Organic hotel in Asturias, north Spain

Much of the north of Spain is known historically as Green Spain, which has more to do with a wetter climate than a commitment to saving the planet. But if you look carefully, there are some genuine green gems between the Cantabrian and Basque mountains.

Posada del Valle is a 19th-century stone farmhouse near Arriondas by the Picos de Europa national park. It was once the home of a parish priest, but now the English owners have turned it into a certified organic farm where rare breed sheep graze among 18 acres of wild meadow and the electricity is bought in from renewable sources. There's juice from the apple orchard, fresh home-baked bread and veg from the terraced garden for evening meals in a glass-fronted dining-room.

The posada is close to the sandy beaches of the Cantabrian coast, but go to the many inland rivers for canoeing and canyoning, or into the mountains for horse-riding and mountainbiking. The farmhouse is a 3km walk from Arriondas, which is four hours by bus from Bilbao, two hours from Santander.

· Rooms from €58 (+34 985 84 11 57, posadadelvalle.com).

This article, by Richard Hammond, was first published in the Guardian.