During our three months in Asturias, we've seen a lot of wonderful towns. Just check out our Day Trips Map! But none of them have impressed us as much as Llanes, an absolutely gorgeous city in the east of the Principality. A perfect melding of tradition and modernity, Llanes is full of beautifully restored buildings, and boasts an expansive ancient center separated from the day-to-day village life by medieval walls.
Jutting out into the Cantabrian sea, Cabo Peñas (the Cape of Rocks) is the most northern point in Asturias and an area of incredible natural beauty. We spent the day driving around the coast, from Luanco to the Lighthouse of San Juan de Nieva.
We were first introduced to this small seaside village during the madness of the Descenso del Sella, when over 300,000 revelers use an annual boat race as an excuse to party. With so much going on, we had no chance to see the town, and so went back.
A popular hiking trail connects Barayo Beach to the town of Navia, about twenty kilometers away. Especially for fans of cliffs, seaside villages and hidden beaches, it's a long walk through paradise.
Asturianu is the indigenous language of Asturias, though there aren't many people who speak it anymore. And Pixuetu is a dialect of Asturianu spoken only in Cudillero, a tiny village on the Cantabrian coast, distinuished by its use of Nordic words. Its no wonder that parents around the world are in a rush to teach their children Pixueto, since it's totally going to be the next Chinese.
Everything I'd read about Gijón, the largest city in Asturias, described it as "industrial" or "working-class", so we arrived fearing that it'd be boring. But we needn't have worried: Gijón is beautiful, full of students, lively bars and charming plazas.
