I am planning my next trip to Spain, and am trying to decide between Asturias and Galicia. Both regions look amazing, but for a 10-day or so trip I will only choose one. So which one? Main interests are food/wine, and a combination of walking around cities and nature-oriented activities. Looks like both areas are great for food and for nature/outdoors aspects, how about the more urban areas, are they more interesting in one region than the other? Any other considerations for deciding between the two?

Well, I can only speak for Pontevedre where I am currently situated on a weeks time holiday. It’s an absolutely beautiful city with plenty to do (great museum, old churches, ruins, wonderful walking trials along the river). Tons of restaurants, cafes, and markets selling fresh produce, home made foods and sweets. The pedestrian only streets go on forever, and it is very easy to enjoyably get lost. Also very delighted to receive complimentary tapa with every glass of wine and pastry/cake/tortilla with every cup of coffee. People are very friendly and the weather has been perfect….sun, low 70s.

Asturias 10000%

Asturias is beautiful, but it is not a wine growing region. If you want to visit wineries or be in a more wine producing area then go to Galicia. The Ribeira Sacra area is truly amazing and they have great wine there produced from grapes grown on steep terraces. There are other wine regions too, like Rias Baixas (around Pontevedra where Mike is now.)

Both regions are beautiful!!

About the wine, I always believed that Asturias was the one region in Spain where wine was not produced and that cider was THE drink.
I just learned that I was wrong! (Gracias, Maribel!)


https://www.turismoasturias.es/en/ga...ia/vino-cangas

We spent about two weeks in Asturias not that long ago; wonderful combo of mountains and coastline.
Were in Galicia last May, but I hope to return in June....

I'd give the edge to Asturias.

Mike..Would love to read about your experiences in Pontevedra. We only had two nights (I think) there last May but loved the town.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't know there was winemaking in Asturias! I, too, thought it was just cider. But even though I'm more of a wine than cider person, I'd imagine that I can order wine from other parts of Spain in restaurants, and I'm good with trying the range of ciders as well. I think I am leaning more toward Asturias at this point, and I am going to begin to dive in and research.

If you decide to go, I have some good restaurants to recommend.

I began a trip report but never finished it--only got as far as our first stop, Oviedo.

CACHOPO, CABRALES & CARBAYONES Asturias..and "The Best Steak in The World"

Thank you, ekscrunchy, I will absolutely take you up on that when the time comes.

ssinny,
Asturias is a wine producing region but only, at the moment, in one section, in the area around Cangas de Narcea. At Madrid Fusion, the Cangas de Narcea D.O.P. had a prominent booth where we sampled a number of their wines.
That said, you would have to dive deep into southern Asturias to reach this one wine-producing region.
https://www.turismoasturias.es/en/gastronomia/vino-cangas

There is hardly any region in Spain where wine isn't produced, even in Cantabria in the Liébana Valley, in Lanzarote, Tenerife, Mallorca, etc. And Asturias also produces a bubbly, champagne-like cider and some "high expression" ciders no longer needed to be poured from high above one's head (el arte de escanciar) and are served in wine glasses rather than in cider glasses.

However, Galicia has several different wine producing regions. The one we find most extraordinarily beautiful in late fall (end of October, early November) is the Ribeira Sacra and rialtogrl notes, where there is "heroic wine making", where the vines are planted on almost impossibly steep, as in almost vertical slopes (much like the Asturian Cangas de Narcea area, where the workers have to make human chains to bring the baskets of grapes down to flat ground).

Another that we love, almost equally beautiful in late fall is the Ribeiro region. And you have the Rias Baixas with 5 different sub zones, where mike is now in the sub zone of Salnés. You have godello grapes (my current favorite white varietal) produced in Ribeira Sacra, Ribeiro, Valdeorras and Monterrei (2 other D.O.s)

I have a very lengthy and updated dining guide to Asturias that I can post later for you if interested. I believe that ekscrunchy has and used my earlier one, which I've now recently brought up to date with new finds from our travels.
We travel often in this stunningly beautiful area, especially in the summer, to escape the Madrid heat, dividing our time between the western and busier eastern coasts.

The dining, I find, even better than Galicia, if that´s possible, especially for seafood. Casa Gerardo in the countryside, Casa Fermín and Ca´ Suso in Oviedo, Güeyu Mar, La Huertona and Quince Nudos (rice) in Ribadesella, Mesón del Centro in Puerto de Vega, 3 Michelin-starred Casa Marical in El Salgar, Molín de Mingo nearby in the forest, El Corral del Indianu in Arriondas, Picos de Europa, Real Balneario at the beach in Salinas, the the new and noteworthy dining in the Cuenca Minera, around Mieres, the birthplace of José Andrés.

