Stage Llanes to Gijón (By Bicycle)

At around 97.4 kilometres, this is the longest stage of the Camino del Norte by bicycle and the only one that gathers three complete walking stages: Llanes-Ribadesella, Ribadesella-Sebrayo and the one dropping from Villaviciosa to Gijón. The climbing is moderate and the surface good almost throughout, but the distance rules: it is worth setting off at first light and reckoning on six or seven hours of effective riding.

The start from Llanes is the most coastal section and the most rewarding. The road links Poo, Celorio and Barro among coves and beaches — Palombina, Torimbia, San Antolín — and continues through Naves and Nueva across the coastal shelf. Near Piñeres de Pría, the blowholes of Pría send up jets of spray through the fissures in the cliff when the sea runs high, a phenomenon worth a short detour if the swell obliges.

Ribadesella marks the first third. The town divides between the old harbour and the sands of Santa Marina, joined by the bridge over the Sella estuary, the setting each August for the International Descent. On the slope of Mount Ardines open the caves of Tito Bustillo, whose rock paintings are a World Heritage Site; the visit requires booking ahead and does not always fit into so long a stage.

Past Ribadesella the itinerary peels away from the coast and heads inland through Colunga and Villaviciosa, the heart of cider country. The landscape turns to apple orchards, enclosed meadows and hórreos raised on their stone staddles, and the profile becomes a little more broken, with short ramps between hamlets. At Villaviciosa the Camino del Norte forks: one branch heads for Oviedo to join the Camino Primitivo, while the other, the one this stage follows, continues towards Gijón.

The final kilometres climb the rise that separates the Villaviciosa valley from the Gijón shelf, pass through Peón and descend towards the edge of the city. The finest way in is along the promenade of San Lorenzo beach, which leads straight to the hill of Santa Catalina and the district of Cimavilla, the old fishermen's quarter perched on the headland. There, Chillida's Eulogy of the Horizon looks out over the Cantabrian Sea and serves as a full stop; below wait the marina, the cider houses of Calle Gascona and the Muro.