbol of the city of Santiago and the final point for many pilgrims walking or cycling the Camino de Santiago. The Cathedral welcomes pilgrims from all over the world. Over the centuries, thousands of pilgrims worldwide have made their way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia.
When you think of Spain, bustling cities like Madrid, Barcelona, or Seville often come to your mind. Yet, hidden in the Northwestern region of Castilla y León lie two cities, León and Astorga, that quietly preserve centuries of Spanish history, unique architecture, and deeply rooted traditions.
Have you ever thought about visiting a traditional winery in Spain’s most famous wine region? Did you know that in this country Rioja is synonym of wine? Keep on reading and we’ll tell you all about it!
The landscape of Basque Country is breathtaking. There are lots of different routes that you can take to explore Basque Country where you can also taste its stunning food. Food and wine enthusiasts visiting the Basque Country in Northern Spain discover that Idiazabal cheese and Txakoli wine are two of the most iconic and easy-to-find regional products.
San Sebastian, or Donostia for the Basques, is one of the most famous foodie cities in one of the top culinary regions in the world. With its Michelin-starred restaurants and amazing pintxos bars, it’s easy to be spoiled by the food choices you encounter here. San Sebastian is simply full of good eats. The best pintxos bars in San Sebastian are a buffet of colors and smells.
Welcome to Aragón, a region in Northeastern Spain that holds treasures as enchanting as they are unknown.
Aragón, often overshadowed by its famous neighbors Catalonia and Valencia, is a land of contrasts. Towering mountains, lush valleys, and medieval villages weave together to form a tapestry of raw beauty. And nestled within this region lies the crown jewel: Matarraña.
Did you know that just a short drive from Bilbao, Spain, there’s a seaside haven where elegance meets authenticity? Spain is full of hidden gems, and Getxo is one of its best-kept secrets.
We know Bilbao dazzles with its art, food, and energy—but maybe you’re looking for something more exclusive, more serene, yet just as unforgettable.
The Basque Country is a well-known surfing destination. The Cantabrian Sea and its coast has the proper conditions for any avid surfer: wind, waves and spectacular beaches. Besides, the surf culture and the core of the Basque Country – its traditional villages and gastronomy – sit happily side by side. San Sebastian is certainly Spain’s most iconic surf town. There are several beaches that lend themselves to surfing, whatever your level is.
The Camino de Santiago or the Way of St. James, is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in north-western part of Spain, where the remains of the apostle Saint James were found in the IX century. For the pilgrim traveler, the growth and the joy of this route lay in the journey itself. This is because the more difficult the journey is, it becomes meaningful and it helps you grow!
Reviews from Travelers Who Visited Northern Spain
Read all 170+ traveler reviews, or see our ratings on Google and Trustpilot.
Explore Other Regions of Spain
Ready to Plan Your Private Trip to Northern Spain?
Prefer to talk first? Book a free 30-minute call with our team.
