Short break: 5 nights in Asturias

Five nights in Asturias from el gran sueño: walks from our door, the Picos de Europa, the Costa Verde, Oviedo and Gijón. Rooms and apartments for adults only.

Five nights is where things start to open up. You'll have time to walk from our door, drive into the Picos de Europa, take an afternoon off to do absolutely nothing, follow the coast through fishing villages and pre-Romanesque hilltops, and finish with a day between Oviedo and Gijón — the two cities that, between them, tell you most of what you need to know about modern Asturias.

For a stay of this length, settle into one of our rooms with breakfast and the option of dinner whenever you'd like it — or, if you'd prefer the freedom to cook a quiet evening in, one of our apartments might suit you better.

Golden evening light over a rolling inland Asturian valley near Pintueles, with traditional stone farmhouses in the foreground and the limestone peaks of the Picos de Europa on the horizon.

Day 1 — Arrival & welcome to the valley

Pull up at el gran sueño, leave the bags where they fall, and let the week ahead start the way it should. The best antidote to a long drive is fresh air on the doorstep — and we've got plenty of it.

Our Local Walk 8: Pintueles is the ideal first stretch of the legs: 3.4 km, around 45 minutes at an easy pace, looping out from the plaza right in front of the hotel. The path winds gently uphill through the woodland between Busllería and La Roza, slips past the old Church of San Cristóbal, and returns you home with the whole valley unfolding below. Our dogs had a hand (or four paws) in mapping it, and it's quietly become a favourite of almost everyone who stays with us.

Dinner at el gran sueño — pull up a chair, meet us properly, and ease into the cooking of the region without needing to step back outside. The perfect first night.

Single-lane country road curving through bright spring oak woods near Pintueles, with a glimpse of distant hills — Local Walk 8 from el gran sueño.

Day 2 — Picos de Europa: Cangas de Onís & Covadonga

Straight in at the deep end with the day many guests circle on the calendar before they even arrive. Follow our Road Trip 5: Picos de Europa II — Cangas de Onís & Covadonga to the spiritual and geological heart of Asturias.

Stand on the Roman bridge of Cangas de Onís with the Sella running beneath you, climb to the Sanctuary of Covadonga with its pink basilica wedged into the mountain, and — if the day is clear — drive up to the Lagos de Covadonga, where Enol and Ercina sit at 1,100 metres surrounded by grazing cattle and limestone peaks.

Lunch at El Molín de la Pedrera, Cangas de Onís — a family-run restaurant in the centre of town, the kind of place where the welcome and the cooking come from the same place.

Back to el gran sueño by early evening. Dinner with us, or a quiet one in.

A still mountain lake reflecting the limestone peaks of the Picos de Europa, with brown and white Asturian cows grazing on alpine pasture.

Day 3 — A local walk and an afternoon off

A day to remember what you came for. Lace up your boots for our Local Walk 4: El Pico Viyao — one of our favourite trails from the hotel, climbing through the woods to a viewpoint where, on a clear morning, the whole valley opens up beneath you.

Lunch in Infiesto, our quiet little capital — wander Cheese Street (Calle del Quesu), look in at the Álvarez-Nava wine merchant (run by the same family for eight generations), and pick a spot that catches your eye for a long, easy lunch.

Afternoon at el gran sueño — a book in the garden, a nap, a glass of something cold. Five nights is enough to earn an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing, and we'd encourage you to take it.

Dinner at el gran sueño to round off the slowest day of the trip.

A worn footpath running along a hillside above the Piloña valley, with a patchwork of green meadows and distant mountains fading into morning haze.

Day 4 — The coast: Lastres, Tazones & Torazo

Today we head north to where Asturias meets the sea. Follow our Road Trip 2: Lastres, Tazones & Torazo along the cliffs and coves of the Costa Verde.

Lastres is the postcard fishing village clinging to the hillside — narrow streets, a working harbour, and views that have made it one of the most photographed places on the Asturian coast. Tazones, a little further along, is even smaller and even more disarming: a handful of brightly painted houses, a tiny harbour, and the cobbled lane where Emperor Carlos V famously came ashore in 1517.

Lunch at El Rompeolas, Tazones (Villaviciosa) — fish straight off the boats, eaten metres from where it was landed. As simple and as good as that.

On the way back, the pretty hilltop village of Torazo is worth the small detour. Back to el gran sueño in the late afternoon.

A traditional Asturian fishing village tumbling down a green coastal hillside, with a parish church standing on the hilltop above and small boats moored in a stone harbour below.

Day 5 — Two cities in one day: Oviedo & Gijón

The day Asturias shows you its other face — urban, lively, full of cider and conversation.

Morning in Oviedo: Follow our Road Trip 8: Oviedo into the regional capital. The old town is compact and walkable — the cathedral, the Plaza del Fontán, the Calle Gascona (the famous Boulevard de la Sidra), and the pre-Romanesque churches on Monte Naranco, are among the oldest standing buildings in Spain.

Afternoon in Gijón: Continue north for our Road Trip 10: Gijón. Park near the harbour and walk the old fishermen's quarter of Cimadevilla, climb to the top for Chillida's great steel sculpture Elogio del Horizonte, and follow the curve of the San Lorenzo beach back into town.

Lunch at Casa Ataulfo, Gijón — a proper sidrería: cider poured from on high, plates designed for sharing, the room loud in the best possible way. The right place to toast the trip.

Back to el gran sueño in the early evening. A final dinner with us, or a quiet one in.