Thursday
Our toughest day cycling and certainly our longest. We follow the river Ega's course out of Estella ('Lizarra' to give it the local name) and soon adopt our second Via Verde of the week.

These green routes are railtracks converted to leisure use, and we follow the Vasco-Navarro railroad until we reach the town of Genevillas, where we start to climb the Sierra de Cantabria to our lunch stop in the village of Bernedo.

This afternoon's ride is totally exhilarating, we swoop down through the villages of Meano & La Poblacion to our home for the night, La Guardia, a spectacular, walled 12th century medieval town.

The whole town is a pedestrian zone, even cycling is forbidden. Once we've checked into our spectacular, historic hotel we should head out into the cobbled lanes and alleys to the visit some of its many bars & cafes.

Dinner is in-house, and we can sample the splendid wines made in the family's own vineyard.