Llanes has wonderful beaches are mixed with the fishing tradition
After visiting and sleeping in the heart of Peaks of Europe, we started our route along the coast of Asturias, surrounded by the cold and mysterious Cantabrian Sea. The first stop was Llanes, in the Far Northeast of Asturias, and separated from Cantabria by Ribadedeva, which we will visit in the next visit. It is curious to observe that in the space of a few kilometers you can see high mountains and parks or beautiful beaches and cliffs.
Llanes is a prehistoric city, more exactly from the Lower Paleolithic, period where remains were found in different caves. Also, in its history, Llanes had importance in some wars and conflicts from the Middle Ages through the Spanish Civil War. It was also in the Independence War , when Llanes was governed at different times by France.
As you can see, in almost every coastal village through out Asturias, there will always be two different points of view: from the sea level to the edified upper village, or from the high places in the village, where you can see the cliffs, the coasts and the Cantabrian Sea. This aspect is mixed with the fishing tradition that is authentic despite the towns being touristy places.
We arrived to Llanes around lunch time, so our first stop was to get energy before continuing with our trip. The choice was unlucky, because we saw the menu and the price, without reading that it was really a pizzeria. It seemed like despite of being a pizzeria, it had home-made food, so we decided to enter. The name was Restaurant Gondola and it is on the street Cueto Bajo. The price of the menu was 10€ (bean stew and steak with the dessert and drinks), although it was not worth it because the taste was nothing to write home about.
We can divide Llanes into four parts to visit: the port, the old city, the Indian part and its beaches. Llanes has a great fishing tradition and we could see this from our visit to the port. A short walk through a walkway allowed us to see the cliffs, the beaches and the village. Also, in the port, we found The Cubes of the Memory. It is a beautiful artistic work for turning concrete blocks into a representation of the city through the eyes of Agustin Ibarrola.
Because of our schedule, we did not spend a lot of time to see the old city and the Indian part. Its old city shows us the medieval side of Llanes, mainly with the wall which you can see from the Beach of Sablon. There are also a lot of chapels and churches (The Chapel of the Magadalena, The Chapel of Sainte Anna), palaces (The Palace of the Duke of Estrada, The Palace of Gaztañaga) and the doors where people entered the city. In the Indian part we can see the Casino or the Palace of the Marquise of Argüelles. In the rest of the villages of the Council of Llanes, you can see more examples of booth periods.
Finally, it is important to note that there are a lot of beautiful beaches in the Council. In the “parroquia” of Llanes, we could not visit without seeing the beaches of Toro and Sablon. From the latter you have a great view of the wall. But, without a doubt, most strange and spectacular beach is Gulpiyuri. This beach is open, although you will feel that you are swimming in a lake because of the mountains which hide the sea. We could not go to this last beach and it is on our list for the next visit.
Our first experience in the coastal villages of Asturias was outstanding. We were impressed by the fusion between the mountains and the sea, forming amazing natural places like small coves and cliffs. Llanes has become in a village with a lot of tourism and it will not be a good place for reflecting. However, it showed us beautiful places and a lot of history that you can feel in its streets. We ruskommend a visit to Llanes with 5 boquerones.