How to get to/from Potes

➕ Where to eat in Potes

🕤 Note that we’d assumed that it would be possible to eat outside of traditional Spanish meal times given that people are here to hike and therefore going to bed early. We were wrong so heed this warning and plan you meals accordingly.

There are plenty of excellent restaurants to choose from in Potes. Because my friend and I both live in Spain and had eaten only traditional Spanish food up to this point on our trip, we opted for more international cuisine in Potes. 

🍔 La Scala – excellent hamburgers

☕️ Panadería Gallofa&Co – excellent coffee and breakfast pastries

❌ La Serna – one of the worst pizzas I’ve ever had. I believe their non-pizza menu is meant to be good but it certainly wasn’t a place I’d return to

If you get the chance, consider trying cocido lebaniego, a traditional dish from Liébana. This stew is made with chickpeas from Potes, potatoes, and green vegetables.

Services in Potes 

For such a tiny place (1,300 residents), it has a surprisingly large number of restaurants, hotels and other important services. 

Just a few minutes out of town there is the excellent visitors’ centre for the Picos de Europa region, Centro de Visitantes “Sotama”. It is staffed by extremely helpful people who speak English, both they and the small museum here are very informative. There’s also a tourist office right in town.

What to do in Potes

For such a small town, there’s actually a decent amount to do.

Amble through the narrow streets and admire the architecture of this medieval village, never forgetting to look up at the incredible mountain views

Rivers and bridges – two rivers meet in Potes, the Deva River and the Quiviesa River and there are numerous picturesque bridges in this small town

Torre del Infantado – until recently this was the Town Hall. Today, this medieval tower is a cultural centre and monument you can gaze at and even enter. It was built in the 15th century and the views from the roof are fantastic (seen in photo above behind the P❤️TES sign)

Museo Cartográfico Juan de la Cosa (Map Museum) – sadly this was closed while I was in town as I’d have loved to visit. Juan de la Cosa was an early voyager to the Americas and he created the oldest surviving map of the American continent.

Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana – many people, including those not undertaking the camino like to visit here because apparently this is one of the most important religious sites in Spain. It is claimed that there’s a piece of the instrument used to crucify Jesus, the Lignum Crucis, held here. According to local legend, this ‘relic’ arrived in Spain from Jerusalem during the 5th century, and in the 8th, wound up here.

Visit nearby villages

All these villages mentioned are tiny, extremely picturesque, and probably won’t have more than a handful of other visitors while you’re there.

La Hermida – there are a few different non-hiking activities to enjoy in La Hermida

→ Book a session in the thermal baths if you’re looking to relax

→ Pick from two via ferrata adventures, the Escalera al Cielo (Stairway to Heaven – an adrenaline filled ladder climb – considered easy), or the harder Los Puentes route with incredible views, and a zipline as well as climbing routes.

→ Spend the day learning to climb on a professional climbing course here.

Mogrovejo – (pictured) officially one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, this is also called the Heidi village and if you visit you’ll see why. There’s a tower (you can’t climb) and a couple of hotels and even now one or two places to stop for a drink or lunch after a hike.

Bejes – a small town with phenomenal views

Lebeña – home to a Mozarabic church built in 925CE.

Cosgaya – this is a very cute village on the way between Potes and Fuete Dé so you’re likely to pass through and potentially feel like stopping for a drink (we did) and to exclaim over how cute it is.

Lon – on this list only really because it’s cute and I stayed here. There’s not really anything to do or see but there are a couple of inns and a campsite.

➕ if you’re hoping to visit Bulnes, Sotres, or hike the Ruta de Cares, these are technically possible from Potes but are more easily done from Las Arenas de Cabrales in Asturias.

Miradores

Oso Pardo – it’s an winding 45 minutes drive up to this mirador with a bear sculpture from Potes. Be prepared for awe inspiring panoramic views.

Mirador de Tudes – Just 15 minutes from Potes to this beautiful spot with wonderful views

Mirador de los Cos – Also 15 minutes from Potes, wonderful views over the gentle, green rolling foothills of the Picos rather than the full snow capped mountain views

Puerto de San Glorio – narrow roads up here (but wide enough for camper vans), there’s a good carpark and the views are astounding

Santa Catalina Viewpoint – a must for anyone who wants to look out over La Hermida Gorge, the longest gorge in all of Spain (21km) with steep rock walls of up to 600m on either side, this is a truly impressive site.

Fuente Dé cable car – although not strictly a mirador, when I was up here I did note that many people were taking the cable car up simply to enjoy the views (of course, they’re incredible) from either the restaurant or from the first 100m or so of the path (photo above).

Plenty of outdoor activities here

Hiking

​There are two types of hiker in Potes, camino walkers and Picos de Europa hikers. 

Camino Leganiego

Potes is a destination for pilgrims hiking the Camino Leganiego, which begins in San Vicente de la Barquera and ends at the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liebana (mentioned above), just outside of Potes. It is 72km and generally takes 3-5 days to hike. 

Paseo Fluvial de Potes

This is a gentle 3km walk by the rivers through Potes, it’s flat and very peaceful.

Fuente Dé

One of the most famous locations in this region of the Picos de Europa is Fuente Dé. Here, a cable car runs from the Fuente Dé station at 1070m above sea level to El Cable at 1823m above sea level covering 753m in 3 minutes 40 seconds. 20 people are permitted in each car, which means you generally have a pretty good view.

Brez

This tiny hamlet that wasn’t mentioned above as a village to visit as there is nothing here except a few hourses on an extremely steep slice of land. The circular hike is well worth it, though.

Mogrevejo

This hike should come with two warnings

🫁 one for your respiratory system – this is HARD HARD WORK

🧡 one for your emotions – the views are so incredible that you might cry

There are, of course, numerous other routes in this region that I haven’t hiked myself such as the Pueblos de Camaleño route (12.3km hike between villages), the Ruta de Santo Toribio (7.6km from Potes, not a round route). If you enjoy walking in the foothills then consider the Pueblos de Liébana hike of 13.5km

Other outdoor activities from Potes

🛶 In Potes and nearby villages you will find tour options for kayaking

🪂 From Potes it’s possible to go paragliding (something we saw but did not do) over the Picos de Europa!