Discover what makes Asturias a natural paradise
There’s no need to choose between mountains and sea in this green part of Spain brimming with cultural riches and natural abundance
Words by Mark Eveleigh
Less than 30km lies between the snow-capped summits of the Picos de Europa and the wave-pounded beaches of the Bay of Biscay. You could spend the morning hiking Asturias’ breathtakingly beautiful mountain landscapes and be on the beach sipping Asturian cider by lunchtime. While distances are small, the country roads curl and wind like mountain rivers, making this a region that rewards laidback wandering rather than rushed sightseeing. While Asturias boasts spectacular natural parks and historic sights, even the big cities – Oviedo (the stately capital) and Gijón, a seaside city with a salty charm – greet you with a friendly Asturian pat on the back rather than the headlong shove of manic Madrid or buzzing Barcelona.
Spain’s first national park: Picos de Europa
Picos de Europa National Park defies all generalisations. For one thing, it straddles the borders of the Principality of Asturias, the neighbouring coastal province of Cantabria and Castilla y León.
The hike through Cares Gorge (known locally as Ruta del Cares) is the most dramatic. You should allow at least six hours to traverse the 24km from the Asturian hamlet of Poncebos to Caín (in Castilla y León) and will pass through almost 70 tunnels along the way. The great limestone bulwark of Torre de Cerredo (at 2650m, the highest point in Asturias) gleams under the Spanish sun but the weather can change in an instant in these highlands and a trek over these highland passes and peaks should not be taken without careful preparation.
Picu Urriellu Subiendo de Carrena a Asiegu (Photo by Mampiris)
Since the Picos de Europa was designated Spain’s first national park in 1918, the area has become a byword for mountain adventure, drawing climbers, trekkers, skiers, and more recently, snow-shoe enthusiasts and split-boarders (like a snowboard that divides in two for ascending). The Picos – especially on the Cantabrian side – have become an increasingly popular holiday destination.
“Even at the height of summer, sleepy Asturias fortunately escapes the worst of the crowds.”
Even at the height of summer, Asturias fortunately escapes the worst of the crowds. The charming market town of Cangas de Onís, with its photogenic and pristinely preserved Roman bridge, is hard to beat as a base if you’re planning to combine highland experiences with some accessible beach time.
A visitor centre – in the ‘Casa Dago’ at Cangas de Onís – can give you an insight into the natural riches of the area, along with detailed maps of hiking trails.
The 7 biosphere reserves of Asturias
Little Asturias (just 2% of Spain’s total area) claims to be home to 1% of all the UNESCO-recognised Biosphere Reserves on the planet. The organisation has recognised seven vitally important Asturian reserves within its Man and the Biosphere Programme.
Picos de Europa National Park is renowned for the herds of hardy chamois that forage on the rocky slopes and the golden eagles and bearded vultures that soar over the forested valleys. Bears still descend from the high slopes of Somiedo Nature Reserve (100km to the west), to raid village beehives and orchards in search of food. The Ecomuseum of Somiedo (at Caunedo) has renovated several traditional dwellings, offering a unique opportunity to experience how mountain dwellers lived in this area until relatively recent times.
The largest Asturian reserve, Río Eo, Oscos and Terras de Burón Biosphere Reserve, spans 1588 sq km of forested hills, estuaries and beaches such as Penarronda Beach Natural Monument. Ponga Nature Reserve’s ragged peaks rise over 2000m, but it’s best known for its vast woodlands. Among the sprinkling of birch, ash, oak, alder and maple hikers are drawn to the vast beech forests that turn a fiery gold in autumn. While Redes Nature Reserve is notable for its geological formations, including glacial moraines, caves and karst formations, it is an unbeatable spot for wildlife with large populations of wolves and brown bears and the principality’s largest populations of chamois and deer.
Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Natural Park is justly famous as the home to the Senda del Oso (Bear Trail), a 29km route that can be walked or cycled and which offers Spain’s best opportunity for seeing wild bears. Mountain bikes are available for rent from Centro Btt Valles del Oso (sendadelosoenbicicleta.com). A healthy population of brown bears also roams the oak forests and highland lakes of the lesser-known Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias Nature Reserve, near the Castilla y León border.
The 400km of best-preserved coastline in Spain and more than 200 beaches
The wild, cliff-lined shoreline of the Principality of Asturias has been spared the overdevelopment and rampant tourism that has transformed so much of the Mediterranean coast into a concrete jungle. The Asturias Tourism Office claims that there is, on average, a separate beach every two kilometres!
“The Asturias Tourism Office claims that there is, on average, a separate beach every two kilometres!”
