Bring your group to Casa Agara

You lead the walk, the ride or the class. Casa Agara takes care of everything that usually wears an organiser out: the cooking, the bar, the rooms and the fire in the sitting room when everyone comes back in. It is an 18th-century stone casona in Fresneda de Cabuérniga, inside the Saja-Besaya reserve in Cantabria, and it now welcomes club leaders and retreat organisers looking for a properly good base for a week.

A week here, from the organiser's side

Here is how a day can run. Breakfast at the house, then your group heads out. Walkers climb into oak and beech woods in the reserve, with griffon vultures turning overhead. Cyclists take on quiet mountain roads and big climbs, such as the road up to La Hoja and the Salto de la Cabra. Riders head for the mountain trails, or for a day on the beach, with the Cantabrian coast under an hour away. A yoga group might not leave the house before lunch, with practice in the open hall and the garden outside.

Lunch is light, taken at the house or carried as a picnic on walking and riding days. By late afternoon everyone drifts back. Tea and coffee are on, local spring water is there all day, and the bar is free: house wine, beer and spirits, poured all day. Dinner is home-cooked, with vegetables from the kitchen garden, and the evening goes where good evenings go, around the table and then into the firelit sitting rooms. Chispa, the house dog, works the room.

Choose your kind of week

Each page below goes into the detail for one kind of group.

Walking clubs and rambling groups

Woodland, river and valley walking in the Saja-Besaya reserve, stone villages along the Cabuérniga valley, and the Picos de Europa about 1.5 hours away for a big day out. Read more about walking club holidays in Spain.

Road and gravel cycling clubs

Quiet mountain roads and proper climbs, including the CA-13 up to La Hoja and the Salto de la Cabra, with dinner cooked and a free bar at the end of the day. Read more about cycling club holidays in Spain.

Riding clubs

Mountain trails through the woods and rides on Cantabrian beaches, with a picnic carried on riding days and everyone back at the house for dinner. Read more about riding club holidays in Spain.

Yoga teachers and retreat leaders

An open hall used for yoga and practice, a garden with forest and valley views, and every meal cooked so you can concentrate on teaching. Read more about yoga retreat venue hire in Spain.

Why the house works for a group

The numbers first. Casa Agara has 12 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms and sleeps up to 24 guests. There are firelit sitting rooms for the evenings, an open hall indoors that groups use for yoga and practice, and a garden with a kitchen garden that feeds the kitchen.

Then the food. Weeks here are hosted and fully catered: breakfast, a light lunch and a home-cooked dinner every day. Tea, coffee and local spring water are on hand all day, and the bar is free, with house wine, beer and spirits poured from morning to night. Only premium brands carry a charge. Flights, travel insurance, optional excursions, premium spirits and lunch out at a restaurant are extra.

And the setting. Fresneda de Cabuérniga is in the Cabuérniga valley, a short walk from the river Saja, with oak and beech woods on the slopes, stone villages along the valley and griffon vultures overhead. Have a proper look round on the house page.

You lead, the house looks after everyone

You know your group best, so the programme stays yours. You plan the walks, the rides or the classes, set the pace and look after your people on the day.

The house does the rest of the week. Every meal is cooked, the picnic is ready on walking and riding days, the bar is poured, the fires are lit and the rooms are ready. Rob is the host, and he is the person who answers your enquiry. For transfers and transport during the week, ask Rob and he will confirm what can be arranged for your dates.

Groups already run weeks here

Casa Agara is a working group house with a track record. 10 group weeks have run here since 2023, led by specialist operators: WalkWise with guided walking, New You with yoga and wellbeing, Thrive Fitness Coaching with a fitness week in September 2026, plus a reading retreat and a drawing-and-painting week with tuition. You can see the weeks currently on sale to individuals, booked through Spice Escapes (ATOL 9046), on the scheduled holidays page.

Getting your group here from the UK

Santander airport is about an hour from the house, with direct flights from several UK airports. If your group would rather drive out with its own kit, Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander, and the port is also about an hour away. Bilbao is roughly 1.5 hours. Ask Rob about transfers when you get in touch.

Bring your group to Casa Agara

If you have been looking for a base where the days belong to your group and the evenings take care of themselves, this is it. Enquire about bringing your group: tell Rob what your group does, roughly how many of you there are and the dates you have in mind. He replies personally with the dates that could work and how a week here could run for you. Prefer to talk first? WhatsApp or call +34 699 489 998, or +44 7778 298497 from the UK.

Questions organisers ask

What kinds of group can I bring to Casa Agara?

Walking clubs, road and gravel cycling clubs, riding clubs and yoga retreats are all invited to enquire. Specialist operators have already run 10 group weeks here since 2023, from guided walking with WalkWise to yoga and wellbeing with New You, a fitness week, a reading retreat and a drawing-and-painting week with tuition. If your group does something else, tell Rob and he will say whether the house suits it.

How many people can the house sleep?

Casa Agara has 12 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms and sleeps up to 24 guests. Rob will talk through how the rooms could work for your group when he replies to your enquiry.

What is included in a week at the house?

Weeks are hosted and fully catered: breakfast, a light lunch and a home-cooked dinner every day, with tea, coffee and local spring water all day. The bar is free, with house wine, beer and spirits poured all day, and only premium brands carry a charge. Flights, travel insurance, optional excursions, premium spirits and lunch out at a restaurant are extra.

How much does a group week cost?

Group prices are not published yet. Tell Rob your dates and roughly how many are coming, and he will confirm the cost in his personal reply, along with the dates that could work.

Do you arrange transfers from the airport or the ferry?

Santander airport and the Santander ferry port are each about an hour from the house, and Bilbao is roughly 1.5 hours. Ask Rob about transfers and transport, and he will confirm what is possible for your dates in his reply.