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The pink stone basilica of Covadonga with its twin spires against green, rocky mountainsides in Asturias
Cudillero's colourful houses with orange roofs stacked up the hillside around the small harbour
The rectangular 9th-century stone hall of Santa María del Naranco with its arched loggia, on the green slope of Monte Naranco
Eduardo Chillida's concrete sculpture Elogio del Horizonte framing the sea on the grassy headland of Santa Catalina in Gijón

Things to do in Asturias, from Oviedo to the Picos de Europa

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Photo: Giorgio Galeotti, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cudillero (Plaza de la Marina)

Climb the viewpoints above Cudillero's harbour

Check dates and prices

Photo: Vilanchelo, CC BY-SA 4.0

Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, Monte Naranco, Oviedo

See Ramiro I's 9th-century palace on Monte Naranco

Photo: Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cerro de Santa Catalina and Cimadevilla, Gijón

Walk Cimadevilla up to Chillida's Elogio del Horizonte

Photo: Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0

Asturias is the green, mountainous strip of northern Spain between Galicia and Cantabria, with the Picos de Europa behind and the Bay of Biscay in front, and a strong identity built on the old kingdom that began at Covadonga, on cider and on the sea. The Picos de Europa have their own page, with Covadonga, the lakes, the Cares gorge and Bulnes.

This page covers the rest of the region. Above Oviedo, the 9th-century buildings of Monte Naranco are rare survivors of the early Asturian kingdom. Asturian cider, poured from above the head into a wide glass, is a culture UNESCO listed in 2024. On the coast, Cudillero stacks its coloured houses around a tiny harbour, the cave of Tito Bustillo in Ribadesella holds Ice Age paintings you can still visit in small groups, and Gijón ends its old fishing quarter with Eduardo Chillida's concrete sculpture facing the sea.

Places in this region

6 things to do in Asturias

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The rectangular 9th-century stone hall of Santa María del Naranco with its arched loggia, on the green slope of Monte Naranco

See Ramiro I's 9th-century palace on Monte Naranco

Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, Monte Naranco, Oviedo

2 hoursNo booking needed

A two-storey stone hall with open loggias, built for King Ramiro I on the slope of Monte Naranco above Oviedo.

A waiter in an Oviedo cider house pouring cider from a bottle held high above his head into a glass held low

Drink poured cider in an Asturian sidrería

Sidrerías on Calle Gascona, Oviedo, and across Asturias

An eveningNo booking needed

Watch the escanciador pour cider from above their head into a glass held low, then drink your culín in one go.

Cudillero's colourful houses with orange roofs stacked up the hillside around the small harbour

Climb the viewpoints above Cudillero's harbour

Cudillero (Plaza de la Marina)

2 to 3 hoursFree

Colourful fishermen's houses stacked around a tiny harbour like a stage set, and the point of the visit is to climb.

Check dates and pricesDay trip from Gijón to Cudillero, Luarca and Avilés
The entrance path to the Tito Bustillo cave at the foot of a limestone cliff in Ribadesella

See Ice Age paintings in the Tito Bustillo cave

Cueva de Tito Bustillo and Centro de Arte Rupestre, Ribadesella

2 hours with the art centreTimed entry

Ice Age horses, reindeer and a deer on a cave wall, seen with a guide in groups of just 15.

Eduardo Chillida's concrete sculpture Elogio del Horizonte framing the sea on the grassy headland of Santa Catalina in Gijón

Walk Cimadevilla up to Chillida's Elogio del Horizonte

Cerro de Santa Catalina and Cimadevilla, Gijón

Half a dayFree

Climb Gijón's oldest quarter to Chillida's concrete arch framing the sea from a grassy headland, and come for sunset.

Lake Ercina, one of the Lakes of Covadonga in the Picos de Europa

Ride the bus up to the Lakes of Covadonga

Asturias/León

A full day from Cangas de OnísBook ahead

Two mountain lakes, Enol and Ercina, at the top of a road above Covadonga, linked by an easy loop.

Plan your trip

  • Which destination for what

    Oviedo is the base for the pre-Romanesque monuments, the cathedral and the start of the Camino Primitivo; Gijón for the coast, the old quarter and the beach. Ribadesella and Cangas de Onís sit between the sea and the Picos, which have their own page, and Cudillero is a short drive west of Avilés and the airport.

  • Getting around

    Asturias Airport is on the coast near Avilés, and trains link Oviedo with Madrid and with Gijón and Avilés. A car makes the coast and the mountains far easier: distances are short, Oviedo to Gijón takes under half an hour by motorway, but villages, beaches and trailheads are off the rail lines.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, five days: one for Oviedo and Monte Naranco, one for Gijón and Cudillero, one for Ribadesella and Tito Bustillo, and two for the Picos de Europa. With a week, add more mountain days; the Picos alone can fill one.

  • When to go

    Summer is the most reliable for the coast and the mountains, but also the busiest, with car restrictions at the Lakes of Covadonga and Poncebos. Late spring and September are the sweet spot. Tito Bustillo only opens from early March to late October, closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so plan a visit inside that season and book ahead in summer.

Questions travellers ask

Can I visit the Tito Bustillo cave?

Yes, in small guided groups of 15, up to 150 people a day, from Wednesday to Sunday during its season, which in 2026 ran from 4 March to 30 October. Tickets sell out in high season, so buy online well ahead; entry is free on Wednesdays.

How do you drink Asturian cider?

Natural cider is poured, escanciado, from a bottle held high into a wide glass held low, which aerates it. You get a culín, a small amount meant to be drunk at once, and the waiter pours the next one. In a sidrería you usually order by the bottle.

Is Santa María del Naranco open?

It closed for works on 1 April 2026, with reopening expected at the end of September. San Miguel de Lillo, 240 m away, stayed visitable. Check with the visitor point before you go up.

Oviedo or Gijón as a base?

Oviedo for monuments, the cathedral and the Camino Primitivo; Gijón for the sea, the beach and the old fishing quarter. They are under half an hour apart, so either works for both.

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