Pyrenees to Picos: Pamplona to Oviedo

Pamplona's Casco Antiguo is one of the best-preserved medieval urban cores in northern Spain, centred on the elegant Plaza del Castillo. For a campervan traveller this is both a practical first overnight and an atmospheric launch point — the compact old town is entirely walkable once you're parked up. The warren of stone streets, city walls, and the plaza itself reward a couple of hours of unhurried exploration before the mountain miles begin. Rated 4.7/5 by over 300 visitors, this is a place that earns its reputation quietly, without theme-park polish. Plan your arrival to give yourself the full suggested three hours: the site is open around the clock, so an early-morning or evening wander before the road swallows you is entirely feasible. From here, the route turns southeast toward the Aragonese Pyrenees — a 229 km drive of roughly three and a half hours to Ordesa.

Ordesa y Monte Perdido is one of Spain's crown-jewel national parks — rated an exceptional 4.9/5 from over 12,000 reviews — and the first major natural spectacle on this route. The park is carved by deep glacial canyons, most famously the Ordesa valley itself, with sheer limestone walls rising hundreds of metres above the canyon floor and the Monte Perdido massif dominating the skyline above. Allow the full six hours suggested: the main valley trail along the Río Arazas is one of the finest canyon walks in the Pyrenees, and the scale only reveals itself on foot. The park administration address is in Huesca but the physical park entrance is near Torla-Ordesa — use the park website (aragon.es/ordesa) or call +34 974 24 33 61 to confirm current access arrangements, particularly whether the private-vehicle ban into the canyon is in effect.

Aínsa is a gem of a medieval hill town presiding over the confluence of the Cinca and Ara rivers, and it earns its 4.6/5 rating through sheer architectural coherence. The Villa de Ainsa — the fortified upper town — clusters around a vast Romanesque-arcaded plaza mayor that feels genuinely unchanged. After the wild scale of Ordesa, this 55 km drive (about 1 hr 45 min) into a perfectly intact stone village is a satisfying counterpoint. The suggested two and a half hours here allows you to absorb the plaza, walk the perimeter walls, and take in the valley panoramas before moving on. It's open around the clock, so an evening arrival with the stones lit gold is worth planning for. Contact: +34 974 50 07 67 or villadeainsa.com.

The Ciudadela de Jaca — formally the Castillo de San Pedro, dating to the 16th century — is one of the finest Renaissance star-fort citadels in Spain and an often-overlooked military heritage highlight on this route. The pentagonal design, with its earthwork bastions and moat, is a textbook example of late-Renaissance military engineering, and the site is well-presented for visitors. Rated 4.6/5, it rewards the suggested two hours comfortably. Jaca itself is a lively Pyrenean town and makes a practical overnight stop for campervans heading toward the Valle de Hecho. The citadel sits just west of the town centre on Avenida del Primer Viernes de Mayo. Call ahead on +34 974 35 71 50 or check ciudadeladejaca.es for current opening times, as they are not listed in this brief.