Asturias Natural Paradise Excursion from Madrid 5 days, 4 nights

Day 1: Oviedo

1. Madrid
   15m
   We started the tour in Madrid, we started from our meeting point.
2. 1h · Admission ticket included
   The Catholic temples of Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo are located on the southern slopes of Mount Naranco de Oviedo, four kilometers from the city center. Originally, Santa Maria was not designed as a church, but was the Aula Regia of the palatial complex that King Ramiro I had built on the outskirts of the capital in 842. His artistic style is called “ramirense”, within the pre-Romanesque Asturian.
3. 2h · Admission ticket included
   The Holy Church Basilica Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador de Oviedo is a Gothic style cathedral located in the city of Oviedo (Principality of Asturias, Spain). It is also known as Sancta Ovetensis, referring to the quality and quantity of the relics it contains. It began to be built at the end of the 13th century by the chapter hall and the cloister, and its construction lasted for three centuries until the finishing of the tower in the mid-16th century. Later a girola would be added in the 16th century in addition to various chapels attached to the side naves.
4. Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias
   1h · Admission ticket included
   It was inaugurated on May 19, 1980 from the art collection owned by the former Provincial Council of Oviedo, now under the Ministry of Culture of the Principality of Asturias and is paid for with funds from the Principality and the City Council of Oviedo. The Museum currently has a collection of almost 15,000 works, including painting (about 1500), sculpture, drawing, printmaking and industrial arts (about 4,000 pieces),1 although it actually has a permanent exhibition of 800.2 It contains paintings by Spanish, especially Asturian, and foreign artists, including Italian and Flemish paintings, as well as sculptures, photographs and glass and earthenware objects. In 2017 the collection has been remarkably enriched with 33 important works donated by Plácido Arango Arias.
5. San Francisco Park
   Pass by
   Campo de San Francisco is an urban park located in the center of the city of Oviedo (Spain). It is one of the most emblematic places in the city12 and one of the largest urban parks in Asturias. Originating from the orchards of the defunct Convent of San Francisco, several walks and avenues can be distinguished inside: the Alamos walk, the Bombé walk, the José Cuesta walk, Italia avenue or Germany avenue, among others.2 It has a pond and numerous well-known monuments such as the statue of Mafalda or José Tartiere.
6. Teatro Campoamor
   Pass by
   Campoamor Theatre is the opera house of Oviedo, founded in 1892 and known for hosting, among other events, the Princess of Asturias Awards.
7. Plaza del Fontan
   Pass by
   The Fontán, nowadays is a rectangular street and square located in the old town of Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Spain). Its name comes from the spring or fountain that filled the primitive lagoon that was in that area. Formerly used as a comedy corral, today it is one of the points of the so-called Fontán market and hospitality area. Next to this is the covered market of El Fontán, from 1885.
8. Casco Antiguo
   3h
   It is the center of the old town of Oviedo. From a single tower, it stands on the basilica built by order of Alfonso II, "El Casto". The first altar to San Salvador was consecrated on October 13, 821, 1,200 years ago. Although most of the basilica is from the 15th century, due to its numerous reconstructions, it combines different artistic styles, predominantly the flame-lit Gothic.
9. Monte Naranco
   45m
   Having Oviedo at the foot is a real feeling we experience from the top of Mount Naranco. A rounded hill of 636 meters altitude and more than 30,000 square meters of open and natural space that crowns the Asturian capital and offers us its best panorama.
10. Calle Uria
    Pass by
    Uria Street is the main commercial artery of Oviedo, capital of Asturias. It takes its name from the politician José Francisco Uría y Riego.

Day 2: Onís Canjas

1. Puente Romano
   2h
   The medieval bridge of Cangas de Onís or puentón1​ is a construction located over the Sella River as it passes through Cangas de Onís, and that separates the councils of Cangas de Onís and Parres, half of which therefore belongs to each council. His figure is associated with the town of Cangas de Onís.2​
   
   El Puentón is one of the symbols of Asturias. It is part of the shield of Cangas de Onís, along with the cross on the inverted crescent that remembers the victory over the Muslims in the battle of Covadonga and the legend Minima urbium, maxima sedium (minimum city, maximum seat).1​
   