From Playa de San Lorenzo’s beautifully arcing sweep of white sand (the place to be seen on Gijón city’s waterfront) to the remote and aptly named Playa del Silencio, (a 45-min drive to the west) there’s a beach here to suit everybody. Sixteen of the principality’s beaches have been awarded blue flags by the Foundation for Environmental Education which monitors cleanliness along the European coastline. The blue-flagged Playa de Rodiles (near Villaviciosa) is often rated among the best surfing waves on the Spanish mainland while Playa de Anguileiro (at Tapia de Casariego) frequently hosts international surfing competitions.
Peregrinos, Camino de Santiago, Camino Costa (Photo by Gonzalo Azumendi)
If you’re looking for more sheltered conditions there are countless bays, coves and lagoons that escape the wrath of the Biscay breakers. Those who want to avoid crowds can head to the likes of Playa la Vega (one of the most picturesque beaches in all Spain) while those who prefer to avoid tan-lines head to Playa de Torimbia, the region’s most famous playa nudista (‘clothing optional’ beach).
If you are struggling to make up your mind, why not take a chance to check out all these beaches in sequence during a hike along the Camino del Norte? This coastal version of the Way of Saint James runs from Irun (on the French border) to the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela. Almost a third of the route’s 823km run parallel to the Asturian coast, touching many wild beaches and dozens of charming and unspoiled traditional fishing communities such as Llanes, Ribadesella and Luarca.
Asturian cider culture and gastronomy
Asturian cider is far more than just a local beverage. The entire process – stemming from the cultivation of the native apples to the etiquette involved in quaffing the ancient brew – has a way of uniting Asturian people.
“In 2024, Asturian cider culture was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.”
From the cider-making community of Nava – home of Asturian cider – to the backstreet bars of Gijón’s fishing quarter, you’re sure to notice the dramatic performance involved in transferring the beverage from bottle to glass. Rather than simply being poured, the cider is ‘thrown’ from a lofty height into a lowered glass (an aeration process known locally as el escanciado). Etiquette demands that only a mouthful is decanted at a time and that drinkers ‘knock it back’ rather than sip.
Wine is less celebrated in Asturias than cider is but, while Nava has its famous Museo de la Sidra (Cider Museum), the town of Cangas del Narcea has its Museo del Vino (Wine Museum).
“Native grape varieties such as Carrasquín, Albarín Negro and Verdejo Negro and Albarín (white grape) have been cultivated in this area since the Middle Ages. “
Either the wine or the cider pairs perfectly with the hearty regional pork-and-bean stew known as fabada asturiana. Another local speciality that shouldn’t be missed is cachopo (veal fillets stuffed with serrano ham and cheese). As befits this coastal region, seafood is also a favourite fixture with a wide selection, including: crab, spider crab, barnacles and a wide variety of delicious fish such as monkfish, hake or viceroy, or the heaped dishes known as mariscada (loaded with a selection of them all!).
Bodegón Sidra y Manzana (Photo by Noé Baranda)
In the mountain valleys around Picos de Europa, you’ll find celebrated family businesses specialising in artisanal cheeses. Cheese aficionados should head to the hills around Arenas de Cabrales or the Cornión massif where Cabrales and Gamonéu cheeses are matured in caves according to time-honoured traditions.
UNESCO-recognised riches
Along with the Camino del Norte, there are also several other UNESCO-protected pilgrim routes that pass through Asturias.
“In fact, the Camino Primitivo (said to be the first of all the pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela) begins in the Asturian capital. “
It is said that King Alfonso II of Asturias set out from Oviedo in the 9th century, on what is believed to have been the first pilgrimage, to investigate reports that the body of Saint James had been discovered in the Galician highlands. These days the 375km route from Oviedo to Santiago typically takes 11 days with the first week being spent traversing the inland hills of Asturias. The principality’s millennia-old routes were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1993 yet, more than thirty years later, they continue to escape the crowded conditions that are often seen on the famous ‘French Way’ (which passes to the south, beyond the Castilla y León frontier).
Several Pre-Romanesque churches that were built around 850CE in Oviedo have also been recognised by UNESCO as works of unique artistic achievement and these add to the unique appeal of the kingdom’s capital as a city break.
It might be said that even 1000-year-old buildings are relatively recent innovations in such a historically rich region: across remote hillsides you’ll find remnants of many far older fortified villages known as Castros. Remnants of an Iberian civilisation that was here long before the Romans arrived, some – such as Castro de Coaña in the far west of the principality – date back to the 4th century BCE. Going back further still,
“Asturias boasts several UNESCO recognised cave art sites – most notably Tito Bustillo Cave, El Pindal Cave, La Covaciella Cave and La Peña de Candamo Cave.”
Among the world’s oldest ‘art galleries’ they are part of a paleolithic cave art tradition that thrived in this part of Spain as far back as 37,000 years ago.
Bebiendo un culín de sidra en la terraza deapartamentos rurales La Xamoca (Photo by Mampiris)