If you’ve ever wondered why a Wild Roads tour feels different the moment you check in at the end of a long day’s riding, a big part of the answer lies in where we stay.
Paradores. Historic, extraordinary, utterly Spanish — and unlike anything you’ll find on a typical booking site.
On The Great Spring Ride: Old Spain (April 13th–27th, 2027), we’ve built the entire accommodation experience around a handpicked selection of Spain’s finest Paradores. Here’s why, and what you can expect when you pull up outside one of these places after a day riding some of Europe’s greatest roads.
What Are Paradores?
Paradores de Turismo is Spain’s state-run network of luxury hotels, most of which are housed in converted historic buildings — medieval castles, ancient monasteries, fortresses, palaces, and convents. There are around 100 of them across Spain, and each one is completely unique.
The concept was born in 1928 when King Alfonso XIII commissioned the first Parador in the Sierra de Gredos — the idea being to restore Spain’s historic buildings and make them accessible as world-class hotels. Nearly a century later, they remain one of the best-kept secrets in European travel.
Think thick stone walls, sweeping courtyards, vaulted ceilings, roaring log fires, award-winning regional cuisine, and — in many cases — spectacular views. These aren’t generic luxury hotels with identikit rooms. They’re living pieces of Spanish history, each one with its own story.
And for a motorcycle tour, they’re absolutely perfect.
Why Wild Roads Uses Paradores
When I first started planning the Old Spain route, I knew the accommodation had to match the roads. You can’t spend the day riding through dramatic gorges, ancient hilltop villages, and some of the most cinematic landscapes in Europe — then check into a faceless business hotel on the edge of a retail park. It just doesn’t work.
Paradores do something very specific: they put you inside the destination. You’re not just passing through Spain — you’re sleeping in its history. You ride past a medieval monastery in the morning, and that evening you’re eating dinner inside one.
Beyond the obvious character and beauty, the practical reasons stack up too. The food is exceptional — each Parador serves regional cuisine specific to the area, so every dinner is a different culinary experience. The facilities are genuinely luxurious. Many have pools, gardens, and terraces that are perfect for unwinding after a long day in the saddle. And the locations are almost always extraordinary — chosen for their setting rather than their proximity to a motorway junction.
Wild Roads is proud to be part of the Paradores Amigos programme, which means our riders enjoy these stays at significantly reduced rates. The quality you’d expect to pay a premium for, at a price that makes it genuinely accessible.
Parador de Argomaniz — The Basque Country
Our Old Spain tour opens in the Basque Country, and the Parador de Argomaniz sets the tone perfectly for what lies ahead.
Housed in a 17th-century Renaissance palace on a hill overlooking the Zadorra Valley, Argomaniz has one of those views that genuinely stops you in your tracks. Napoleon himself reputedly used this building as his headquarters before the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. You’ll be sleeping somewhere that’s witnessed centuries of Spanish history.
The riding from here is immediately spectacular — the Basque hills, the green valleys, the coastal roads — and returning in the evening to a cold drink on that terrace with the valley spread out below you is one of those touring moments you simply don’t forget.
Parador de Almagro — La Mancha
As the tour moves south into the vast plateau of La Mancha — Don Quixote country, windmill country, big-sky country — we arrive at one of the most celebrated Paradores in the entire network.
The Parador de Almagro is a converted 16th-century Franciscan convent, and it’s breathtaking. Sixteen internal courtyards. Stone cloisters draped in bougainvillea. A pool surrounded by ancient walls. Rooms that feel like private chambers of a Spanish nobleman’s estate.
Almagro itself is one of the most perfectly preserved Renaissance towns in Spain — its famous Plaza Mayor lined with green-framed arcades, its cobbled streets completely unspoiled. Riding into town after a day crossing the meseta is a genuinely cinematic experience. Checking into the Parador at the end of it is the reward.
Parador de Guadalupe — Extremadura
Extremadura is one of Spain’s least-visited and most dramatically beautiful regions — a land of vast dehesa forests, ancient Roman roads, stork-filled hilltop towns, and roads that feel like they were designed specifically for motorcycles.
The Parador de Guadalupe sits directly opposite the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Spanish-speaking world. The Parador itself is a 15th-century hospital and palace, restored to stunning effect, with a Moorish courtyard garden that’s one of the most peaceful spots on the entire tour.
The food here deserves a mention too. Extremaduran cuisine is some of the finest in Spain — Ibérico ham from free-range pigs roaming the oak forests, migas, hearty stews, local cheeses. After a big day in the saddle through some of Spain’s most remote and rewarding roads, dinner at Guadalupe is something special.
Parador de Fuente Dé — The Picos de Europa
If the tour has a dramatic finale, it’s this one.
Fuente Dé sits at the end of a spectacular glacial valley in the heart of the Picos de Europa — one of Europe’s most dramatic mountain ranges, and one of the finest motorcycle destinations on the continent. The Parador sits at the base of a sheer 1,000-metre limestone wall, with a cable car rising directly above it to the high plateau.
The riding to get here — through the Picos gorges, along the canyon roads, over the mountain passes — is as good as it gets anywhere in Europe. And waking up the next morning with those peaks framing the view from your window, over a proper Spanish breakfast, is the kind of experience that makes you start thinking about booking the following year before you’ve even packed your bags.
It’s a fitting way to close out two weeks of extraordinary riding across one of Europe’s greatest countries.
The Full Old Spain Experience
The Great Spring Ride: Old Spain runs from April 13th–27th, 2027 — 14 nights covering the Basque Country, La Rioja, Castile, La Mancha, Extremadura, the Sierra de Gredos, and the Picos de Europa.
It’s 14 days of riding some of Spain’s finest and least-known roads, staying in extraordinary historic buildings, eating exceptional food, and experiencing a side of Spain that most visitors never see.
As part of the Wild Roads 2027 tour calendar, Old Spain is one of our flagship group tours — and with Parador accommodation throughout, it’s also one of the most genuinely premium experiences we offer. Thanks to our membership of the Paradores Amigos programme, that premium experience comes at a price that makes it exceptional value.
Spaces are limited to 7 riders. If Spain has been on your list, 2027 is the year to make it happen.
Join Us on The Great Spring Ride: Old Spain
If you want the full story — dates, pricing, daily route breakdown, what’s included, and everything else you need to decide — download the 2027 Old Spain tour pack or fill in the form below and we’ll send it straight to you.
This is what motorcycle touring in Spain should feel like.
Ride Free. Ride Wild. ✌️
Joshua James
Wild Roads Motorcycle Tours