   In 1931 it was declared a historic artistic monument. In its surroundings, many riverside residents of the Sella River area usually go salmon fishing.
2. Basilica de Santa Maria la Real de Covadonga
   3h
   Santa Cueva or sanctuary of Covadonga because at its feet there is a waterfall or stream that forms a pool. Next to it, we will see the fountain of the Siete Caños or “fountain of Marriage”, because, according to popular belief, young women who drink – “without breathing” – from its water get married in less than a year. At least that's what the couplet says: “The Virgin of Covadonga/ has a very clear fountain;/ the girl who drinks from it/ gets married within the year.” On both sides of the road and guarding the entrance to the sanctuary, the visitor will find two large lions sculpted in Carrara marble and which are an exact copy of others made by Pompeio Marchesi.
   
   The altar is decorated with images alluding to the battle of Covadonga and nearby are the tombs of Don Pelayo and his wife Gauiosa, as well as those of his son-in-law Alfonso I and Hermelinda.
3. Lagos de Covadonga
   1h
   Covadonga Lakes
   
   Lake Enol seen from La Picota.
   Lakes of Covadonga located in AsturiasLakes of CovadongaLakes of Covadonga
   Location (Asturias).
   Geographic location
   Cantabrian Mountains
   Coordinates 43°16′31″N 4°59′07″W
   Administrative location
   Country Flag of Spain Spain
   Cangas de Onís Division
   Characteristics
   Altitude 1,134 m above sea level. n. m.
   Stop by Covadonga Sanctuary
   [edit data in Wikidata]
   The lakes of Covadonga are two small lakes, Enol and Ercina, of glacial origin located in the Asturian part of the Picos de Europa national park, in the western massif of said mountain chain. There is a third lake, Bricial, which only has water during the thaw, but also belongs to the group.1​
4. Picos de Europa
   3h
   At the western end of the imposing Picos de Europa National Park are the most famous lakes in Asturias and the most popular in the Iberian Peninsula: the lakes of Covadonga.
   
   Aquifer formations of glacial origin set in a fascinating natural environment that contrast with the rugged ruggedness of the mountains that surround them. A visual scenario overflowing with beauty that confirms, once again, that Asturias is a Natural Paradise.

Day 3: Gijon

1. Laboral Ciudad de la Cultura
   2h · Admission ticket included
   The Gijón Labor University is a building located in the parish of Cabueñes in the council of Gijón. Since its construction between 1948 and 1957, and until the 1980s, it was the headquarters of a Francoist institution aimed at educating the children of workers.
2. Cerro de Santa Catalina
   1h
   The Santa Catalina hill, also known in Asturian as L'Atalaya, is the highest area of the peninsula of the same name, of which the Cimadevilla neighborhood is part, the oldest part of the current city of Gijón in the north. from Spain.
3. Playa de San Lorenzo
   Pass by
   San Lorenzo beach is located in the heart of the city of Gijón. With a length of 1.5 km and a shell shape, it is probably one of the best-known beaches in Asturias.
4. Mirador de La Providencia
   1h
   There is a viewpoint with a ship silhouette, the perfect place to take a photograph and immortalize the sunset. Right in that place, there used to be a shooting platform and with the shots fired, not the flash, but rather ammunition belonging to the weapons of the soldiers of the Spanish Army. But ten years ago the lands of Alto de La Providencia forgot their military use to open to citizens under the name of Parque del Cabo San Lorenzo and instead of target shooting targets, now only kites fly there.
5. Museu del Pueblu d'Asturies
   1h · Admission ticket included
   The Museo del Pueblo de Asturias, also known as simply Pueblo de Asturias, is a Spanish museum whose mission is to preserve and disseminate the memory of the Asturian people. Its funds are made up of extensive collections of ethnography, photography, documentation and musical instruments.
6. Barrio De Cimadevilla
   Pass by
   Cimadevilla is a neighborhood in the central district of the Asturian city of Gijón. It is the oldest area of the city, of Roman origin, also preserving the aesthetics of a 19th century fishing district.
7. Teatro Jovellanos
   Pass by
   The Jovellanos Theater is the reference coliseum in Gijón/Xixón, under municipal management since 1995. The building it occupies was inaugurated as the Dindurra Theater in 1899. In 1942, after being restored from the damage suffered during the Civil War, it definitively took the name current. It is considered one of the main theaters in Spain in terms of scheduled performances - in 2017 the number of scheduled activities was 273, with an attendance of 170,035 spectators - and in terms of infrastructure, it has a capacity of 1,123 seats. It hosts many dance, theater, film and music performances each year and is the main venue for the Xixón International Film Festival (FICX).

