🎯 Top Things to Do in Asturias — Complete Guide 2026

Asturias is Spain's most dramatic region: mountains that end abruptly at the sea, rivers that carve through limestone gorges, meadows that stay green even in August, and a coastline of cliffs, caves, and hidden coves that rivals anything in the Mediterranean. It's an outdoor destination first and a cultural one second, and the list of things to do reflects that — here, the main attraction is the landscape itself.

1. Hike the Cares Gorge (Ruta del Cares)

The Cares Gorge is the signature hike of the Picos de Europa and one of Spain's most thrilling walking experiences. The trail follows a water channel carved into the vertical limestone walls of the gorge in the 1940s, suspended 100–300 metres above the Cares River. It's 12km one-way from Poncebos (Asturias) to Caín (León), with the river roaring below and vultures wheeling overhead. The path is mostly flat but narrow — in places, barely a metre wide — and entirely exposed. It's not technically difficult, but it's not for anyone with a fear of heights.

Allow 4–5 hours return (3–4 hours one-way if you arrange transport at Caín). Start early — the trail gets crowded by midday in summer. Water, food, and sturdy footwear are essential. There are no facilities between Poncebos and Caín. The best months are May–June (wildflowers, full river flow) and September (quieter, warm days, cool mornings).

2. Covadonga — Sanctuary and Lakes

Covadonga is the spiritual birthplace of Spain. Here, in 722 AD, the Visigothic nobleman Pelayo and a small force of Asturian fighters defeated a Muslim army — a battle that launched the 770-year Reconquista. The sanctuary complex today includes a neo-Romanesque basilica, the Santa Cueva (Holy Cave) built into the cliff face where Pelayo is buried, and a fountain whose waters, according to local belief, guarantee marriage within a year to anyone who drinks from its seven spouts.

Above the sanctuary, 12km of winding mountain road lead to the Lagos de Covadonga — Enol and Ercina, two glacial lakes at 1,100m altitude. The setting is spectacular: green pastures, grazing cows with bells, and the limestone peaks of the western Picos massif rising behind. In summer, the road is closed to private vehicles between 8:30am and 8pm; shuttle buses run from Cangas de Onís (€9 return). Several hiking trails radiate from the lakes, including the 5km route to the Mirador de la Reina viewpoint.

3. Oviedo's Pre-Romanesque Monuments (UNESCO)

Sitting on the slopes of Monte Naranco, two kilometres from Oviedo's centre, are some of the most important buildings in European architectural history. Santa María del Naranco (completed 848 AD) was built as a royal hall for Ramiro I, later consecrated as a church. Its proportions are perfect — a two-storey rectangle with an open loggia at each end, barrel vaults, and carved columns with rope-like spiralling. San Miguel de Lillo, a few hundred metres away, was the palace chapel — only a third survives, but the sculpted capitals and the lattice window at the entrance are extraordinary.

In the city itself, San Julián de los Prados (Santullano) is the largest surviving pre-Romanesque church, with original 9th-century frescoes covering the interior walls. These three, plus several others, constitute the UNESCO World Heritage site "Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of Asturias." Entry is €3 per monument or €7 for a combined ticket — exceptional value.

4. Gijón — Beaches, Cimavilla, and the Chillida Sculpture

Gijón is Asturias's biggest city, an industrial port with a surprising quality of life and a genuinely beautiful urban beach. Playa de San Lorenzo is a 1.5km crescent of golden sand backed by a seafront promenade — in summer, it's packed with families, surf schools, and volleyball games. The water is cold (Atlantic, 18–20°C) but the beaches are spectacular, and the waves are consistent enough to make Gijón a surfing destination.

At the eastern end of San Lorenzo, the old fishermen's quarter of Cimavilla climbs a small headland. Its narrow streets, cider houses, and seafood restaurants feel like a village within the city. At the summit, Eduardo Chillida's Elogio del Horizonte (1990) is a massive concrete sculpture shaped like an upturned ship's hull, framing the sea and sky. Stand inside its chamber and the ocean sound amplifies — it's one of Spain's most successful pieces of public art.

5. The Fishing Villages: Cudillero, Lastres, and Llanes

Cudillero

If you've seen a photo of Asturias, there's a good chance it was Cudillero: pastel-coloured houses stacked around a tiny natural harbour like an amphitheatre, fishing boats bobbing below, and the constant cry of seagulls. The walk up to the Mirador de la Garita viewpoint through steep staircases rewards with the classic postcard shot. The harbour-front restaurants serve the day's catch — grilled hake, percebes in season, centollo in winter.

Lastres

Perched on a hill overlooking a rocky bay, Lastres is the most dramatic of Asturian fishing ports. It served as the filming location for the Spanish TV series Doctor Mateo, and its steep streets and harbour views have made it a favourite with Spanish visitors.

Llanes

Further east, Llanes combines a medieval centre (the 13th-century walls still stand) with a coastline of bufones — natural blowholes that erupt seawater during storms. The Paseo de San Pedro is a cliff-top walk overlooking the Cantabrian Sea, with views to the Picos de Europa on clear days.

6. Playa de Gulpiyuri — The Inland Beach

Gulpiyuri is one of Spain's most bizarre natural phenomena: a beach with no sea view, set in a meadow 100 metres inland, formed when the sea eroded a sinkhole in the limestone and connected it to the ocean via an underground tunnel. The result is a tiny, perfectly circular sandy cove surrounded by grass, where the tide rises and falls as if by magic. It's 2km from Llanes, accessible via a short walk from the main road. Avoid peak summer afternoons when it's crowded with Instagrammers.

7. Playa del Silencio

Near Cudillero, the Beach of Silence lives up to its name — a horseshoe of grey pebbles backed by 30-metre cliffs, with no development visible in any direction. Access requires a steep 15-minute walk from the car park. There's no sand, no beach bar, and no shade — bring everything you need and take everything back. The reward is one of the most unspoiled coastal spots in northern Spain.

8. Jurassic Museum of Asturias (MUJA)

Between Gijón and Ribadesella, the Asturian coast is known as the Costa de los Dinosaurios — the Dinosaur Coast — for its wealth of fossilised footprints. The Jurassic Museum, shaped like a giant dinosaur footprint when viewed from above, tells the story of the region's Jurassic past through fossils, life-size models, and interactive exhibits. The real footprints can be seen at the nearby cliffs of La Griega beach (Colunga) at low tide — dozens of three-toed tracks preserved in 150-million-year-old rock.

9. Descenso del Sella — Canoe the Sella River

Every August, thousands of people in fancy dress paddle 20km down the Sella River from Arriondas to Ribadesella in the largest canoe descent in Spain. The event dates to 1930 and has become a giant floating party — you don't need to compete, just rent a canoe and join the flotilla. Outside August, the river is a peaceful paddling route through forested gorges, suitable for families and beginners.

10. Somiedo Natural Park

South of Oviedo, Somiedo is the best place in Asturias to see brown bears. The park's population of around 40 Cantabrian brown bears is part of a fragile recovery from near-extinction, and guided bear-watching tours operate in spring and autumn. Even without a sighting, the landscape — high mountain pastures dotted with traditional stone brañas (shepherds' huts with thatched roofs), glacial lakes, and beech forests — makes Somiedo worth the journey.

Asturias is Spain stripped back to its elemental self: mountain, sea, pasture, river. Everything else — the food, the cider, the architecture — flows from that.