Oviedo: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
In the 9th century, while the rest of Spain was under Muslim rule, the small Christian Kingdom of Asturias built churches and palaces around its capital, Oviedo. Nothing like them was being built anywhere else in Europe at the time, and UNESCO lists them together. This route goes from the cathedral's treasury out to the two royal buildings on Monte Naranco and back by a third church at the edge of town. Half a day with the car; the Naranco buildings are seen on guided visits, so time the drive to their hours.
A short history of Oviedo
Oviedo was founded in 761 as a small monastery on a hill, and within a few decades King Alfonso II made it the capital of the Kingdom of Asturias, the small Christian kingdom that held out in northern Spain against Muslim rule. Alfonso set out from here on foot to the tomb that had been discovered in Santiago, and so the pilgrims' "Primitive Way" was born. In 842 his successor Ramiro I built Santa María del Naranco on the slope above the city, and the buildings of this period were declared a World Heritage Site in 1985. In 910 the capital moved to León, and Oviedo remained a religious centre. The university opened in 1608. In 1934, during the Asturian miners' uprising, the Cámara Santa in the cathedral was blown up, and two years later the city endured a long siege in the Civil War.
The ten best sights in Oviedo
1Cathedral of San SalvadorThe ticket includes the Cámara Santa upstairs — that small room is the real reason to go in
2Santa María del NarancoGuided visits only, at set times; check the hours before driving up the hill
3San Miguel de LilloSame ticket and same hill as Naranco, 200 metres up the road
4San Julián de los PradosNext to the motorway exit, so it is easy to stop on the way in or out of town
5Foncalada FountainA small stone fountain in a sunken plaza; two minutes, but a UNESCO-listed two minutes
6Museum of Fine Arts of AsturiasFree entry, with El Greco's Apostles and works by Goya and Picasso
7Archaeological Museum of AsturiasFree, in an old monastery cloister behind the cathedral; see it before the pre-Romanesque churches
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8Campoamor Theatre
The Princess of Asturias Awards are handed out here every October; the street fills with cameras
9Historic University BuildingWalk into the cloister — the courtyard is open and nobody asks why you are there
10Calle GasconaThe cider street; order a bottle and let the waiter pour it from above his head
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Oviedo →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Oviedo:
Free walking tours in Oviedo
Before Romanesque
In the 9th century, while the rest of Spain was under Muslim rule, the small Christian Kingdom of Asturias built churches and palaces around its capital, Oviedo. Nothing like them was being built anywhere else in Europe at the time, and UNESCO lists them together. This route goes from the cathedral's treasury out to the two royal buildings on Monte Naranco and back by a third church at the edge of town. Half a day with the car; the Naranco buildings are seen on guided visits, so time the drive to their hours.
- Cathedral of San Salvador · The Cámara Santa holds the Cross of the Angels, given by Alfonso II in 808, and the Cross of Victory of 908, now the emblem on the Asturian flag. The room was blown up during the 1934 uprising, and both crosses were stolen in 1977 and recovered damaged.
- Archaeological Museum of Asturias · It occupies the former Benedictine monastery of San Vicente, the community whose founding in 761 is the oldest record of Oviedo. Its pre-Romanesque room keeps carved pieces from the churches you are about to see.
- Foncalada Fountain · Built under Alfonso III in the late 9th century, it is a rare surviving piece of early medieval civil engineering, not a church. It was added to the UNESCO listing of the Asturian monuments in 1998.
- Santa María del Naranco · It was not built as a church but as a hall for King Ramiro I; an inscribed altar stone dates it to 848. Only later was it turned into a church, which is why the main room is upstairs with open loggias at each end.
- San Miguel de Lillo · What stands is only about a third of Ramiro I's church; the rest collapsed centuries ago. The carved door jambs show an acrobat and a lion tamer, copied from a Byzantine ivory diptych of a consul at the circus.
- San Julián de los Prados · Built under Alfonso II in the early 9th century, it is the largest surviving pre-Romanesque church in Spain. Its walls are painted with buildings and curtains in the Roman manner, but no human figure appears anywhere.
Vetusta on foot
Leopoldo Alas, who signed himself Clarín, called the town Vetusta in La Regenta, his great novel of 1884–85 about gossip and boredom in a cathedral city. Oviedo recognised itself and was not pleased; today it puts the heroine in bronze in front of the cathedral. This walk takes the old town and the 19th-century streets around it, with the statues the city loves to scatter on its pavements. About two hours, all flat and pedestrian, ending where the cider is poured.
- La Regenta Statue · The novel opens with the canon Fermín de Pas looking down on Vetusta through a telescope from the cathedral tower. The bishop of Oviedo condemned the book from the pulpit when it appeared.
- Historic University Building · The university opened in 1608 on money left by Fernando de Valdés, archbishop of Seville and Inquisitor General. During the October 1934 uprising the building and its library burned; the cloister you see was restored afterwards.
- El Fontán Market · The name comes from the pond that once filled this hollow outside the walls. Look for Cabrales, the blue cheese of the Picos de Europa that is ripened in limestone caves.
- Woody Allen Statue · Allen received the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2002 and spoke warmly of the town as unreal and fairy-tale. The city answered with this bronze the next year, and later he filmed part of Vicky Cristina Barcelona here.
- Campoamor Theatre · The theatre opened in 1892 and was burned out in the 1934 uprising, then rebuilt. Since 1981 it has hosted the Prince — now Princess — of Asturias Awards, Spain's best-known international prizes.