Day 4: Lastres, Colunga, Cudillero

1. Mirador de San Roque
   45m
   The San Roque viewpoint is one of the essential places to visit in Lastres. From this viewpoint you can see a large part of the eastern Asturian coast as well as the small fishing town of Lastres.
   Apart from the entire Cuera mountain range, you can see La Griega beach (with dinosaur footprints), Isla beach, Vega beach, and you can even see Ribadesella and Llanes.
   
   The views are reminiscent of the Asturias Paraiso Natural logo, with the beach next to the mountain, and here we will see how true it is. There is a sign where we will see the most important points, as well as the commemorative plaque as Exemplary Town of Asturias 2010.
2. Lastres
   2h
   Sandwiched between the sea and the mountains, you will immediately understand why Llastres, in the municipality of Colunga, is considered one of the most beautiful towns in Spain, a distinction it officially holds and which is completely deserved.
   
   Furthermore, this fishing village, once dedicated to whaling and a fort against possible invasions along the coast, was distinguished as an Exemplary Village of Asturias, an award that the Princess of Asturias Foundation granted it in 2010. Precisely then the Foundation highlighted its peculiar adaptation to the terrain. and the spirit of improvement of its inhabitants.
3. Faro de Cabo de Lastres
   30m
   The Lastres lighthouse is located in the town of Luces, parish of Lastres, council of Colunga, Principality of Asturias, on the Cabo de Lastres plateau.​
4. Museo del Jurasico de Asturias
   1h · Admission ticket included
   The Jurassic Museum of Asturias (MUJA) is a small Spanish paleontological museum that is isolated on the coastal plain of San Telmo, between the Asturian towns of Colunga and Lastres, where vestiges of dinosaurs that would have populated the region some years ago have been found. 150 million years ago, during the last part of the Jurassic.
   
   In the form of a large dinosaur footprint, the Museum houses one of the most complete and educational displays in the world on these fascinating reptiles.
   
   With time as a common thread, MUJA shows life on Earth from its beginnings to the appearance of humans and offers extensive information about the different aspects of the life of dinosaurs.
5. Mirador del Fitu
   45m
   At only 597 meters above sea level, the panoramic view is supreme. El Mirador del Fito is written in capital letters; It is one of those rare places that allows a spectacular 360º view. Within our reach more than kilometers and kilometers of cliffed coast and beaches, and many more mountains: the Sueve Natural Reserve, the Ponga Natural Park and the Picos de Europa National Park. From East to West we locate the towns of Ribadesella, Caravia, Colunga and Villaviciosa (on the clearest days you can see Gijón). To the south, places of Parres, Cangas de Onís and Covadonga.
6. Cudillero
   6h
   It is one of the most beautiful towns in Asturias (and in Spain). Its viewpoints, its multicolored houses, its port and its culinary specialties such as pixuetín or curadillo make this beautiful fishing village the perfect destination for a getaway.

Day 5: Cudillero

1. Cudillero
   5h
   It is one of the most beautiful towns in Asturias (and in Spain). Its viewpoints, its multicolored houses, its port and its culinary specialties such as pixuetín or curadillo make this beautiful fishing village the perfect destination for a getaway.

Pickup details

48 hours before the excursion we will contact each of the reservations to organize nearby pickups and meeting points.

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• The order of the itinerary may vary depending on weather conditions.
• You should wear very comfortable clothing for walking, for rain, cold, mud, etc., since the climatic conditions of Asturias are diverse and spontaneous.
• The Hotels will be 3/4 stars depending on availability at the time of booking.
• Recommendation to bring medications and prescriptions if you need them.
• Depending on the time of year, wear appropriate clothing and always cut the wind.
• We reserve the right to cancel if we do not have a minimum of 7 people.
• The tour is semi-private with no connections with other tour operators.
• The guide is in Spanish and for other languages we will use a simultaneous translation application.
• Minivan Mercedes Vito / Similar.
• Any concerns or comments: [email protected]
• It is essential to have medical insurance for any eventuality.