Gozón

Understand

The Cantabrian Mountains cut off this region from the rest of Spain. Coursing parallel to the coast, they're Carboniferous limestone, rising to 2600 m in their eastern range the Picos de Europa. They draw the clouds and rain, so Asturias has a cool wet climate, a world away from the arid centre and sunbaked south. Winters are mild but this is one of the few parts of Spain best visited at the height of summer - even then it's not crowded with tourists. This isolation has left traces of very early habitation, by those pushed to the margins of Europe as later peoples advanced. The Celts arrived from 1000 BC, and from 29 BC the Romans subdued Asturias but were never a major presence. The Visigoths settled from the 5th century as they were displaced from central Europe, and when the Umayyad Moors overran Spain in the 8th century they could never quell this stubborn rain-lashed territory. They briefly occupied it from 714 AD but in 722 were defeated at Covadonga: this encouraged widespread rebellion, and Asturias grew into an independent kingdom that included present-day Galicia and Castile & León. Thus it was under Asturian rule that the legend of St James and pilgrimage centre of Santiago were founded. But power gravitated east, and in 910 the capital moved from Oviedo to León, which supplanted Asturias as a kingdom. Later dynastic unions of León, Castile, Aragon and Navarre created the nucleus of present day Spain. The title of "Prince of Asturias" was created in 1388 for the heir to the Castilian throne, Henry the Suffering, on the occasion of his wedding to Catherine of Lancaster. This had the desired effect of reducing internecine murder between claimants to tolerable levels, so it's been conferred ever since on the heir whenever (as now) Spain has a monarchy.

The fabulous wealth from 17th / 18th century exploitation of the Americas passed this region by, all sucked in by Toledo and Madrid. It had an intellectual resurgence as a centre of the Spanish Enlightenmen

Getting there

1 Asturias airport (OVD IATA) is 10 km west of Avilés, with buses to that town and to Oviedo and Gijón. It has frequent flights from Madrid, also from Barcelona, Sevilla and Palma de Mallorca, but lacks international flights. Santander airport has international budget flights (eg Ryanair from London Stansted) and is 3 hours by bus from Oviedo. Otherwise fly to Madrid and take the bus or train onward. Renfe trains run from Madrid via Segovia, Valladolid and León to Oviedo and Gijón. High-speed services take 3 hours to Oviedo. ALSA buses from Madrid take 5 hours to Oviedo.

Getting around

Asturian cities sprawl but most areas of interest are concentrated in a compact walkable area. City buses and taxis reach outlying attractions; you need your own wheels for the mountains and tucked-away coves along the coast. Cercanías are local trains operated by Renfe. Fares are inexpensive, as they're heavily subsidised, and if you rely on them a lot, the CONECTA card will do good as it has a monthly cap of 30€ for trains and buses. You just touch on and off for trips. You can get to anywhere in Central Asturias with these trains, although travel times might be a bit long. You can see schedules at official pages or third party apps like Maps.

See

A total solar eclipse on Wednesday 12 Aug 2026, starting at 20:27 and lasting two minutes. The chances of a clear sky are only 40%, and you need to find a spot with a clear view to the northwest horizon, where the sun will be setting. Coast is best: hilltops are more likely to be socked in by cloud, and after the show you’d have to descend an unfamiliar hill trail in darkness. Churches, churches, churches, every community has at least one at its core. Unique to Asturias are pre-Romanesque churches, over 1000 years old, reflecting the region's Christian isolation from Moorish rule. Two fine examples are near Oviedo. The following centuries brought Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles, at all scales from cathedral to parish basilica, chapel and wayside shrine. Industrial heritage reflects the 18th to 20th century coal and iron-mining era. It's most visible around Langreo (where you tour down the mine shafts) and Avilés, while Piedrasblancas has a coal mine reaching under the sea. Those industries collapsed in the late 20th century, leaving shabby brownfield sites that needed reinvention: Centro Niemeyer in Avilés is a successful example. Stone Age artefacts are in every town museum, with a good collection in Oviedo's Archaeological Museum. That era did not leave megaliths in this region, instead material has survived by being sealed away in caves, with examples at La Peña de Candamo in the hills above Pravia, and Cueva del Pindal on the coast near Pimiango. The most remarkable is Tito Bustillo Cave in Ribadesella: its art was the work of Cro-Magnons from 33,000 to 10,000 years ago, predecessors to modern European humans.

Covadonga is a shrine marking the first victory against the Moors, in 722 AD. The name derives from cova domenica, "Cave of Our Lady", where the Virgin Mary supposedly initiated the 800-year Christian reconquest of Spain. The victory was more to do with an already-battered Moorish force trying to attack in rugged terrain that greatly favoured the d

Do

Beaches are mostly shingle coves, with sandy strips here and there. The sea is the Atlantic not the Med, so it's chilly and better for wind-surfing than beach-lazing, and you need to seek out sheltered spots for kiddy-bathing. And it's tidal, so at high tide the beaches are covered. Fiestas - festivals - are a mix of religious and secular. Easter is the big one, and each town has a patron-saint day when a huge Madonna is toted swaying through the streets. Most include civic entertainments, and especially in the cities some are entirely modern raves. El Camino is the collective name for the pilgrimage trails converging on Santiago de Compostela. The main trail from the French border passes south of this region through León, but Camino del Norte along the coast through Asturias was adopted in medieval times to avoid Moorish territory. Camino Primitivo was the first documented trail, starting from Oviedo. Camino del Salvador is a modern invention, crossing the mountains from León to Oviedo. Senda del Oso is a 50 km hiking and cycling trail through the mountains along the track of a former railway. Villages along the route include Proaza, Teverga and Quirós. Golf: courses are in the urban strip between Oviedo and Gijón. Skiing: Valgrande-Pajares is a winter sports resort in the mountains south of Pola de Lena.

Eat

Fabada is a stew of white beans, chorizo sausage, morcilla black pudding and diced bacon. Cachopo is breaded veal cutlets. Cheese comes in over a hundred local varieties. Best known is Cabrales, a blue cheese classically from goat milk, but it can be from sheep or cow milk. It's only produced in a group of villages in the mountains of eastern Asturias. Gamoneu is similar, with a lightly smoked flavour. Frixuelos are similar to French crêpe