Asturias It is a principality that is on the northern coast of Spain, with a part of its territory on the Cantabrian Sea. It is inhabited by more than a million people and it is a very mountainous and green region as well.
Owner of many protected natural spaces, today we will focus on its fishing villages, the best and most beautiful coastal towns of Asturias.
Cudillero
It is a pretty fishing village that is very popular in summer was founded in the XNUMXth century and it has been developing ever since. It is a town with a coastal part just 100 meters above sea level, with Cliffs located between beaches and coves. It also has an area of very fertile valleys and finally a mountainous region.
The part of the coast is a Protected Landscape and the peat bog in Las Dueñas is a natural monument. Cudillero it is only 56 kilometers from Oviedo. The Camino de Santiago also passes through here on its way to Soto de Luiña, which is a historic stop on the route.
In Cudillero one can visit churches, chapels and the famous Quinta de Selgas, today a much visited museum, once a very elegant manor house. The center has colorful houses, around the square which steps of an amphitheater, narrow streets and many viewpoints.
Point: the Plaza de la Marina, the port, the Mirador de la Garita, the Cudillero Lighthouse and the Route through the Miradors (Mirador del Pico, Cimadevilla, the Baluarte, the Mirador del Contorno). To walk a lot!
Ribadesella
Mountains and coast. The coast of this town is quite narrow although has some beaches. For example, Arra, El Portiello, La Atalaya, Santa María, Aberdil. Guadamía beach is one of the most beautiful, at the mouth of the Guadamía River, the protagonist of the Astuarian Costa Verde.
Ribadesella has many treasures from all eras: there are from dinosaur footprints and prehistoric sites but also ancient and medieval buildings precious, both civil and religious. All this attracts rural tourism that also takes advantage of local festivals such as carnivals and festivals of the Christian calendar.
Note: you must visit the Tito Bustillo Cave, a World Heritage Site, the dinosaur footprints in Tereñes, the Palace of the Prieto-Collado, the House of the Shield, the Church of Santa María Magdalena, the Tower of the Watchtower, the Paseo de la Princesa Letizia, beautiful promenade, the Route of the Port and the Beach of the Villa, rocky and the Gran Vía de Agustin Argüelles.
If you also like hiking, do not stop doing the Coastal Path, the route through the cliffs of Cuerres to Arra beach.
Lastres
Pretty coastal town with narrow cobbled streets that always, in one way or another, have the sea in sight. And it is so because it is built on a cliff and the best view of the settlement is then from the port. A postal. Another option is to approach viewpoint of San Roque which is in the upper part of Lastres.
In Lastres there is no other option than to walk and walk through its little streets to go through the whole town, one of the most beautiful in Asturias and in Spain. Its most important beach is called La Ideal, although they also call it the Astillero.
Do not stop visit the old town, the Lighthouse, the Church of Santa María de Sábada, the Chapel of San Roque or the Jurassic Museum. Remember that if you saw this little town before, it is on TV since the series Doctor Mateo was recorded here between 2009 and 2011, of 3 Antenna.
Bowls
It is a very small town, with less than 300 inhabitants. It is near Gijón, at the mouth of the Villaviciosa River, and every year the community remembers the arrival from Falndes of King Carlos V, five centuries ago. It is that Tazones was the first Spanish territory that the young king stepped on when he returned, so every year a live representation takes place called precisely the Landing of Carlos V, great local and tourist festival.
Bowls It has two neighborhoods, San Miguel and San Roque, which are divided by a highway, Both have been declared Historic Artistic Set in 1991. Like the town of Ribadesella, here too they have found dinosaur footprints, from the Jurassic Periods.
Its little houses, of no more than two floors, are arranged like a staircase facing the port, at some important moment whaling port that was active between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. Today it is a fishing and tourist port.
And what can you see in Bowls? The Casa de las Conchas in the neighborhood of San Roque is an elegant house whose facade is precisely covered in seashells of various colors and sizes. There is also the parish church, in the neighborhood of San Miguel, which dates from 1950 and replaces an older one that was burned during the Civil War. And of course, the dinosaur footprints that appeared in the Tereñes formation, only accessible at low tide.
You go down to the beach and on the pedrero, about 120 meters from the panel at the entrance to the sandbank, you will see the footprints of bipedal dinosaurs. About 480 meters further on there are other interesting and ancient footprints that tell us about gigantic animals. Since you are in the coastal area, a good idea is to go to visit the Tazones Lighthouse, which is in the village of Villar and has been in operation since the mid-XNUMXth century.
Es one of the best preserved lighthouses on the Asturian coast and it is in Punta del Olivo. It is 127 meters high, it is surrounded by a garden surrounded in turn by a stone wall and slabs. The lighthouse has two floors, is octagonal and has an attached building. 37 iron steps go up to the lantern that dates back to 1945 and has a range of 20 nautical miles.
The local cuisine is also very famous, based on fish and shellfish, the best in Cantabrian.
Luarca
Last week we talked about "white towns" and here we have one but in Asturias. It is part of the Camino de Santiago so there are hostels for all travelers. It used to be in the Middle Ages an important fishing port and the most interesting dates precisely from this time.
It is the only town in Asturias that is surrounded by two viewpoints and two chapels, the one of San Roque to the west and the one to the east which is white, and has a beautiful cemetery. Also, you can see the remains of a fortress, there are beautiful bridges, palaces, emblazoned houses...
And if you outgrow the town the surroundings are worth knowing also with a huge and beautiful botanical garden, great beaches with incredible waves, and Cabo Busto, the king of the winds.
These are just five of the coastal towns in Asturias, but there are more. In fact you can take the car, add a few more towns to the route and leave walk along the green coast. What route do you follow? You can start in Llanes and reach Luarca traveling a total of 197 kilometers: Llanes, Robadesella, Lastres, Gijón Candás, Lluanco, Avilés, Cudillero and Luarca.