Northern Spain

Today in Asturias

Picos de Europa  |  Places to See  |   Costa Verde Beaches  |  Typical Food   |
7-Day fly-drive itinerary  | Back to Regions page

Airport:  BILBAO

Tourist Offices:  Cantabria 942 31 07 08
                        Asturias 985 21 33 85

PICOS DE EUROPA

The Picos de Europa mountains stretch across Cantabria and Asturias and provide some of the most stunning scenery.   An ideal destination to combine car touring with a walking holiday.  The driving is spectacular, in particular the Desfiladero de Sella and the Desfiladero de la Hermida - 2 river gorges:  blue sky, mountains, boulder-strewn rushing rivers.   The roads are generally good and wide enough.

Throughout the region you'll see barns, colourful with drying corn, peppers and onions, raised off the gound on mushroom shaped stilts.   These are called Horreos.

A good book of walks is Teresa Farino's Landscapes of Northern Spain - Picos de Europa.
Landscapes of Northern Spain - Picos de Europa.

Itinerary for a 7-Day Driving Tour

Here's a suggested itinerary.  Budget for around £200 per person for hotels for the week.

Food and Drink Specialities of the Region:

Fabada - a thick stew of pork and beans

Cabrales cheese - a very strong, soft, blue cheese, often spread on bread

Cider (sidra) - the usual drink of the region.  If you ask for a glass you will be given a bottle - the waiter will pour you half a glass from a great height to make it fizzy.  If it goes flat before you finish it, you are supposed to throw it in the gully around the foot of the bar!  In this way, out of the whole bottle you'll probably only drink about a glassful!  Unless you fancy your chances of pouring, you'll have to wait for the waiter to pour you another. You'll also see elaborate cider pourers on the walls - sometimes outside the bar - you place the plastic tube into the cider bottle and place the bottle in the holder at the top.  Place your glass in the angled holder at the bottom and press the rubber pump a few times.  Don't forget you only pour a couple of mouthfuls at a time!

Back to Regions page         Top

Places to see/things to do:

Potes
This is a sort of 'gateway to the Picos'.  It's a popular place to stay amongst walkers and there are plenty of walking/hiking gear shops.  It's nevertheless a picturesque little town with plenty of well-priced restaurants and lots of shops selling local products such as sausages, cheeses, cider, etc.

Recommended restaurant - Cafeteria Plaza - the menu del dia here is a bargain at 1200 Pts!
You will also eat well at Casa Caya but pay twice as much for it.   

The Hostal Picos de Europa is a popular place to stay (Tel 942 730005).  If you can't get in there try the Hotel Rubio (Tel 942 730015) - a clean and basic hotel from another era, run by a rather eccentric, if enthusiastic, lady.

Fuente De

Cable car within a natural amphitheatre of mountains.  The car rises a dramatic 800 m in just 3 minutes.  You don't realise how fast you are travelling until the car going down rushes past you! 

Arrive fairly early (9.30 am) in high season to avoid a queue. 

Once up there you can take in the view from the over-hanging viewing platform and you could then walk the 9 miles down through barren mountains, green pastureland and woodland.  You are likely to experience total solitude with just grazing cows, sheep and horses, with circling Griffon Vultures overhead.  Or you could just come back down again!  Whatever - take a jumper!

Cangas de Onis

Supposed to be the first Christian capital of Spain, it has a very photographed Romanesque bridge, a few shops and not many good places to eat.

A highly-recommended place to stay is at the Hotel Aultre Naray, at Peruyes, a few miles north.  This is a small hotel which is understated luxury.  The staff are extremely friendly and welcoming.  The interior is designer-smart, and the views of the green mountains are awe-inspiring.   The restaurant serves light evening meals from 9 pm, with a good wine list (my favourite was the Condado de Haza '96!).  Tel 985 840808.

Back to Regions page         Top

Covadonga and the Glacial Lakes
This makes a good afternoon's excursion.  Covadonga is a place of pilgrimage for Spaniards as Pelayo beat the Moors here - there is a Disney-style 19th C basilica, souvenir shop and not much else - oh a toilet in a converted turret!  The message is, if you are heading up to the lakes with a picnic, make sure you have bought it before you get to Covadonga! 

From Covadonga it's a hairy drive through the National Park up to the glacial lakes of Enol and Ercina.  Be prepared for it to be chilly up at the lakes, even in high summer.

Cares Gorge
One of the classic Picos walks, through the Gorge with spectacular scenery following a path cut out by the water company when they redirected part of the river for energy.  The Gorge runs between Cain and Puente Poncebos.  There and back is 12.5 miles and takes around 6 hours.  The part nearest Puente is fairly steep (down, when heading towards Puente) and the surface quite loose; you will need decent supportive shoes - don't even think about it in sandals!). 

Starting from Cain, you follow the river, passing the Hostal La Ruta on your left.  The walk begins by crossing the bridge (notice the trout ladder) and the first part takes you through a dripping tunnel with the odd 'window', before emerging to follow the river on your right and the re-directed canal on your left.  The sheer depth of the gorge and drama of the scenery make up for the fact that the route is usually pretty crowded - you may start off with a cheery 'hola!' to oncoming walkers, but you'll be all 'hola-ed' out by the end!

There are hostals to stay in at both places, Cain being the smaller of the two (with several hostals/restaurants, a minimarket, couple of souvenir shops and the bread delivered by van!).  Beware if staying at Cain: the road into it is incredibly narrow, with a sheer drop on one side - be prepared to do some death defying manoeuvering in the face of an on-coming car! 

Clean, no frills hostal at Cain - Hostal La Ruta (tel 987 742702).

Back to Regions page         Top

COSTA VERDE BEACHES

The beaches along the northern coast of Spain are some of the best in the country.  They are invariably underdeveloped, with some being totally unspoilt.  No high-rise hotels here!

Ribadesella
A pleasant seaside resort at the mouth of the river Sella.  There is a picturesque harbour and  a long, sandy beach.  There is a variety of shops to browse and to buy a picnic.  

The Tito Bustillo caves are here also - they are closed Mon and Tues (as are all caves in Asturias).  They open at 10.00 but you will have to get there early in high season as the number of people allowed in is limited and if you arrive at 10.00 you will find all the tickets sold!

A short drive west from Ribadesella is the beach at Vega.   This is a totally unspoilt beach (but with a handy bar for that essential G&T!) - there are lifeguards though and a flag system to indicate safe bathing, as the currents can be strong.  Parts are dunes and part is boulder-strewn.  A cold, freshwater spring bubbles up through the sand. 

Comillas
A really picturesque little town with some medieval buildings and plenty of photo opportunities.  There is a large car park at the top end of town, from where is is  is quite a walk down to the beach which is long and sandy, with an excellent chiringuito (beach bar/restaurant). 

Comillas is also home to one of the few Gaudi buildings outside Catalunya - El Capricho.  This is now a high-class restaurant.  A meal here will be memorable: it is expensive by Spanish standards, but the food and service are excellent and you also get a chance to look around the building itself.  As a guide to price, we pushed the boat and the bill turned up as £60 on the Visa statement - a snip for such luxury.  You will have to book if you want to go - (0034) 94 2720365.

Santillana del Mar
Not a beach but it is just in from the coast.   It is known as one of Spain's prettiest towns - medieval, cobbles, flower balconies, etc. It is pretty but a bit sanitised.

Back to Regions page         Top