A weekend in the warmth of autumn in Asturias

In Asturias the changing seasons always enrich the landscape and the landscape. Each season is a new stage where you can live different experiences, have new sensations, enjoy the good vibrations of nature and the people who always welcome us in Asturias with open arms.

In Asturias, autumn is warm in the broadest sense of the word, and offers you a wide variety of activities to enjoy your leisure time.

A weekend in the warmth of autumn in Asturias will leave you with the best of memories and will be the perfect reason to come back again and again.

Autumn in Asturias is ideal for hiking, for enjoying traditional crafts or gastronomy, for letting yourself be carried away by the enchantment of the forests, or simply for enjoying the peace and quiet of the fire by the fireplace...

Here we suggest seven very Asturian autumn experiences.

Hiking in paradise

Autumn is making its way through the Asturian landscape in the form of colours, aromas and flavours. The magic of the Asturian autumn beats in the air and naturally invites you to take a walk.

After the hustle and bustle of summer, autumn is an ideal time to explore those marvellous places that have remained on your summer agenda.

Hundreds of itineraries and hiking routes await you on foot, so that you can slowly and calmly savour places and landscapes that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Strolling through the Asturian autumn is to explore the land in detail, and to record in your memory anecdotes that would not otherwise occur to you.

Thousands of fallen leaves crowd the paths and forests. Sometimes they are dry, sometimes they glisten with the effect of the rain, and the rivers and streams carry them away as a multicoloured bed of vegetation.

The earth has a special smell in autumn, especially when it gets wet with the "orballu" (fine rain, characteristic of the Atlantic climate), and the forests are a thousand colours, ranging from reddish, orange, yellow, ochre, green, brown and many more, in a harmonious chromatic symphony.

To walk in autumn is to come across a thousand varieties of mushrooms, or seasonal fruits and berries, such as chestnuts and hazelnuts.

As you walk you will feel the wind on your cheeks or the intense murmur of the water, which gushes in autumn in the form of a waterfall, stream, river or similar, and all seasoned with dozens of natural aromas...

The whole of Asturias is one big trail. To get you in the mood, here is a taste of autumn nature, in the heart of the Redes Natural Park.

A journey into the past through traditional crafts and trades

Asturias is a great reservoir of traditions, it is like that pantry of grandmothers where you find unexpected surprises from a past that is sometimes not so distant, but which never returns and to which you can only travel in places as special as this paradise, so rooted in its identity and its origins.

One of the best ways to travel back in time is through traditional trades, and Asturias is a land where many of them are still intact and where you can experience "in situ" what life and customs of yesteryear were like.

One of the areas of Asturias where the traditional trades are most alive is in western Asturias. The west of Asturias has been and still is a land of iron workers, and where there were and still are abundant hydraulic devices linked to iron.

So, to see first-hand those trades that made rural life so easy, there is nothing better than visiting an ethnographic site such as Mazonovo in Santa Eulalia de Oscos, where you can even be a "ferreiro" (blacksmith) for a few moments and model your own nail.

There are also other ethnographic sites such as Os Teixois or the Museum of Mills, both in Taramundi. Or such emblematic mallets as Besullo in Cangas del Narcea.

In short, an autumn stroll through western Asturias will immediately transport you to the world of rural traditions.

A walk through the flavours of yesteryear

Autumn is not only a time of colours and smells, but also of flavours. Of varied and intense flavours, of warm and unforgettable flavours and, of course, always linked to Asturian nature.

And of course it is a time for gastronomic festivals, festivals linked to traditional products, prepared by the skilful hands of people who know well the culinary richness of Asturias.

One of these festivals - which is also one of the best known and most eagerly awaited - is called "amagüestu" or "amagosto", which consists of enjoying an evening with the flavour of chestnuts roasted over a slow fire combined with sweet cider or cider del duernu. Two delicacies - chestnuts and cider - come together to give rise to this autumnal feast.

Sweet cider is the one that comes directly from squeezing the freshly harvested apples, and is also known as "duernu" cider, as the wooden container in which it is collected after pressing is so called.

But the flavours of autumn multiply beyond this celebration and it is quite normal to find a good pot of chestnuts or cabbage, or any other delicious stew, on any autumn table or tablecloth.

Autumn in Asturias will be for you a peaceful and delicious stroll through the flavours of yesteryear.

A glimpse of enchanting forests

Autumn in Asturias will be a delightful experience. In a simple glance at the Asturian landscapes, you will notice the hundreds of chromatic nuances that the land, the meadows, the sky and its lights, and especially the forests, whose palette of colours is multiplied by a thousand.

Oaks, beeches, chestnuts, walnuts, birches and a long etcetera of autochthonous plant species turn the forests and their surroundings into the best autumn spectacle.

Your Asturian autumn must include a walk through the woods, because a glimpse of these enchanting places will leave you enchanted, as well as being a source of health and enjoyment.

The mountains of Cangas del Narcea, and of course the Munieḷḷos Reserve, are a good example of how vigorous the heart of the Asturian forests becomes in autumn...

Harvesting times

When you think of forests in autumn, you will soon realise that going out into the woods in this season and coming across the fruits of the forest is a wonderful experience, which in Asturias you will experience in unique landscapes.

Once you enter the forest, you will be enveloped by the magic of the trees and their fruits, and suddenly you will look at the ground and see your green path flooded with the "hedgehogs" of chestnuts, or the great variety of mushrooms that spring up in the forests and meadows of autumn.

The forest and its surroundings will be the great natural larder in autumn, to be enjoyed in its environment and also at the table, as there are countless dishes and gastronomic traditions that incorporate the fruits of the harvest as part of the autumn flavours.

On a slow fire

In the Asturian autumn you will experience many moments on a slow fire: in the kitchen, at the table, or simply by the fireplace, letting yourself be carried away by the enchantment of the fire, with your eyes relaxed, with a book in your hands, or with your tablet, reviewing the best images and moments of your day?

And the fact is that rural tourism will provide you with spaces and moments that seem tailor-made for enjoying autumn to the full, with a wise combination of tranquillity and entertainment.

The "fireplace moment" will become one of the essential moments of your autumn stays in Asturias.

The serene charm of deserted beaches

And what about a stroll along a deserted beach? With the sole company of the waves and the foam, the scent of saltpetre, the damp sand, and the sunset or a splendid sunrise, the beaches of Asturias are a real delight in autumn.

Far from the hustle and bustle of summer, the beaches in autumn become true oases of tranquillity where you can take a quiet stroll, chat, walk with your pet, take photographs or simply let yourself be enveloped by the magic of the landscape, with its lights, sounds and aromas.

An Asturian beach in autumn is a real treat for the senses...