MONTE DE SANTA TREGA OR SANTA TECLA

Río MiñoMonte de Santa Trega lies in the municipality of A Guarda, in the south-eastern corner of Pontevedra.

Santa Trega, was declared a National Cultural Heritage Monument in 1939 and is also a Property of Cultural Interest.

From the top of the mountain, you have some marvellous views of, for example, the Río Miño (the natural border between Spain and Portugal), Caminha (a Portuguese village) or of the Atlantic Ocean.

At the mouth of the Río Miño, you can see the island of A Ilha Ínsua, which belongs to Portugal. It houses a building that dates from the XVth century. It was a convent until it became a military fort a century later.

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Cabrales

Picu UrrielluAs I have mentioned on several occasions, Asturias is a perfect autonomous region where to do tourism. The combination of the mountainside and coast, which are within a short distance of each other, make this region an ideal destination to enjoy your holiday. A clear example is Cabrales, a municipality in east Asturias; half of its territory lies in the National Park of the Picos de Europa and it is also very close to the Cantabrian Sea.

Cabrales is perfect for rural tourism, active tourism and natural tourism. You can walk through its lush forests or hike along the desert-like limestone rock of the Picos de Europa, all in the same day. You can do very easy and pleasant routes in this municipality, for example, the famous Senda del Cares, also known as the Garganta Divina (divine gourge), which is a ravine that was formed by a glacier. You can climb the emblematic Picu Arriellu (Naranjo de Bulnes), climb up the renown Torrecerrado, or fish and simply enjoy the gurgling rivers Cares and Casaño

But Cabrales is not just countryside and amazing natural spots… Cabrales is also history, culture, gastronomy and a perfect combination of all three.

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ROUTE ALONG THE VEGA DE ORANDI

PaisajeMany people choose to visit Asturias, particularly for rural and activity based tourism especially because both can be combined to offer a great variety of possibilities, such as the route I shall show you here. It’s a short route, of low difficulty, apt for everyone, and where you’ll enjoy both hill-walking, nature and a wonderful day out on the border of civilisation. I’ll talk about the route that runs through the Vega de Orandi until Covadonga and I’ll show you a video with some corners which you can enjoy on your walk.

The entire route runs through the National Park of the Picos de Europa, where you’ll find rocky paths, forests and meadows.

We begin our adventure in Moferos, 4km from Covagadonga on the road that will take us to the Lakes of Covadonga.

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Cabranes

Santa Eulalia de Cabranes

Asturias hides an infinite number of new places for visitors, and all which are interesting for tourists to discover. For example, there is the Municipality of Cabranes, which is rich in nature, culture, arts and crafts, gastronomy…

The capital of Cabranes is Santa Eulalia (Santolaya), set in central-eastern Asturias, in the Cider Region, and shares its borders with the municipalities of: Piloña, Villaviciosa and Nava; the latter two also belong to the Cider Region.Ruta Cabranes

This place has many virtues, but the most emblematic is its natural surroundings. Meadows, valleys and indigenous forests in particular, all which make up a beautiful natural environment that captivates the tourist with its spectacular views.

Cabranes is, almost in its entirety, countryside, which means you can enjoy many sign-posted routes that run through the municipality. From high points, you can see plenty of indigenous forests and mountains that make up this municipality and you can also enjoy amazing panoramic views of the Sierra del Sueve and of the Picos de Europa.

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Mountain Bike Route: Infiesto – Covadonga

Ruta en bicicleta de montaña desde Infiesto hasta Covadonga por el Camino de la Reina.

Ciclistas esperando por el trenIt is undoubtedly a very pretty and entertaining route, perhaps a little long… but it is worth the effort.

It runs along the Camino de la Reina, (the Queen’s Way), which by-the-way, is properly indicated and is of a medium-low difficulty which means it is apt for everybody (if you want to walk it, I recommend you split it up into two days, as it’s approximately 40 Km).

At 9.45am on the 13th of February 2011, I met up with some friends at the FEVE train station at Arriondas, with the idea of taking the train to Infiesto (capital of the municipality of Piloña), where we would begin our excursion.Ciclistas en el tren

We went aboard, taking up almost an entire waggon. In Sevares, another group of cyclists got on who were heading for the same place. Once in Infiesto, we saw that we were quite a good number of sportsmen and there were still more to arrive.

At 10am, now a group of approximately 50 people, we got on our bikes and set off towards Covadonga; it’s cold and it looks like rain, but we are very keen to do the route.

After passing Cardes, Valle (charming little villages), La Revoria, Lledó and El Perón, we arrived at Villamayor, the first point where we regrouped and took a break.

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