Although I do love Santiago, Pontevedra, Cambados, Baiona on the Atlantic, the La Mariña area (Ribadeo, Viveiro, Playa de las Catedrales) on the western Cantabrian coast and the inland Roman walled city of Lugo, I love Asturias even more. And the villages are much, much more colorful, painted like a bag of multi colored M*Ms, as opposed to the grey granite stones villages of Galicia. And Galicia has no scourge of eucalyptus. These villages. that we've visited are exceptionally enchanting---Cudillero, Llanes, Luarca, Lastres, Puerto de Vega, Ribadesella, tiny Bulnes, reachable by funicular, Lastres, Taramundi in Os Oscos...
https://www.expansion.com/fueradeser...9488b462d.html

I meant to say that Galicia has the scourge of eucalyptus, (too late to edit). Asturias also offers the gorgeous Picos de Europa mountain range along with a longer seacoast.
And like Galicia there are many celtic influences and ancient celtic castros (settlements) along the coast to visit. José Ángel Hevia is a famous gaita (bagpipe) player that you may or may not have heard of (recording, "Tierra de Nadie") along with Galicia's Susana Seivane.

As far as nature-oriented activities, for that, there is no more beautiful place to visit in Asturias than the majestic Picos de Europa, where you can walk to your heart's content, or take the funicular up (on a clear day) to the tiny hamlet of Bulnes, which once had no vehicular accessibility at all, to walk from the lower hamlet to the upper hamlet. A scene from Anthony Bourdain's Asturias episode (2018) from Parts Unknown, with companion José Andrés was filmed in Bulnes.

Asturias is a walker's/hiker's paradise. And many parts of the Asturian coast are included in the stages of the northern coastal route, the Camino del Norte, on the road to Santiago de Compostela.

And not to mention the fabulous Asturian cheeses and the Sunday outdoor market in Cangas de Onís. And one can visit the cheese caves, as did José Andrés and his family in the CNN series José Andrés and Family in Spain, episode 5.
Believe it or not, his youngest daughter, Lucía, does not like cheese and stayed outside sitting on a rock, while her father visited the cheese cave.

For kayak enthusiasts, there are many outfitters in Arriondas, in Picos, for a kayaking adventure on the Sella River.
And for walkers (I did this without a problem with sneakers), there is the wonderful 12 kilometer one way hike through the Cares Gorge, La Garganta Divina, from Poncebos (Asturias) to Caín (León).
Taxi service at the end to take you back to your beginning point or to your lodging. Best to arrange in advance through your lodging. We've stayed several times at the Parador de Cangas at the river's edge outside of the town in Villanueva, 2.5 kilometers from Cangas de Onís. .
.

Speaking of Galicia, I am hoping to return in June for a short trip so will be alert as to news on the dining front in Santiago. Key word here is "hoping' to return! I've already booked La Toja and the parador in Santiago but will not get the tickets until later on...

This summer, from our perch in western Asturias (Cartavio) we plan to make. an excursion west into Galicia to revisit the Playa de las Catedrales (now in high season one needs to book ahead) and Viveiro, a coastal town on Galicia's A Mariña Lucense that we really enjoyed.
Ekscrunchy, if memory serves, I recall that you once stayed there at the Hotel Ego/Restaurante Nito, correct?

Maribel I would love to see your dining guide for Asturias!

I promise to attach the updated version tomorrow (or the next day), as I'm going through it to revise as there have been many changes and some closures since I sent it to ekscrunchy for her 2017 trip.
So stay tuned!

I can't wait to read the updated Asturias guide!


I did stay at Hotel Ego, and I think that was even before I joined Fodor's! Back in the days when partner worked, he would only take vacation for 8 days, maximum. So in those days we did a few rush, rush trips to Spain, including one beginning in Santiago and ending in Santander, in one week! And we had no place booked when we passed the Hotel Ego (I think that was even before internet, can that be possible, or maybe it was just before I traveled with a laptop or iPhone--I know we used paper maps on that trip??) so we stopped in and I am almost sure that the price was 80 euro per room. I remember the beautiful views of nearby beaches, and the very good restaurant in the hotel. Another thing I remember about that trip is that a glass jar of Ortiz Bonito del Norte broke inside my carry on bag and I left an oily trail in my wake as I walked through the airport in Santander! I also remember that we stopped for lunch in Viviero; I must have been using Penelope Casas book as my guide.

Yes, you must have used Penelope Casas as your guide, as I did, so very faithfully. I believe you might have eaten at Nito (Penelope recommended), the restaurant of the Hotel Ego in Viveiro, which has gained quite a fine reputation in the food press. We're heading west to Nito from our base in western Asturias just to dine there!

ssinny,
As promised, I updated my Asturias dining guide, but unfortunately it's too lengthy for me to attach it here. So...here is the link to it, which I have been able to attach to the new Dining in Asturias thread on Hungry Onion. See it here.

Thank you, Maribel. That is amazing information, and most generous!

Excellent!!!!! Gracias, Maribel.

I prefer Asturias but if you are interested in food and wine and some hiking, I would go for Galicia.