Again and again, the passing coastal landscape entices one to look out of the window. Long sandy beaches alternate with rugged rocky cliffs. In between, the train travels through dense woodland and past old fishing villages.

The Costa Verde Express runs on old narrow-gauge tracks, sometimes only a few metres from the Cantabrian Sea, at a leisurely 50 km/h (30 miles per hour). In some parts, the route runs parallel to Spain’s northern pilgrimage trail, the Camino del Norte.

While the pilgrims struggle on foot along the Costa Verde, Spain’s “Green Coast” that stretches the length of the northern province of Asturias, Julio Cesar Pallucchini and his wife, Liliana, enjoy the scenery over a cafe con leche in the wood-panelled, carpeted lounge of the Costa Verde Express.

“Thank goodness the train only partially lives up to its name,” Julio says. The Costa Verde, he says, is truly impressively green. On the other hand, Julio says he’s glad it’s not an express train, but rather a slow affair, allowing you to observe the landscape in peace.

This is exactly the kind of slower way of travelling he was looking for, he says. “And the good food, of course,” he says with a laugh.

The train ride takes us through the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia – Spain’s gourmet strongholds, Laura López says. She is head chef on board the Costa Verde Express. And food certainly plays an important role on this train journey.

While the daily excursions involve dining in restaurants, in the evenings Laura and her colleague Daniela prepare delicacies from the region where the train is currently stopping.

Scallops and octopus in Galicia, wild salmon, fabada stew, and cabrales cheese in Asturias, Cocido Montañes stew in Cantabria, stockfish in the Basque Country.

The Costa Verde Express is one of the so-called historic royal trains of Spain’s state-owned railway company Renfe. They are something like a Spanish version of the Orient Express, reminiscent of train journeys from a bygone century.

The nostalgic train decorated in Belle Époque style takes six days to cover the nearly 600 kilometres (375 miles) between Bilbao in the Basque Country and Ferrol, from where a coach takes passengers to and from the Galician pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela.

The trip we are on started from the latter, site of the tomb of St James the Apostle. Above the tomb stands the cathedral, the end point of the Camino.

Among the places it stops is Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, whose cathedral was the starting point for the oldest Camino route. Asturias’ King Alfonso II is said to have been the first pilgrim, riding by horse to Galicia from Oviedo after the discovery of the Apostle’s tomb in 812.

In Cabezon de la Sal in Cantabria, the train stops at the station, as it does every evening, so that the passengers can sleep. Cool country air flows through the sliding window, crickets chirp.

The next morning, everyone realises why Spain’s north is so green: it is raining cats and dogs. On the platform, the train crew distributes umbrellas for the day’s outing.

The bus takes half an hour to reach the Altamira cave, often referred to as the Sistine Chapel of the Stone Age. The prehistoric cave paintings of bison, deer and horses here are at least 14,000 years old.

Today, only a small number of lucky people drawn by lot can visit the original cave, wearing protective suits and masks to cover their nose and mouth. But there is hardly any perceivable difference to the replica of the cave next door.

Lunch is 2 kilometres away in Santillana del Mar, where the convent of the Poor Clares, Colegiata de Santa Juliana, is one of the most important Romanesque religious buildings in Cantabria.

In comparison, the elegant regional capital, Santander, with its magnificent Art Nouveau buildings, seems downright young. The silver-panelled Centro Botín opened here a few years ago.

A magnificent cultural centre, it was built directly on the river promenade by the Botín banking family, owners of Santander Bank, and is home to contemporary and avant-garde art.

The building on the Nervión River, formed from silver titanium plates, looks like a gigantic napkin and can be seen in the distance from the Costa Verde Express.

The view of the Guggenheim announces the end of the train’s journey from Galicia.

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