- Calle Gascona · Asturian cider is still, not fizzy, so it is poured from above the head into a wide glass to break it and wake the bubbles. You drink the culín, a finger or two, in one go, and leave a drop to rinse the glass.
Cider country and the coast
Asturias makes most of Spain's cider, from apple orchards that cover the hills east of Oviedo, and in 2024 UNESCO added Asturian cider culture to its list of intangible heritage. This route drives a loop through the orchards to a cider museum and a 9th-century church in a valley, then down to the coast at Gijón. It is a day by car, or the morning before heading east towards Covadonga and the Picos. The driver should taste with care: a culín is small, but they come one after another.
- Asturian Cider Museum, Nava · Nava calls itself the cider capital of Asturias and holds a cider festival every July with a pouring contest. The museum shows the old wooden presses, called llagares, where apples were crushed under a beam weighted with stone.
- San Salvador de Valdediós · Locals call it El Conventín, the little convent; it was consecrated in 893 under Alfonso III. Next to it the Cistercians built the large monastery of Santa María in the 13th century, so the valley holds both eras side by side.
- El Gaitero, Villaviciosa · El Gaitero has made sparkling cider here since 1890, and its bottles were shipped to Spanish emigrants in Cuba and Argentina. Its slogan, famous in all the world, became a Spanish catchphrase.
- Laboral City of Culture, Gijón · Built between 1946 and 1956 as an orphanage and school for the children of miners, it is the largest building in Spain. Today it holds an arts centre, a theatre and part of the university.
- Cimadevilla, Gijón · The old fishermen's quarter sits on a headland where the Romans had already built a walled town. Its cider bars are as serious as Oviedo's, and the lanes climb straight to the Chillida sculpture on top.
- Elogio del Horizonte, Gijón · Eduardo Chillida's concrete sculpture of 1990, the Praise of the Horizon, frames the sea from the top of the headland. Stand in the middle and the wind and waves sound amplified, as if inside a shell.
Getting to Oviedo and getting around
- Asturias Airport · On the coast near Avilés, about 40 minutes from Oviedo; useful for a one-way car return
- Oviedo Station · Two networks share it: long-distance Renfe to Madrid, and narrow-gauge Cercanías along the coast
- Oviedo Bus Station · ALSA buses to Covadonga and Cangas de Onís if someone in the group skips the drive
Cheap eats in Oviedo
Oviedo eats heavily and drinks cider: fabada, white beans with chorizo, black pudding and pork, is the dish of Asturias, and cachopo, two veal fillets with ham and cheese inside, is the town's pride. For a quick lunch, a sidrería bar on Gascona serves raciones to share standing at the counter. The town also has a sweet tooth, with its own pastries named after an oak tree and a Moscow chocolate.
- Camilo de Blas · A carbayón pastry about 2 euros, a coffee with it about 1.80
- Confitería Rialto · A box of moscovitas about 10-15 euros, a gift that travels well
- El Fontán Market · Bread, chorizo and a wedge of cheese for a picnic, about 8-12 euros
- Tierra Astur Gascona · Cider bar with a shop; a bottle of cider about 4 euros, raciones 8-15
- El Ferroviario · Busy sidrería; share a cachopo, about 20-25 euros for two
- Cimadevilla cider bars, Gijón · Fishermen's-quarter chigres; a bottle of cider about 3-4 euros, a tapa of chorizo in cider about 6
Museums in Oviedo
- Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias · Free; El Greco, Goya, Picasso and Asturian painters
- Archaeological Museum of Asturias · Free; prehistory to the Asturian kings, in a monastery cloister
- Cámara Santa · The cathedral treasury; included in the cathedral ticket
- Laboral City of Culture · Art centre in Spain's biggest building, in Gijón
- Asturian Cider Museum · In Nava, 30 minutes east; ends with a tasting
- Niemeyer Centre · Oscar Niemeyer's only work in Spain, in Avilés
Nature and day trips near Oviedo
- Monte Naranco · The city's hill; walking trails and the view from the top
- Senda del Oso · Flat trail on an old railway; rent bikes in Proaza
- Atlantic Botanical Garden, Gijón · Plants of the Atlantic coasts on both sides of the ocean
- Cerro de Santa Catalina, Gijón · Sea wind and wide views over the bay
- Campo de San Francisco · Old trees and peacocks in the middle of town
Things to do in Oviedo with kids
- Gijón Aquarium · Sharks and Cantabrian Sea fish on the beach of Poniente
- Parque de Invierno · Playgrounds and space to run, away from the stone streets
- Woody Allen Statue · A treasure hunt: Oviedo has over a hundred street statues
- Senda del Oso bears · Bring bikes or a pushchair; the trail is flat
- Campo de San Francisco peacocks · Peacocks, ducks and a playground in the central park
Where to eat in Oviedo
- Casa Fermín · Classic Asturian cooking; the special night out
- Tierra Astur · Cachopo and cider under hanging hams; queue at weekends
- El Ferroviario · Loud cider hall on Gascona; the waiters pour for you
- Ca' Suso · Small modern Asturian kitchen in the old town; book ahead
Frequently asked questions about Oviedo
What is there to see in Oviedo?
The top sights in Oviedo are Cathedral of San Salvador, Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Oviedo?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Oviedo without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Oviedo?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Oviedo, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Before Romanesque.
How do you get to Oviedo and get around?
The main ways are Asturias Airport, Oviedo Station and Oviedo Bus Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Oviedo, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Oviedo that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Oviedo for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.