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Picos de Europa (Cangas de Onís)
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Picos de Europa (Cangas de Onís)

Glacial Lakes, the Cares Gorge and the Shrine of Covadonga

Plan this trip
3 daysIdeal stay₹6,920From / night₹2,660Food / day₹960Entry

Spain's first national park (1918), a limestone massif rising to over 2,600 m within about 20 km of the Atlantic, across Asturias, Cantabria and León: the glacial lakes of Covadonga, Enol and Ercina, above the cave shrine where the Reconquista is said to have begun in 722; the Cares Gorge trail, cut into the cliffs between Poncebos and Caín; Bulnes, a hamlet with no road, reached on foot or by a funicular inside the mountain; Cabrales blue cheese ripened in caves; and the Fuente Dé cable car on the Cantabrian side. Cangas de Onís, with its humpbacked medieval bridge, is the base. On busy days (set dates between late March and early December in 2026) private cars are restricted on the road to the lakes and a park-and-ride bus runs from Cangas every 30 minutes (€9 return). Getting there: the high-speed train from Madrid to Oviedo (about 3 h 15) and an ALSA bus on, or a car from Asturias airport. Green because it rains: pack a rain jacket in any season. Vegetarians do well on Cabrales and the other local cheeses; Asturias' bean stew, fabada, has pork.

Highlights

  • Lakes Enol and Ercina at Covadonga
  • The Santa Cueva shrine in the cliff
  • Walk the Cares Gorge
  • Bulnes by funicular
  • Cabrales cheese caves
  • Fuente Dé on the Cantabrian side
  • Cider poured from a height in a sidrería

Things to do

  • Lakes of Covadonga: Enol and ErcinaMorning · 4h
  • Covadonga: the Santa Cueva shrine and the basilicaAfternoon · 2h
  • Cangas de Onís: the medieval bridge and the old townEvening · 1h 30m
  • Cares Gorge trail from PoncebosMorning · 6h
  • Bulnes by funicular, the village without a roadAfternoon · 3h
  • Cabrales blue cheese cave at Arenas de CabralesAfternoon · 1h 30m
  • Fuente Dé: the teleférico to the high plateauMorning · 6h
  • Ribadesella beach and the old fishing portAfternoon · 3h
  • Asturian cider house (sidrería) eveningEvening · 2h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: May – October

Heads up

Lakes of Covadonga: Park-and-Ride Days

On set dates between 28 March and 8 December 2026 (Easter, summer, long weekends and the December holidays) private cars are restricted on the road up to the Lakes of Covadonga, and park-and-ride buses run from Cangas de Onís and other car parks every 30 minutes from 7:40 to 20:00 (about €9 return; parking €3 a day). Check the calendar on the Asturias tourism site and buy bus tickets ahead from ALSA in August.

Heads up

Picos de Europa in Winter

From December to March snow, ice and fog can close the road to the Lakes of Covadonga and the high trails, and the Fuente Dé cable car shuts on 24, 25 and 31 December and 6 January and in high wind. Valley walks, Covadonga's shrine and Cangas de Onís stay open; carry chains if you drive up.